Losing a tight 20-18 game to the B.C. Lions during week one of the CFL season got the Calgary Stampeders’ dander up, and they knew they had to put on a good show in front of the home-opener fans during their Canada Day encounter against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.
They did just that, beating down the Blue Bombers 36-22, in front of a 26,815-strong crowd, giving Dave Dickenson his first regular-season win as head coach.
“It was great,” said Cochranite and Stamps fullback Rob Cote, “We needed to bounce back after the B.C. game, where we weren’t too excited about the result. It’s good to get back on track and now we just need to keep it going.”
A second straight loss would have been disastrous for the Stamps this early in the season, putting them behind the eight-ball in their quest for the playoffs, but now they have a chance of getting to their week four bye in solid shape, if they can overcome the Ottawa RedBlacks on the road this Friday.
When asked what the club has done in the time between its first two games to steadily improve, Cote didn’t put his team’s performance down to any one factor.
“You can’t point to any one difference between week one and two,” the veteran of 146 regular-season games admitted. “Against B.C., they did well when it mattered and we didn’t, it’s as simple as that. But, it was just week one, we need to try and not overreact and keep getting better.”
With 10 years of experience and two Grey Cup victories with the Stamps, the 30-year-old Cote has seen a lot of changes in his time with the organization, but maintains that not a lot has changed in the atmosphere of the dressing room now that former offensive co-ordinator Dickenson has taken charge as head coach role from former coach and current general manager John Hufnagel.
“We’ve got some new people in new spots,” Cote said. “Aside from that we’re pretty consistent. Huf’s in the front office still and Dave’s got a bigger role.
“The season is young and we’re still building our own culture, but everything still feels like the Calgary Stampeders.”
