It's showtime for Alouettes in regular-season residence debut towards Ottawa

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After 4 weeks of practices — three weeks alone at coaching camp — adopted by a pair of exhibition video games that don’t have an effect on the standings, little stays to be requested.

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It’s time to start this journey; to start out pealing again the layers that may change into the Alouettes’ 2023 season. One recreation will hardly outline something, however the time lastly has arrived to start out discovering and assessing the roster assembled by common supervisor Danny Maciocia, head coach Jason Maas and his assistants.

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All of it begins in earnest Saturday night time (7 p.m., TSN1, RDS, TSN 690, 98.5 FM) when the Als host the Ottawa Redblacks at Molson Stadium. Montreal gained each of its exhibition video games, together with the opener at Ottawa. Which means nothing. The Als completed second final season, advancing to the East Division remaining, whereas the Redblacks went 4-14. That, too, means nothing within the grand scheme.

A lot is unknown in the interim, so many questions stay to be answered.

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“Our guys are enthusiastic about enjoying,” Maas mentioned Friday at Olympic Stadium following workforce conferences and a walkthrough exercise. “There’s at all times anticipation and anxiousness within the first recreation of the season as a result of, when the lights do come on and there’s 45 guys having to play each single snap, there’s no person behind them. There’s no observe, no pause.

“Their potential has to shine,” he added. “The power we noticed all camp has to point out up. The toughness we speak about, whether or not the play goes nicely or dangerous, you’ve received to have the ability to push via issues. Everyone’s excited to see 45 guys having the ability to try this after which see the place we’re at after the sport.”

The foremost storylines have been nicely documented. With any soccer workforce, they start and finish with the brand new beginning quarterback, Cody Fajardo. Throughout camp, Maas claimed Fajardo doesn’t must be Superman, and he was right. However he’s received to be higher than Clark Kent for the Als to succeed.

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The supporting solid round Fajardo may require an improve, particularly at receiver, the place the Als start the season with each Greg Ellingson and Tyson Philpot on the six-game injured listing. As nicely, tailback Walter Fletcher is inactive towards the Redblacks to enrich William Stanback.

“Now we have lots of younger guys, particularly on offence,” Fajardo mentioned on Thursday. “Typically, when you’ve got younger guys with out expertise, they have a tendency to say you’re not going to be superb. However we’ll flip some heads; I do know that. It’s not at all times going to be fairly.”

Fajardo believes the workforce got here collectively via each day camp exercises, including he was “shocked” on the offensive development. And there undoubtedly are eight different CFL groups preaching the identical mantra as we speak. All issues stay doable, particularly in a nine-team league.

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“There’s going to be good, dangerous and ugly,” he mentioned. “Each recreation has that and each workforce offers with that. It’s about how nicely we are able to reply that adversity name.”

The significance of successful the primary recreation, arguably, has been magnified, contemplating the Als have a bye week within the schedule and gained’t play once more till June 23, at Hamilton. Maas, nevertheless, disagreed, stating each workforce performs 18 video games, taking them as they arrive. Nonetheless, a bye week this early hardly appears helpful.

“It’s been tough to sleep all week,” Maas admitted. “Simply the anticipation of the season getting kicked off.”

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