6 takeaways from the last time Edmonton, Montreal met in the Grey Cup

I was given a gift by our Senior Manager, Kristina Costabile. Could I do a deep dive of the last time the Montreal Alouettes and the Double E squared off in the Grey Cup?

As someone who loves football history and has a penchant for Grey Cups that go into overtime, this is about the easiest assignment I could have tackled.

In 2005, CFL fans were treated to a 38-35 Green and Gold victory over the Montreal Alouettes that needed extra time for embattled quarterback Ricky Ray. Wait, how could the eventual Grey Cup MVP be “embattled”? Oh don’t worry, we’ll get there.

Here are the six biggest takeaways from that classic. Why six? Because if I had done 17, our editors would have been stuck going through all my raving and they really should be able to have some time to enjoy this week.

WE ALL WITNESSED SOMETHING NOT SEEN SINCE ‘SPARTACUS’ WAS RULING THE BOX OFFICE

The last time a Grey Cup needed overtime to decide a winner was back in 1961 when the Winnipeg Blue Bombers beat the Hamilton Tiger-Cats 21-14, back at old Exhibition Stadium in Toronto. Beatlemania was still two years away! For newer fans, this fact may not seem like a big deal as we’ve been treated to two overtime Grey Cups in the last decade, including the classic 39-33 Ottawa REDBLACKS upset over the Calgary Stampeders. But, at the time, it felt like we were all in the middle of something special. Because we were.

WOW WHAT A CONTRAST IN THE HEAD COACHES

A sneaky funny moment was seeing the TV broadcast cut back and forth between the two coaching staffs. On the Edmonton sideline was first-year head coach, 38-year-old Danny Maciocia, who looked like he would be carded if he ordered a postgame celebratory drink. Opposing him was the classic grizzled veteran, been-there, done-that, 66-year-old Don Matthews, who was appearing in his record ninth Grey Cup. Not since Adam Rita, in 1991 with the Toronto Argonauts, had a rookie coach captured the Grey Cup. Maciocia may have looked young, but he pulled all the right strings in Edmonton’s 3-0 playoff run.

THIS GAME FEATURED QUARTERBACK ROYALTY

You know you are in good hands from an entertainment standpoint when Ray is clearly the second-best quarterback on the field. Anthony Calvillo had been named the MVP in the 2002 Grey Cup against Ray’s Edmonton team and would win the George Reed Most Outstanding Player award the following year. This was Ray’s third season starting for the Double E and he had won it all in 2003. Ray had put up 5,510 yards in 2005, but had nearly as many interceptions (24) as touchdowns (25). Nonetheless, this was a battle of two passers who were either in their prime or just entering it. For their careers, Calvillo and Ray threw for 140,552 yards (128.5 kms), 779 touchdowns and were a part of eight Grey Cup winning teams.

WE DID NOT SEE THIS GAME COMING

Remember a moment ago I was talking about how you couldn’t have had a bad game with these two quarterbacks slinging it? I kind of lied. The score was just 10-1 for the Green and Gold at the half with so many safe passes, short completions, and far too conservative play calling. Maybe the teams were inspired by ‘The Black Eyed Peas’ singing ‘My Humps’ at halftime (fact), but the third quarter was as enthralling a 15 minutes of football as you will get with 27 total points, as Montreal scored on three straight drives and Edmonton’s Tony Tompkins returned a kickoff for a Grey Cup record 96-yard touchdown. The Alouettes would take the lead, 25-23 after a Calvillo touchdown run, and then with no time left in regulation, Montreal’s Damon Duval would kick a 28-yard field goal to send the game into extras. Hey, how come you haven’t mentioned what Ricky Ray did in that second half?

ALL THINGS RICKY RAY

Did you know that the 2022 Hall of Famer was close to being pulled in the Grey Cup? I’m trying to think of other Grey Cup MVPs that were a couple plays away from possibly being benched. In the team’s 33-26 Western Semi-Final presented by Wegovy® win over the Calgary Stampeders and 28-23 divisional triumph against the BC Lions, Maciocia pulled Ray for backup Jason Maas who came up with big plays in both wins. Ray was getting hit a lot and took a couple sacks in the first half. When Ray found Ed Hervey for a touchdown in the second quarter, it was Ray’s first touchdown pass in eight games! You can see why he was on a short leash. But in the biggest of games, the coach stuck with his starter and it paid off. The big moment came in the fourth with Edmonton trailing 25-20. On third-and-four, Ray hit Derrell Mitchell for a deep shot and then the quarterback scored soon after on a goal-line sneak.

WHAT A BIZARRE ENDING

The fans at BC Place were treated with plenty of offence as Calvillo hit Dave Stala for a 30-yard score and Edmonton answered back with Ray to Jason Tucker from 11 yards out. At this point, the defences took over. The Alouettes forced the Double E to a Sean Fleming field goal, and Montreal was now a touchdown away from winning it all. However, Calvillo and his offence uncharacteristically made a couple mistakes at the worst time. After an illegal pass by Calvillo, followed by a Charles Alston 11-yard sack, and an incomplete pass, it was suddenly third-and-forever. The final image is of a desperate Calvillo punting the ball away and Maciocia jumping around for glee when it was all said and done. What a game!