Hamilton Tiger-Cats head coach Kent Austin, right, gets a hug from defensive tackle Ted Laurent in Hamilton on Saturday after defeating Montreal to claim first place in the East Division.Peter Power/The Canadian Press
While a couple of the league's most veteran playoff pivots didn't qualify for the postseason this year in Toronto's Ricky Ray and Ottawa's Henry Burris, there will be plenty of intriguing quarterback storylines weaved through this year's CFL playoffs.
A couple of young quarterbacks will make their playoff debuts, while uncertainty looms for some teams as their valuable veteran signal-callers try to make highly-awaited returns from injury.
With rookie starter Zach Collaros at the helm, the Hamilton Tiger-Cats entered Saturday with a chance of being left outside of the postseason entirely, but they exited it with a 29-15 win over the Montreal Alouettes that gave them a playoff berth and their first division title since 1998.
The Ticats ended a six-game Montreal win streak and earned the right to host the East final in two weeks, while also ousting their Southern Ontario rivals from Toronto from the playoffs. After a 1-6 start to the season, the Grey Cup runners-up finally got into their new stadium at Tim Horton's Field and capped their regular season with a 7-2 record (6-0 in the new home). It was the club's best second-half mark since 1972, when they won 10 straight on the way to a Grey Cup title.
Saturday's outcome had the Alouettes settling for second place in the East, meaning the Als will host the crossover team from the West next week, the B.C. Lions. Montreal is another team to make a dramatic second-half turnaround – the squad went 8-2 after giving Jonathan Crompton the starting job under centre. Sunday's matchup is a chance at redemption for the Lions, who skidded into the playoffs after a rocky offensive season. While Kevin Glenn may continue as starter, there's a chance B.C. could get Travis Lulay back, who has been sidelined much of the year with a shoulder injury but may provide the Leos that spark they need.
Out West, it will be the Edmonton Eskimos hosting the Saskatchewan Roughriders next week, and all of Riderville anxiously awaits word on the status of Darian Durant, who led the team to Grey Cup victory a year ago in Regina. The star quarterback, who had surgery on a torn tendon in his right elbow in early September, returned to the practice last week for his first full workouts in nearly two months.
The Esks, too, are being ambiguous about the quarterback position. Mike Reilly left last Sunday's game with what seemed at the time to be a small injury, but he rested all last week as well as Sunday's final game against the Riders. While the team has said little about the nature of Reilly's lower body injury, some have reported he may have a broken bone in his foot.
The Eskimos and Riders met in the final week of the season with the Green Riders ending Edmonton's three-game win streak in a very chippy affair that set the tone for their playoff meeting next week. The winner of that contest will travel to Calgary next and face the Stampeders, by far the most consistent team of this CFL season, starring quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell and the league's leading rusher, Jon Cornish.
Road to the Grey Cup
Sunday, Nov. 16
East semi-final: B.C. (9-9) at Montreal (9-9), 1 p.m.
West semi-final: Saskatchewan (10-8) at Edmonton (12-6), 4:30 p.m.
Sunday, Nov. 23
East final: Semi-final winner at Hamilton (9-9), 1 p.m.
West final: Semi-final winner at Calgary (15-3), 4:30 p.m.
Sunday, Nov. 30
Grey Cup: In Vancouver, 6:30 p.m.
All times Eastern