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There's nothing more that needs to be said, the Calgary Stampeders entered the season with little respect from opposing teams and media. They started down the road to achieving respectability status tonight as they were crowned Grey Cup Champions over the Montreal Alouettes.

Montreal, fat over their league all-star awards and cocky from the home town hype and Eastern achievements were high on their abilities coming into the game. Calgary, on the other hand, despite dropping the best record in the CFL this season, received zero accolades or recognition. The response? Calgary responded with a similar game as their Western Division game against BC, and with a similar outcome.



Sandro DeAngelis kicked five field goals as the Calgary Stampeders won the Grey Cup with a back-and-forth 22-14 victory over the Montreal Alouettes before the second largest CFL crowd in the history of the game.

Calgary started out of the gate slow, had limited success offensively and the defense showed signs of breaking. Their no-major streak ended when cocky Avon Cobourne scored Montreal’s only touchdown. Damon Duval kicked two field goals and a single as the Alouettes. Calgary responded, as they did at home last week, with a late touchdown in the second quarter to draw within 3 to 10:13 going into the half.

Adjustments made in the second half were enough to yet again completely shutdown the opposing offense. Calgary on the other hand kickstarted their offense with Brett Ralph scoring the only touchdown for the Stampeders.

The Alouettes fate was sealed when quarterback Anthony Calvillo threw his second interception of the second half into the end zone midway through the fourth quarter, and Henry Burris responded by putting the Stampeders in position for a 50-yard placement by DeAngelis and an eight-point lead with 4:12 left to play.

It was the longest field goal of the season for the Calgary kicker, who was the game’s top Canadian.

Calgary is now 6-6 in Grey Cup games while Montreal fell to 5-11. And it was the Stamps’ first win in three tries against the Alouettes, after losses in 1948 and 1970.

Burris led a 10-play drive to the Montreal 36 and DeAngelis tied the score with a 43-yard effort 1:12 into the second quarter. But Burris, who completed his first 11 passes, mostly for short yardage, followed his first incomplete toss with a throw straight to Alouette middle linebacker Reggie Hunt for a turnover at the Montreal 51.

A 42-yard punt return by Larry Taylor set up a 19-yard Duval field goal, but Calgary struck right back with an eight-play scoring drive, and Burris scrambled out of the pocket and found Ralph alone in the end zone from 20 yards with 44 seconds left in the half.

Burris used his feet to move the ball early in the second half and took the ball to the Montreal five, but Demetris Summers dropped a sure TD pass and DeAngelis was forced to kick a 12-yard field goal to tie the game.

To close the game a Burris drive fell short as Nik Lewis missed a catchable ball in the end zone and DeAngelis hit a 21-yard field goal for a 16-14 Calgary lead on the final play of the third quarter.

Calvillo opened the fourth by throwing an interception to Calgary’s Dwight Anderson, but despite a wild reception in which a Burris pass went off Ken-Yon Rambo’s hand’s into the arms of Lewis, they settled for another field goal, this one from 30 yards.

The Alouettes responded by marching down to the Calgary 20 before Shannon James intercepted Calvillo’s pass in the end zone with seven minutes left.

DeAngelis then put it away with his 50-yarder.

The Stampeders led the West Divison at 13-5 while Montreal was tops in the East at 11-7. John Hufnagel has the honour of coming into the season, year one, and winning the sixth Grey Cup in team history and the first since they beat Winnipeg in the same stadium in 2001. More coverage to come.