Change is in the Winnipeg air ahead of 112th Grey Cup

There is the distinct feeling of change in the air in Winnipeg this week where the Canadian Football League will be handing out the Grey Cup for the 112th time on Sunday evening.

That’s true whether we’re talking about what’s taking place on or off the field.

Sunday’s game, featuring the Saskatchewan Roughriders and Montreal Alouettes, will be the first Grey Cup game since 2018 that doesn’t include the Winnipeg Blue Bombers after their run of five consecutive Grey Cup appearances came to an end with their loss in the Eastern Division Semi-final two weeks ago at Montreal.

Since Winnipeg last played host to a Grey Cup in 2015, the Bombers have morphed from a team trying to find its way into the league’s most successful franchise – and it’s not particularly close.

Their recent 10-8 season marked a ninth consecutive campaign of double-digit regular-season wins, and the first in which they managed to sell out all nine home games at 33,000-plus per date.

That’s impressive stuff in a league where overall attendance remains an issue and where annual player turnover makes remaining on top a difficult challenge.

All that said, there’s no doubt a degree of disappointment in the Bombers failure to make it to a hometown Grey Cup, which was undoubtedly imagined locally as a coronation for one of the greatest eras of Bomber football there’s ever been.

Now, with quarterback Zach Collaros at 37 years old and no heir apparent on the roster, and with head coach Mike O’Shea on an expiring contract, there is legitimate reason to believe the Bombers’ Grey Cup window may have closed for now.

O’Shea may be back next season, as this isn’t the first time he’s gotten to the end of a contract before re-upping with Winnipeg. But this time the team he both played and coached for – the Toronto Argonauts – is looking for a new sideline boss and have their sights set on landing him.

TSN reported Monday that the Argos have received permission to speak to O’Shea and those conversations have begun.

If he leaves, there could be sweeping change for the Bombers.

The face of change on the field this week will be Montreal quarterback Davis Alexander, who took over as Montreal’s starter at the beginning of this season. Brash, young, and full of emotion, he’s been the catalyst to Montreal’s success, despite missing more than half the season while battling a hamstring injury.

At 13-0 as a starter heading into the Grey Cup, he has a chance to put himself and the Alouettes atop the league this week in what could be two Grey Cup wins in three years for Montreal.

Of course, the winds of change this season have not been limited to the playing field ever since Stewart Johnston succeeded Randy Ambrosie as commissioner this past April.

Johnston, a former TSN president who took the job with a more solid understanding of the league and its dynamics than any of his recent predecessors, promoted himself as an agent of change and he wasted no time following through on that promise.

In September, after fewer than six months on the job, Johnston unveiled changes to the CFL’s field dimensions and rules that will begin being phased in next season and be complete by 2027.

This will be the last time the Grey Cup has a chance to be won by a missed field goal that sails out the back of an end zone, as that measure is being removed for next season. By 2027, there will no longer be a 55-yard line and the end zones will shrink from 20 to 15 yards each.

The moves were applauded by many but the voice of opposition has been loud at times, especially in the social media world, instantly making Johnston a polarizing figure among the league’s traditional fan base.

How much of that will be felt this week in Winnipeg will be interesting to see.

The CFL has mostly catered to its existing fan base more than it’s tried to induce new fans, but Johnston has been open that changes to the league are far from over.

In the prairie heartland of Canadian football, change isn’t always well received, so much of the conversation this week will be not only about the changes announced but speculation over what’s to come.

The commissioner’s annual state-of-the-league address is always a barometer of sorts about where the league sits and where it is going. Johnston’s first time at the podium this week will be closely studied for clues about what may be on the way.

So, in a city known famously for some very windy days, the greatest winds this Grey Cup week will be the winds of change.

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