The Montreal Alouettes held a first practice session for the Canadian Football League East final, which they will play against the Toronto Argonauts on Sunday, with the obvious objective of saving their strength for this confrontation.
Danny Maciocia’s team left helmets and shoulder pads in the locker room to maximize the mental aspect of their preparation on Wednesday near the Olympic Stadium.
“I wouldn’t say that we want to take it more relaxed, but rather that we want to take care of our players, answered the coach when questioned on this subject. We want to keep our legs and be physically and mentally ready to compete on Sunday. We don’t want to be a team that leaves Montreal tired. So we take care of our players. »
“Still, the kind of training we had today can be very good on the mental side, for assignments on the field, and in all phases of the game.
The Montreal team will hold other more “physical” sessions, according to the coach, later this week.
” [Mercredi], it’s a more mental workout, but there are two more coming up. The tempo will be a little higher and we will be in gear. »
The objective of this lighter workout is obviously to give the Alouettes every chance to continue their momentum. The team is coming off its last two outings, including its first playoff win in eight years. She obviously wants to repeat the “feat” on Sunday at 1 p.m. at BMO Field, and thus reach a first Gray Cup final since her last title in 2010.
“I see this as an opportunity,” noted the coach. It doesn’t happen every day and it doesn’t happen to everyone. So you have to take advantage of it. »
We want to keep our legs and be physically and mentally ready to compete on Sunday.
To do that, the team won’t have to experience a slump in the second half, as it did in the 28-17 win over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in the Eastern Semi-Final.
“We looked at the tapes, and it is sure that they [les entraîneurs] made some changes, as we also had trouble in the third quarter due to a breakdown in our communications system, said veteran guard Kristian Matte. There were several factors to explain this. »
“But, in the Canadian League, a 22-6 lead is easy to recover,” continued Matte, recalling the score on the board after two quarters last Sunday. We can’t fall asleep on this kind of advance. Honestly, this season, we had problems after halftime. On the other hand, we have proven in recent weeks that we are capable of doing it. You have to admit it: they [les Tiger-Cats] have played well. But we have mistakes to correct, and we have to play 60 minutes, not 55 or 45. We’ve been talking about it since the start of the season. We are progressing; hopefully it will last until the end. »
Danny Maciocia’s troop is in pretty good shape for this matchup, but a few elements could be missing.
This is particularly the case for linebacker Micah Awe, who missed the game against the Tiger-Cats. Awe didn’t take part in Wednesday’s practice, and Maciocia doubts he’ll see him in uniform this weekend.
Defensive lineman Tommy Costigan, injured in the Eastern semi-final, also missed practice. The coach, however, could not say more about his state of health.
Linebacker Tyrell Richards, however, was back on the field.
“He will be available for the game, but I don’t know if he will be in uniform,” Maciocia said.