Dein erstes Forum » the Bombers were a long way from average

WINNIPEG - Winnipeg Blue Bombers coach Mike OShea knows exactly what the Toronto Argonauts and quarterback Ricky Ray can do to an opponent and Ray isnt all the Bombers have to worry about when they meet Thursday. Cory Joseph Jersey . "Theyve got a lot of weapons," said OShea, Torontos former special teams co-ordinator until he got the top coaching job in Winnipeg. Catch all the action on TSN and TSN 1050 starting at 8:30pm et/5:30pm pt, with pre- and post-game coverage available on TSN 1050 and TSN 1290. "It just so happens that the ball always travels through Ricky first. But, obviously, Im quite familiar with all the guys they have and what they can do offensively." The Bombers play the Argos in the CFL opener at Investors Group Field. It kicks off an expanded season with the addition of the Ottawa Redblacks to the CFL East this year and the return of the Bombers to the CFL West. The Bombers made a lot of changes between seasons and likely arent finished. The Argos have also made changes, although on offence coach Scott Milanovich says theyre ready to go. "I expect us not to miss a beat offensively," he said after the Argos landed Wednesday. "Our expectations are pretty high, weve got a lot of players returning," agreed Ray. "Youve still got to do it on game day." But he also said with little pre-season experience, he expects to make a few mistakes. The Toronto defence sounds more like a work in progress under the guidance of former Bomber head coach Tim Burke, now back in a more familiar role as defensive co-ordinator. "Well have a good defence, I think its going to take us some time," Burke said. The Bombers have their own holes to fill. The depth chart for Thursdays game includes six players at middle linebacker, where they lost Henoc Muamba to the NFL. On Wednesday, they added Canadian offensive lineman Gord Hinse, who played in Edmonton last season, although he immediately went on the six-game injured list. Starting well is important to OShea. "Wed like to come out there and be as physical as we can and set a standard, set up a minimum standard for us and keep building from there," said OShea. "Were going our there to win and set a pace for the season." If the Bombers want to see how rookie starting quarterback Drew Willy performs under pressure, they couldnt ask for a better opponent. Ray has thrown 3,780 completed passes for 251 touchdowns and three Grey Cups over 11 seasons in the league with Edmonton and Toronto. "Sometimes I cant believe Im going into my 12th year," he said Wednesday. Willy has completed just 101 for nine touchdowns and has only four starts in his prior two seasons as a backup in Regina. The Bombers are staking a lot on Willy as they try to appease fans turned off by recent struggles, while the Argos want to get back to the Grey Cup after stumbling in last years East final. Willy says keeping Ray off the field as much as possible is going to be a key for the Bombers Thursday. "We definitely need to be efficient," he said of the offence. "We need to make sure our drives take some time." Oh, and scoring touchdowns rather than field goals would also be good, he noted. One thing Willy brings to the table is durability. He says he has only missed two games due to injury in his career, a hand injury in practice that cost him two games when he was in his sophomore career at the University of Buffalo. The Argos brought rookie running back and Winnipeg native Anthony Coombs along. He sits third on their depth chart behind imports Curtis Steele and Jeremiah Johnson. "This time its for keeps so Im exited to be out there," said Coombs, who also saw action in their exhibition game in Winnipeg. Veteran Winnipeg offensive lineman Glenn January couldnt promise a win but he did promise a lot of effort come Thursday night "I think were going to be a passionate team and were going to be a well-prepared team," he said. "If we go out there and we do stumble and dont get the win, its not the end of the world. Its an 18-game season." The Argonauts finished 11-7 in the regular season last year but then fell to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in the East final. Hamilton went to the Grey Cup but lost to the Saskatchewan Roughriders at home in Regina. "Right now were an average football team. We have a potential to be more than that," said Milanovich. After a 3-15 season that cost Burke his job, the Bombers were a long way from average last year. The Argos beat the Bombers all three times last season and also beat them in their first pre-season game this year, 24-22. Bobby Wanzer Jersey . Ashton scored a hat trick -- giving him 13 goals in 16 AHL games this season -- to power the Toronto Marlies to a 5-2 victory over the visiting Lake Erie Monsters in AHL action on Sunday. Metta World Peace Jersey . Erik Cole scored on a breakaway with 4:49 to play, and the Stars rallied to defeat the Minnesota Wild 4-3 on Saturday night. https://www.cheapkingsbasketball.com/472b-jack-coleman-jersey-kings.html . Shot outdoors against the stunning backdrop of Banff, Alta., the networks 30-minute original production airs Friday at 8 p.m. ET on TSN2. The four All-Star teams will play for $100,000 in prize money during TSNs annual skins game, airing live this weekend on TSN from The Fenlands Banff Recreation Centre.CALGARY - Shawn Evans scored his fourth goal 1:23 into overtime as the Calgary Roughnecks edged the Colorado Mammoth 16-15 in an entertaining, back-and-forth West Division semi-final Saturday. Working against the tight-coverage of defender Joey Cupido, Evans made a couple quick pivots that got him just enough space to be able to fire a clean shot that beat Mammoth goaltender Dillon Ward. As he raced down the floor in jubilation, the Roughnecks poured off the bench and smothered the forward in a dog pile as the raucous crowd of 12,375 at the Scotiabank Saddledome celebrated. Evans also had five assists for nine points. Calgary moves on to face the Edmonton Rush in the West final. Dane Dobbie scored four goals and Curtis Dickson added three more for Calgary. Geoff Snider and Jeff Shattler each scored a pair with Daryl Veltman also scoring. Adam Jones scored five times to lead the way for Colorado. Athan Iannucci and John Grant Jr. had two goals apiece while Sean Pollock, Cameron Holding, Dan Coates, Bob Snider, Joey Cupido and Joel Dalgarno also scored. Colorado (8-10) entered the playoffs having won three straight and four of seven since the club fired head coach Bob Hamley and two assistant coaches on March 4. Calgary (12-6) had also been on a roll of late, finishing the season with six wins in its last seven games. Tied 14-14 after three quarters, Colorado took the lead 41 seconds into the fourth quarter on Jones fifth goal of the night. In the longest stretch of action without a goal, Calgary finally tied the game at 8:58 when Dickson took the ball to the net and put a shot over the shoulder of Ward. It was the seventh time the game was tied. The previous time these two teams met — the first game after the Mammoth coaching change — Colorado won 10-9 in overtime in Calgary. That was the half-time score on this night. Calgary took its first lead of the night on the strength of three unanswered goals in the first six minutes of the third quarter. The Mammoths troubles began when they were late returning to the field to start the second half. Mitch Richmond Jersey. Assessed a delay of game penalty, Evans scored on the power play at 1:12 tying it 10-10. Dickson fired a long, low shot past Ward at 3:49. Two minutes later, Shattler made it 12-10. Colorado eventually got it back to 13-13 on Grants goal at 13:42, and after Evans restored the Roughnecks lead at 14:26, Holding tied it up once again 18 seconds after that. After a relatively quiet first quarter in which the Mammoth took a 3-2 lead, the offences for both sides came our firing in a wild second quarter that saw the teams combine for 14 goals on 26 shots, with each scoring seven times. Goals on three consecutive shots to open the second quarter gave the Mammoth a 6-3 lead and prompted Calgary coach Curt Malawsky to pull goalie Mike Poulin. While the veteran returned to the game less than a minute later, the temporary breather seemed to work. Poulin stopped the next shot he faced and the Roughnecks responded by promptly scoring three goals in a 38-second span to tie it 6-6. Calgary then went to the power play only to have momentum swing back the other way thanks to short-handed goals eight seconds apart from Cupido and Snider. With the Mammoth up 10-8 and looking to increase their lead before the second quarter ended, Calgary got a pivotal short-handed goal from Dobbie, the NLLs regular season scoring leader with 51. Dobbies goal was his third of the night, and it came with 19 seconds remaining in the half. The final shots were 60-50 in favour of Calgary. Notes: Roughnecks Geoff Snider left the game late in the third quarter with an injury... Calgary will host Edmonton on Saturday in the first of a two-game West division final. In a new format introduced this season, each team hosts one game. If each team wins once, a 10-minute mini game immediately follows the second game. If still tied, theyll play sudden death overtime... In the East final, Buffalo will play Rochester. ' ' '