Will Calgary become a "Dynasty"?

[BigBlue]

Remember the Eskimo dynasty:

Eskimos' dynasty (1970–1988)[edit]

The Montreal Alouettes' 1970 Grey Cup championship, an upset win over the favoured Calgary Stampeders, served as a morale booster for the city of Montreal, which was reeling in the aftermath of the October Crisis.^[24] The 1970s belonged to the Edmonton Eskimos, however, as they ended the decade as one of the most dominant teams in CFL history,^[47] reaching the Grey Cup nine times between 1973 and 1982.^[48]The team competed in three consecutive finals early in the decade, losing to Ottawa in 1973 and Montreal in 1974, before winning the franchise's fourth championship in 1975.^[49] The 1975 championship was held in Calgary and was the first Grey Cup played on the Canadian Prairies.^[50] A young woman infamously streaked across the field during the national anthem despite frigid temperatures well below freezing.^[51] The only time the Eskimos did not reach the Grey Cup final during this span was in 1976, when the Saskatchewan Roughriders met the Ottawa Rough Riders. Both teams would fight a see-saw battle, which was decided in the dying seconds of the game when Ottawa quarterback Tom Clements threw to Tony Gabriel, which stood out as the winning touchdown, 23-20. The 1977 Grey Cup was the first held at Olympic Stadium in Montreal, contested by the home town Alouettes and the Eskimos in front of a record crowd of 68,318.^[48] The game became known as the "Ice Bowl", as low temperatures froze snow on the field that had been melted by groundskeepers with salt, making the artificial turf extremely slippery. The Alouettes adapted to the field conditions by affixing staples to the soles of their shoes, improving their traction, and won the game by a 41–6 score.^[24]

Upset at losing the 1977 game under poor weather conditions, the Eskimos hoped for a rematch with Montreal in 1978.^[52] Both teams reached the final game, which Edmonton won 20–13. It was the first of five consecutive championships, a streak that remains unmatched in the history of the Grey Cup.^[53] The Eskimos' dynasty dominated the league, losing a total of only six games during the three seasons from 1979 to 1981.^[54] The 1981 Grey Cup was expected to be yet another easy win for Edmonton, who posted a 14–1–1 record during the season and were considered overwhelming favourites against the 5–11 Ottawa Rough Riders.^[55] The first half did not go as Edmonton hoped, though, as Ottawa emerged with a 20–1 lead. Quarterback Warren Moon led the Eskimos back in the second half, and with the game tied at 23, Dave Cutler kicked the game-winning field goal with just three seconds remaining.^[56]

Edmonton's championship run came to an end in 1983 when they failed to reach the final; the Argonauts defeated the BC Lions to win the championship.^[48] Despite Toronto's win, the CFL felt that the overall quality of play in the East Division had deteriorated compared to that of the West. In 1986, it altered the playoff format to allow the first non-playoff team in one division to take the last playoff spot, but stay in their division if they had a better record. The consequences of the new rules were felt immediately, as the league gave a playoff spot to the Stampeders having a better record than the Alouettes, and decided the East Division Final would be a 2-game-total-point Final between the Toronto Argonauts and the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, who finished first and second, respectively. The crossover, if necessary, would begin in 1987. In financial difficulty, the loss of the playoff spot was disastrous for Montreal, which ceased operations one year later.^[57] Reduced to eight teams, the CFL shifted Winnipeg to the East Division, making the 1988 Grey Cup between the Blue Bombers and Lions the first championship game between two western Canadian teams.^[58]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grey_Cup

It seems like Calgary's ownership, Hufnagel & Dickenson have built the potential for a dynasty. Reasons include

1] US Talent acquisition, development and reasonableness about salaries ... not over paying

2] their Canadian drafting thought process

3] the use of the Calgary Colts junior club with Coach "Snoop" for funneling future undrafted Canadians into their system

4] a continuous succession plan at every position on the team - - an EverReady methodology throughout the ranks including management, coaching & players

5] the best set of coaches in the league and a genuine understanding of the evolution of our game

5] paying up for the best QB set available

6] John Hufnagel's brilliance and ongoing learning & experience

7] corporate wisdom & business sponsorship with a genuine sense of community and pride, single mindedness free of infighting

It seems quite opposite of the Saskatchewan desperateness to rebuild an instant winner to assuage their local ego

I doubt if the 70's Eskimo machine can ever be duplicated but the Stampeders' seem to be building a new machine all of their own.

How are we doing with that here in Winnipeg?

[Rich]

Calgary is going to be really interesting to watch over the next couple of years.  

Curious to see how the departure of John Murphy affects their pipeline of Americans coming in and compare that to Saskatchewan's scouting going forward.  How much was Murphy responsible for the players that Calgary has been finding  Also, Hufnagel is 65.  How many more years before he decides to retire completely and what is the succession plan for GM?  

Michael Petrie has been assistant GM for the last 6 years.  Is he being groomed?  He has an interesting bio as he was a sportswriter and covered the Stamps before joining the club in media relations.

BLM is only 26, and having a super star QB for potentially the next decade for whoever takes over is a big piece to that continued success.

 

[SpeedFlex27]

I think Calgary is already a dynasty. I don't know Grey Cup records but has any team won more Grey Cups from them the past 20 years or more? They've been on top for years & years.

Edited November 25, 2016 by SpeedFlex27

[bigg jay]

9 minutes ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

I think Calgary is already a dynasty. They probably have the most winning seasons since Buono took over in 1990. Just a couple of really down seasons in the mid 2000's & dominant again after John Hufnagel took over. I don't know Grey Cup records but has any team won more Grey Cups from them the past 25 years or more?

Calgary & Toronto have both won 5 of the last 25 cups.  BC, Montreal & Edmonton each have 4 (Montreal's number includes the year Baltimore won).

[Noeller]

I hope the Stamps turns into a giant, flaming bag of crap sooner rather than later....some humble pie would serve that city well...

[Jesse]

17 minutes ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

I think Calgary is already a dynasty. I don't know Grey Cup records but has any team won more Grey Cups from them the past 20 years or more? They've been on top for years & years.

When I hear "dynasty", I'm not looking back 20 years, more to the start of Hufnagel's regime. They have never won less than 10 games since 2008, appearing in 4 Grey Cups, winning 3 of them. 

[bigg jay]

1 minute ago, Noeller said:

I hope the Stamps turns into a giant, flaming bag of crap sooner rather than later....some humble pie would serve that city well...

You mean like their hockey team?

[JohnnyOnTheSpot]

Salary cap and free agency both work against a dynasty.  Two in a row is possible but three won't happen again.

[Tracker]

Calgary probably will, and I resent the hell out of them for it.

[Noeller]

48 minutes ago, bigg jay said:

You mean like their hockey team?

They've won a couple lately that I'm not enjoying at all. They can go back to sucking Gulutzan's hind *** any day now, plz.....it looks SO good on them....

[bearpants]

1 hour ago, Jesse said:

When I hear "dynasty", I'm not looking back 20 years, more to the start of Hufnagel's regime. They have never won less than 10 games since 2008, appearing in 4 Grey Cups, winning 3 of them. 

I think a modern day dynasty is no longer 3 or 4 consecutive championships... that just doesn't happen anymore.... something like 3 in 5 years would qualify for me... Patriots: 3 from 2000-2004, Blackhawks: 3 from 2010-2015, SF Giants: 3 from 2010-2014 (I may be slightly off on the years)... these are what I think of as a modern dynasty...

EDIT: BTW I'm agreeing with you, not disputing your statement...

Edited November 25, 2016 by bearpants

[17to85]

so are we just awarding the Stamps the Cup before the game has even been played? Cause I remember a team that dominated the regular season that we did the same thing for several years back... didn't work out so well. 

Let's see if the Stamps can seal the deal on Sunday before we start speculating on a dynasty. 

[Guest J5V]

1 hour ago, 17to85 said:

so are we just awarding the Stamps the Cup before the game has even been played? Cause I remember a team that dominated the regular season that we did the same thing for several years back... didn't work out so well. 

Let's see if the Stamps can seal the deal on Sunday before we start speculating on a dynasty. 

But you have to admit, they sure as hell look unbeatable. Moreso than I ever remember. In the first game that really mattered in ages for them they were up 32-0 at half time and basically cruised from there. If there's a weakness on that team to be exploited I sure as hell don't know what it is. I'm calling them to easily beat the spread and win by 14 or more.

[SpeedFlex27]

2 minutes ago, J5V said:

But you have to admit, they sure as hell look unbeatable. Moreso than I ever remember. In the first game that really mattered in ages for them they were up 32-0 at half time and basically cruised from there. If there's a weakness on that team to be exploited I sure as hell don't know what it is. I'm calling them to easily beat the spread and win by 14 or more.

Their offensive line is beat up. That could be their achilles heel in this game. 

[wbbfan]

allready a regular season dynasty. They are just the worst of the dynasties when it comes to play offs. 

[IC Khari]

I will not accept an Ottawa Redblack win, that would give the city of Winnipeg the longest CFL Championship drought ... Go Stamps (at least tomorrow)

[WBBFanWest]

22 minutes ago, J5V said:

But you have to admit, they sure as hell look unbeatable. Moreso than I ever remember. In the first game that really mattered in ages for them they were up 32-0 at half time and basically cruised from there. If there's a weakness on that team to be exploited I sure as hell don't know what it is. I'm calling them to easily beat the spread and win by 14 or more.

I seem to remember a game this year that they won, but it took them a field goal on the last play of the game in order to do it.  Yes they are a good team, but they most certainly are not "unbeatable".

[LeBird]

I didn't realize they had won so many cups in a row.  oh, I see an 8 year cycle kind of dynasty.

[17to85]

14 hours ago, J5V said:

But you have to admit, they sure as hell look unbeatable. Moreso than I ever remember. In the first game that really mattered in ages for them they were up 32-0 at half time and basically cruised from there. If there's a weakness on that team to be exploited I sure as hell don't know what it is. I'm calling them to easily beat the spread and win by 14 or more.

yeah but any given sunday, and not all of their games this year have been dominating wins, they've had their share of close ones. No team is unbeatable. I don't expect Ottawa to do it either but until the final whistle goes you just never can be sure. 

[Dragon37]

No they are not a dynasty and will not be. There will never be a dynasty like the Eskimos again. Teams can have competitive teams for decades but championship dynasties are gone. The best we are going to see are back to back champions. That's it.

[Mark H.]

We know what Burris can do when he's on - plus he has a great receiving corps. The X factor here could be Mark Nelson, maybe he's got some new pressure packages that the Stamps haven't seen. BLM is literally sitting on his couch back there. 

[Noeller]

Didn't the RBs take Calgary to OT early in the season? 

[Mark H.]

34 minutes ago, Noeller said:

Didn't the RBs take Calgary to OT early in the season? 

26 - 26 tie. Calgary could've easily had 2 - 3 more losses on the season.

[Guest J5V]

1 hour ago, Mark H. said:

26 - 26 tie. Calgary could've easily had 2 - 3 more losses on the season.

Yeah, a 13-4-1 record would suck. :-)

[Mark F]

On 2016-11-25 at 8:02 PM, SpeedFlex27 said:

Their offensive line is beat up. That could be their achilles heel in this game. 

 

Hope so.

I hope to see a lot of hurrys and hits on Mitchell in this game.  Ottawa should show him who he really is.

I am predicting Ottawa wins.