POWER RANKINGS

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 26/10/2010 (5773 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

POWER RANKINGS

One man’s totally subjective rankings with two weeks of regular-season play remaining (last week’s rank in parentheses):

1. (1) MONTREAL ALOUETTES (11-5): What exactly was that in a 40-3 butt-kicking by Hamilton? Sure didn’t look like the defending champs…

2. (2) CALGARY STAMPEDERS (11-5): Just 2-4 in their last six games. Very sloppy and slept through loss to Lions.

3. (4) HAMILTON TIGER-CATS (9-7): Have won three straight. Officially the hottest team in the CFL right now.

4. (3) SASKATCHEWAN ROUGHRIDERS (9-7): Have dropped three straight. And the folks in Saskatchewan are getting surly…

5. (5) TORONTO ARGONAUTS (8-8): Jim Barker’s blueprint has its critics, but there’s no arguing with the results.

6. (8) EDMONTON ESKIMOS (6-10): Have won four of last five and Eric Tillman’s fingerprints are all over the turnaround.

7. (6) B.C. LIONS (6-10): Got it done in Calgary to keep their playoff hopes alive.

8. (8) WINNIPEG BLUE BOMBERS (4-12): Next year country. Again.

JUICY NUMBERS — 6

Kick-return touchdowns surrendered by the Bombers this season: three by Chad Owens of the Argos, two by Hamilton’s Marcus Thigpen in the season opener and one by B.C.’s Yonus Davis.

SAY WHAT?

“He threw an (bad word) UFC elbow at me and it hit a nerve. He’d better get fined for that. Are you allowed to throw elbows at someone’s throat and get away with it?” — Lions linebacker Korey Banks after being forced to leave the game following a shot from Calgary’s Nik Lewis.

FYI

This nugget courtesy of Terry Koshan of the Toronto Sun: Argo kick returner Chad Owens is on his way to joining some elite company. Owens needs just 51 punt-return yards in the final two weeks to become just the fifth player in CFL history to finish a season with 1,000 kickoff and punt return yards. He already has 1,093 yards in kickoffs. Saskatchewan’s Corey Holmes was the last to accomplish the feat, back in 2002… The Eskimos were turnover-free in Saturday’s win over Saskatchewan, a feat they haven’t accomplished since Aug. 14, 2007 — a streak of 64 games… And the rich get richer: the Alouettes announced Monday they have added kick returner Larry Taylor, last year’s Most Outstanding Special Teams player. Taylor attended camp with the New York Jets… Interesting stat: In their five losses this season the Alouettes have been outscored by an average of just over 20 points… Hard to remember an NFL cast-off/in-season free agent addition who has made as much of an impact as Stevie Baggs has with the Ticats. He’s been brilliant since he signed in Hamilton after being released by Arizona.