Stoudermire out with broken hand

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This article was published 07/06/2015 (3994 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers now have holes to fill on offence, defence and special teams with Sunday’s news that unique and multi-talented player Troy Stoudermire is out for awhile with a broken right hand.

Stoudermire, in his second year with the Bombers, had been practising at defensive half-back and receiver in addition to running back kicks for the Bombers until he broke his hand in a collision at training camp on Saturday.

The severity of the injury wasn’t immediately clear on Saturday but Stoudermire was wearing a cast on his right hand at camp on Sunday and the club confirmed he had broken a bone.

Bombers head coach Mike O’Shea said he could only speculate on how long Stoudermire will be out of the lineup. “I”m not a doctor, I don’t know. What’s bone healing at? Three to six (weeks)? But who knows? Everyone heals differently.”

While Stoudermire brought an utterly unique skill set to the Bombers, O’Shea downplayed the significance of his absence from the club’s lineup. “That’s why we have a lot of depth in training camp. This year, we have a great deal of depth here. We will not only survive, we’ll thrive through these situations.

“The next guy up is going to want to prove something.”

Stoudermire was a special teams player of the week for the Bombers last year and he led the CFL in combined special teams yards per game, averaging 171 yards per game in seven games for Winnipeg in 2014.

He was rewarded with a new contract in the off-season that locked him down as a Bomber through 2017.

Even before Stoudermire was hurt, the Bombers had been auditioning several other kick returners at this year’s camp, including speedsters receiver Jhomo Gordon and running back Carlos Anderson.

The news of Stoudermire’s injury came on the same day the Bombers held their final full practice before travelling to Toronto, where they will take on the Argos at Varsity Stadium Tuesday night in the first pre-season game of the 2015 CFL season for both teams.

O’Shea revealed he will take four quarterbacks with him to Toronto and all will get to play against the Argos — Drew Willy, Brian Brohm, Robert Marve and Josh Portis. The only QB not making the trip this week is former U of M Bisons pivot Jordan Yantz, O’Shea said.

Willy said he’s excited to finally get some game action. “I think everyone’s ready for a game after the first week of pre-season. Everyone’s just ready to play someone else.”

While Willy’s position as the Bombers starting QB this season is already set, other Bombers players will be trying to win starting jobs in Toronto, including offensive lineman Matthias Goossen.

The Bombers drafted Goossen third overall in the 2014 CFL draft, believing he was ready to be a starter in the CFL. While Goossen did start a couple games in injury relief last season, his progress has been slower than the team’s front office had originally hoped.

And Goossen’s hardly a lock for a starting job this season, either. The Bombers went out in the off-season and signed Dominic Picard as their new centre, a position Goossen is most comfortable playing. And they also drafted Sukh Chungh second overall in last month’s CFL draft and have been giving Chungh a long hard look at training camp at right guard, the other position Goossen has some experience playing.

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Put it altogether and Goossen needs to make an impression in Toronto. “You’ve got to continue to compete — that’s all I can do right now. You can’t worry about other people coming in, you can’t worry about other people being signed,” said Goossen, who got married during the off-season.

“I can only do what I can do and just work my hardest wherever they put me.”

O’Shea said Goossen grew up in more ways than one during the off-season. “He seems more mature. He’s more comfortable in his role,” said O’Shea. “Not only physically does he look more mature, but he just seems more focussed and ready to go.”

email: paul.wiecek@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @PaulWiecek