Riders' bad math will go down in history

This may go down as the most famous penalty since May 10, 1979.

And somewhere Don Cherry now has company.

The Saskatchewan Roughriders had Grey Cup 97 in their hands on Sunday night at Calgary, before a problem with basic arithmetic took it all away.

Montreal's Damon Duval lined up for a game-winning field goal, missed it, and Rider fans seemed ready for a giant party when penalty flags flew all over the field.

Saskatchewan had 13 men on the field — one more than regulation.

Duval got another try from 33 yards out, nailed it, and what should have been a big Saskatchewan victory was a horrible memory.

Special teams coach Kavis Reed refused to say afterwards what player stayed on the field instead of coming back to the Saskatchewan sideline as Montreal was lining up for the field goal. 

"The player's name is not important," he said. "What's important is that a mistake was made and ultimately I think I'm responsible for that mistake."

Head coach Ken Miller called it "a lack of communication.

"But it should have been recognized," he added. "The disappointment of this loss is going to affect us as long as we're on this planet."

Cherry knows how that feels.

In 1979 the then-coach of the NHL Boston Bruins had his team leading the Montreal Canadiens 4-3 with less than two minutes to go in game seven of the semifinals.

But an extra player was on the ice during a line change, Boston took a penalty, Guy Lafleur scored to tie it and Yvon Lambert won the game and series in overtime.

Montreal went on to take the Stanley Cup against the New York Rangers.

Later, Cherry famously said "I died on May 10, 1979, at 11:10 p.m., to be exact."

Now the Riders, and coach Miller, face the same kind of history.