Stampeders ride into Montreal for Grey Cup

Calgary Stampeders quarterback Henry Burris has taken the idea of playing the road villain a little too far.

Burris emerged off the team plane at Montreal's Pierre Elliott Trudeau Airport on Tuesday afternoon donning a black cowboy hat.

He said it signifies how his Stampeders want to rob the Montreal Alouettes of winning the Grey Cup this Sunday in front of their hometown fans.

"We're kind of like gangsters coming into town when you look at us as cowboys," Burris said. "We're playing against a great Montreal team and we're trying to be gangsters to steal the Cup from them, but it's going to be a tough job."

This will be the first time Burris leads a team into a Grey Cup game. But it's not the first time he's experienced the spectacle of the event because he was there in 1998 — as a backup to Jeff Garcia with the Stampeders — and again in 1999, though he was hurt.

The same can't be said for many of the Stampeders players who will be seeing the glitz of the CFL's premiere event for the first time.

Throw in the fact it's being held in a big city like Montreal, with more than its fair share of distractions, and focus will likely be a buzz word around the Stampeders all week.

"We've done a lot of great things this year overcoming a lot of adversity, and if we let this one slip away from us then everything we did in the past is null and void, it won't even matter," said Stampeders slotback Jeremaine Copeland, a former Alouette who knows the city and its potential distractions well.

"It's going to be easy to stay focused."

The Stamps want to keep their sights set on raising the Grey Cup, but some of them can't resist savouring the achievement of just reaching the title game.

"It took losing three straight playoff games to get to this, and it's been a long time," said Stampeders slotback Nik Lewis. "I'm so excited to be here.

"The last game against B.C., I couldn't wait for the game to happen. But I kind of wish we had two weeks before this game because I really want to enjoy the moment and enjoy being in this position.

"But the game's coming up Sunday. I'm going to enjoy it for a couple of days and then it's time to get ready for Montreal."

'We're here for business'

Linebacker JoJuan Armour said the Stampeders held a team meeting Friday and several veterans, including himself, Burris and Ryan Thelwell, stood up to make sure the young players on the squad knew what was most important this week.

In addition to that, defensive co-ordinator Chris Jones said another talk was held prior to the plane leaving on Tuesday, so the message has clearly been delivered.

"We're not naive to the fact that there are certain distractions that are here that might not be in other cities," said Jones, who was defensive co-ordinator with the Alouettes for five years before joining the Stampeders prior to this season.

"We talked this morning about why we were coming and the things we needed to do to try and win the game, so all those bases have been covered. I told them to enjoy the moment, enjoy your families being here and your significant others being here, but we're here for business."