While the opening of Empire Field has the B.C. Lions feeling nostalgic, all the Montreal Alouettes want is to return to the good old days when they used to win in Vancouver.
Montreal hasn't beaten the Lions in their own backyard since 2000. It's a string of nine straight defeats the Alouettes will be looking to snap when they face the Lions on Friday at the site of old Empire Stadium.
All Montreal's losses in the streak have come within the unfriendly confines of B.C. Place, which is currently undergoing renovations. In the interim, Empire Field is the temporary home of the Lions.
Will a new venue mean a new result?
"I've run out of reasons to give why we keep losing out there and I still don't have a new one," said quarterback Anthony Calvillo, who has celebrated just two regular-season wins on B.C. turf since joining the Alouettes in 1998.
"It's been very frustrating, but we're here with a new team. Hopefully, we're able to get a victory, but I'm out of answers."
With his defending Grey Cup champions sitting at 1-1 after coming from behind to beat the Edmonton Eskimos 33-23 at Commonwealth Stadium on Sunday, head coach Marc Trestman doesn't put much, if any, weight in the Als string of futility in Vancouver.
It's a dry spell that includes a 19-12 loss last season, a 36-34 defeat in 2008, a 46-14 humbling in 2007, a 36-20 setback in 2006 and a 27-26 heartbreaker in 2005. That last win, in 2000, was by a 32-25 score.
"I know that it in the back of my head, but we played two terrific games there the last two years," said Trestman, who kept the team in Edmonton to prepare for Friday's game rather than return to Montreal. "I don't look at any of that as being significant in any way.
"When you start thinking about what happened yesterday, that doesn't get you where you want to go unless you can learn from it. I think our guys are extremely focused."
The Saskatchewan Roughriders spoiled the 1-1 Lions' debut in their new stadium last weekend, beating them 37-18.
"I'm sure it's in the back of some guys' minds," Calvillo said of the losing streak. "For me, I come in thinking, 'OK, here's another opportunity for us to walk away with a victory.'
"With new guys on this team, they have no clue until they get asked about the history of what's going on. For me, it does cross my mind, but, for the most part, I just think about it when questions about it get asked."
While the Alouettes rallied to beat the Eskimos with 15 points in the fourth quarter Sunday, their defence gave up 340 passing yards against Edmonton quarterback Ricky Ray.
That came after Saskatchewan quarterback Darian Durant torched them for 481 passing yards and five touchdowns through the air in a 54-51 win for the Roughriders to open the season.
"We've got to get better play out of our defensive backfield," said defensive co-ordinator Tim Burke. "Most of the big plays we've given up have been through the air.
"We had assignment mistakes against Saskatchewan. Then, Edmonton just beat us man-against-man. We've got to clean up our mental mistakes and our assignment mistakes in zone coverage."
If the Alouettes intend to put the brakes on their losing streak in B.C., they can't play as loose, whether it's Casey Printers or backup Travis Lulay taking the snaps. Printers left the game against Saskatchewan with a bruised thigh, giving way to backup Travis Lulay.
The Alouettes got two big breaks against the Esks when Fred Stamps and Kelly Campbell dropped passes in the end zone.
They can't count on the same from Geroy Simon, who had six catches for 169 yards and both B.C. touchdowns against Saskatchewan, Paris Jackson and the rest of B.C.'s receiving corps.
"Geroy's been a great player in this league for years," Burke said. "He's a crafty veteran. Not only does he have good athletic ability, but he knows how to accelerate and decelerate to help his routes.
"There's not much he hasn't seen through the years. You can't really fool him with how you play your coverage. Jackson is a horse. He's just a really good player. They're as good a receiving corps as there is in the league."
For all the problems Burke's defence had against Ray for three quarters, interceptions by Jerald Brown and Etienne Boulay turned the tide against the Esks. The way Trestman sees it, more of the same Friday will be more significant than any losing streak or a stroll down memory lane.
"We need to play like we did in the fourth quarter of Sunday's game," said Trestman. "That's what we need to get to. You're trying to build your football team and continue to grow and make improvements.
"We have not played very well for seven quarters. We've not played at our best for seven quarters. We played more like the team we'd like to be in the fourth quarter Sunday. We're looking to build on that."
