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June 26, 2016

About last night …

Stamps in action against the Lions on June 25, 2016, at BC Place.

Here’s a closer look at Saturday’s season-opener at Vancouver’s BC Place:

Big man, great hands

You’ll forgive the BC Lions if they were caught off guard in the fourth quarter when Dan Federkeil wheeled out of the trenches and into open space to haul in a Bo Levi Mitchell pass and rumble 21 yards. A right tackle by trade, the six-foot-six, 316-pounder was playing an eligible position as part of the Stamps’ jumbo package.

Usually, that’s a technicality as a team takes advantage of the extra beef up front to run the ball but, in this case, Federkeil became an unlikely pass target. It was the first time since 1997 that a Stampeders offensive lineman was credited with a reception. During that season, no fewer than two Stamps hoggies made catches as Jamie Crysdale had a 10-yard reception and Rohn Meyer had a 21-yarder to match Federkeil’s.

A few other big men have been given the chance to show up their hands since then but the recent pattern has been defensive linemen or the long snapper in goal situations as Corey Mace (2012), Randy Chevrier (2010) and Mike Labinjo (2008) had their names called in the huddle and each delivered with a one-yard touchdown catch.

Looking to rebound

Saturday marked the first time 2011 the Stamps dropped their first game and it’s only the second season-opening loss since 2005. In 2009, Calgary actually dropped their first two games to Montreal and Winnipeg before rebounding to go 10-5-1 the rest of the way. Two years later, the Stamps lost a two-point decision to Toronto but bounced back to win in Vancouver the following week. Calgary is looking to avoid its first back-to-back regular-season losses since Weeks 2 and 3 of the 2012 season. The span of 70 games is the longest a team has avoided consecutive defeats in Canadian professional football history.

Power move

The Stamps special-teamers got their mitts on three Richie Leone punts on Saturday but because two managed to wobble over the line of scrimmage, only one of the plays officially goes into the books as a punt block. That one belongs to Charlie Power, the second of three Stamps — Glenn Love and Adam Berger were the others — to break through and get a hand on the football. In 2015, the Stamps’ only punt block was provided by Berger, whose big play allowed Adam Thibault to score his first CFL touchdown.

In case you missed it . . .

Here is more coverage from Saturday’s game:

>> Game story
>> Stamps TV: Recap
>> Bittersweet night for Jorden
>> Photo gallery
>> Stamps TV: Durant makes tricky catch