Inveterate puzzle-solver Joshua Bell surely does relish the challenge of an interlocking Ravensburger or Clementoni.

“I like the 1,000-piece ones,” confesses the silver-tongued defensive safety. “I invited the guys over last year and we put ’em together. Must’ve done, oh, eight or nine. And I did five or six by myself.

“A season’s like a puzzle.

“You do so much work. Piece here, piece there. Then you finally get to 999, puzzle’s all but done, and you find one piece missing. You lost it or they didn’t put in the box, right? One piece.

“And you’re like ‘Aaaaaaaaaagh, damn!’ It just eats away at you.

“That’s how you feel when you don’t win the Grey Cup, no matter how great the puzzle looks.

“‘Aaaaaaaaaagh, damn!’

“One piece missing.

“The last piece.”

Bell and the Calgary Stampeders open up a fresh puzzle box Friday, at TD Place Stadium, against their late November tormentors, the guys who stole that final piece of a beauty a year ago, the reigning Grey Cup champion Ottawa RedBlacks.

Corey Mace on the sideline during the 2016 season (Photo by David Moll)

One man mighty conspicuous by his on-field absence will, naturally, be ex-Stampeder Henry Burris.

Smilin’ Hank, cover boy for the official 2017 CFL Guide and Record Book, retired in the wake of the epic OT game against the Stamps, aged 41 after 17 CFL seasons.

Trevor Harris, no slouch himself, has inherited the rudder in Ottawa.

“Hank’s not there anymore but Harris is very capable,’’ cautions Stamps D-line coach Corey Mace. “He’s got some arm strength. He’s slowed it down a little bit but he’s still a mobile quarterback so we’ve got to do a good job putting on pressure, making the throws difficult. We let him step up, he’s going to tear us up so it’s our job to mess up the pocket.”

And the weirdness quotient of staring out on the field and not seeing Burris crouching behind centre after all these years?

“Well, he has been around forever,’’ Mace teases in response. “But we still get to see him. He’s all over social media and on TV in Ottawa. Hank’s always gonna be Hank.

“I’m happy he moved on and he’s happy in Ottawa and is successful in his second career. We’ve had a good relationship with him.

“But times changes. Things happen. We’re focusing on No. 7 now, not No. 1.”

Rush end Charleston Hughes is quick to shrug off the no-Burris storyline, too.

“We’ve played against Henry, we’ve played against Trevor,’’ he reasons. “We kinda know what to expect. Like Hank, Harris makes good reads, can make good decisions and win games.

“Players come, players go. Trevor’s just the next guy we’ve gotta face.”

Charleston Hughes chases after Trevor Harris on July 8, 2016 (Photo by Scott Grant)

Tuesday in idyllic conditions at McMahon Stadium, the Stamps continued preparations for their Thursday travel junket east.

“It’s Week 1,’’ reasoned head coach Dave Dickenson, looking ahead. “We want to go out, play well and win. Will it make our season? I doubt it. We lost last year in Week 1.”

And then reeled off a 16-1-1 record until that fateful Grey Cup Sunday in the nation’s capital.

“I am SO tired of talking about the last game,’’ chides Bell wearily. “That’s why I’m so ready to play this game.

“Am I glad it’s (Ottawa)? Yes. It does matter. I’d have to repent if I told you otherwise. I’d have to lie. There’s a reason they put it on (U.S. TV) on Friday night. Because it’s extremely significant.

“We’re going to be huntin’.

“You can’t take back the 2016 Grey Cup (Friday). But you can put the first piece of coal on the fire to win in 2017.”

Defensive back Joshua Bell (Photo by David Moll)

Once again, the Stampeders are being installed as pre-season title favourites. Again, they look ultra-solid in all three phases, top to bottom.

Coming up one piece short isn’t, in their minds, an option.

“If you do, what’s the point of doing the puzzle in the first place?’’ Bell grumbles. “What’s the point of a season? What’s the point of practising every day? What’s the point of having your body hurt all the time – neck, back, hamstrings?

“What’s the point of having your coach chew you out? What’s the point of jumping in the hot tub, then the cold tub all year long? What’s the point of getting treatment? What’s the point of going through the emotional ups and downs?

“You want to finish the puzzle.

“You need the final piece.”

A piece that, as fate would have it, fits in on Nov. 26, at the very spot where they open the fresh puzzle box Friday, at TD Place Stadium.