Don’t look now, but the Calgary Stampeders hold a 4-0 record, and are one of two remaining undefeated teams in the league. Their undefeated counterparts being the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, who the Stamps will matchup with on Friday evening in Winnipeg.

The Calgary offence has been one of the most efficient in the league through the first five weeks of the season, averaging 405.8 yards and 30.5 points per game, trailing only the BC Lions in both categories.

The Stampeders passing attack has been particularly exciting to watch through the early weeks of the regular season. Calgary boasts the second best passing offence in the league, averaging 298.8 air yards per game, and have been led by the reinvigorated right arm of Bo Levi Mitchell.

The Calgary pivot has thrown for 1,112 yards and six touchdowns through his first four games of the season, and while Mitchell has been the talk of the town, it is receiver Malik Henry, who has stolen the show.

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Malik Henry’s 89-yard touchdown in Week 5 was the longest recorded touchdown of the 2022 season (The Canadian Press).

Henry, now a second-year receiver for the Stampeders has been the league’s hottest pass-catcher to start the season, he has certainly been a favourite target for Mitchell within the Calgary offence, and for good reason.

Entering Week 6 of the CFL season, the native of Tifton, Georgia leads the league in receiving yards, average yards per catch and yards after the catch. Having caught 18 of his 27 targets for 388 yards and three touchdowns through his first four games of the year, already surpassing his season totals from the 2021 season.

When asked what has contributed to the outburst of early offensive success, Henry explained that not being able to finish the 2021 season due to a family tragedy and the memory of his late brother have served as motivation and fuel as he prepared for the 2022 season.

“I went through a pretty bad tragedy with my brother, my brother passed away last year. Last November, November 14,” said Henry. “I missed the Saskatchewan game last year, the playoff game because I was back at home for the funeral. So me not finishing last year, just everything I dealt with, that just fuels me. That’s literally just fuel to me.”

Henry’s fuel has caught fire, the young wideout is coming off back-to-back games of at least 150 receiving yards and has caught three of his team’s six passing touchdowns on the season. Including an 89-yard touchdown in Calgary’s week 5 win over the Edmonton Elks.

Henry admits that in spite of how his 2021 ended, the start of his 2022 season has provided some semblance of a silver lining.

“Definitely feels good knowing that everything’s finally starting to work out a little bit.”

However, for the Calgary playmaker, the early season success hasn’t been an accident. Henry details that there has been plenty of time spent with his quarterback studying the intricacies of not just his own role, but the entire offence. Something that Henry says has helped him take advantage of opportunities to make plays.

“It’s been a lot of work, a lot of getting with the quarterbacks and understanding the entire offence, the whole scheme, not just what you have,” said Henry. “It’s understanding where they want you to be in certain places  and being in the right spots to make the plays that come to you.

“Me and Bo’s relationship is actually really good. He’s been helping me a lot, of course he’s a veteran, one of the best quarterbacks that will come through the CFL. So, he’s been giving me a lot of insight on what he thinks and how he thinks. That’s the biggest part, like how he thinks, where he wants to go with the ball and why he would want to go there, just understanding the whole ‘why’.”

The offensive “why,” is something that Henry evidently has a strong understanding of.

Henry is averaging an eye-popping 21.6 yards per reception and on his three scoring plays this year, combined for 127 yards. The touchdown yardage get’s slightly more impressive when scanning the yards after catch category. On his three touchdowns, Henry ran for a combined 76 yards after the catch, highlighting his ability to make plays in the open field.

Working in open space and finding extra yardage with his legs is an added bonus to Henry’s skillset that Calgary has been able to take advantage of early in the year. The Stampeders receiver lead’s all receivers with 171 yards after the catch and is tied with Saskatchewan running back Jamal Morrow for the league-lead.

Henry attributes his ability to make plays in the open field, to his time spent as a kick and punt returner. In 2021 with the Stampeders, Henry accumulated a combined 948 kick and punt return yards.

“As a returner I have to have vision like a running back, so I have to see holes that a majority of people wouldn’t see,’ said Henry.  “A lot of people can’t see the hole because a lot of people can’t play returner, it’s not an easy position. So as a returner it makes being a receiver so much easier because I already know how to run with the ball in my hands and then it’s like a punt return.”

However, as electric as Henry has been to start the season, as a unit, the Stampeders have a very talented collection of wide receivers. CFL veterans, Kamar Jorden, Richie Sindani and Reggie Begelton have combined for 537 receiving yards to start the season, with Jorden’s 31 targets leading all Calgary receivers.

Henry attributes his early season success to the impact that the veteran receiving corps has had on his time in Calgary, and maintains that the level of energy in practice is highly competitive with each player trying to out-perform each other on every play.

“They’ve had a huge impact on my game because we literally all feed off each other,” said Henry. “Those are like my brothers, they help me, we help each other. It’s a really good group, the whole group it’s very good camaraderie.

“The energy is always up, we are always competing against each other. Somebody is always trying to make the next play, we’ve got a room full of playmakers, every one of us.”

On Friday, Henry and Calgary’s room full of playmakers will be matching up against the Blue Bombers.

Each team boasting an undefeated record, but the Stampeders ability to utilize their passing game to push the ball downfield with detailed precision could prove to be advantageous against the Bombers. Winnipeg has allowed teams to pass for a league-high 1,567 yards against them, and have been allowing an average of 313.4 air yards per game, the most of any team.

However, Henry’s isn’t concerned with undefeated records, his only focus remains upon the game at hand, staying in the moment and trusting himself and his teammates to play their brand of football.

“Having a 4-0 record right now, honestly we’re just ready for the opportunity. We’re just focused on this game, right now, this time, this moment,” said Henry. “The mindset for us, is to do our job, play our game. Don’t do too much, just play our game, that’s it. As long as we play our game we should be fine.”