Montreal Alouettes' Tyson Philpot hoists the cup as the team arrives at Mirabel airport after winning the Grey Cup, in Mirabel, Que., Monday, Nov. 20, 2023. The Alouettes will hold their Grey Cup championship parade in the streets of Montreal on Wednesday. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz
MONTREAL – Kristian Matte still hasn’t come down from cloud nine since the Montreal Alouettes won the Grey Cup.
Matte, a 12-season CFL veteran offensive lineman, was the only remaining player from Montreal’s last title team in 2010 on the Alouettes roster this year.
“It’s been 13 years, it’s a very long time – I lived it,” said Matte on Tuesday at Olympic Stadium.
The 38-year-old from St. Hubert, Que., was also the first to hoist the Grey Cup after Montreal upset the Winnipeg Blue Bombers 28-24 on Sunday at Tim Hortons Field in Hamilton.
“The day before the game, Marc-Antoine Dequoy came to see me and said ‘when it’s time to grab the Cup, you’re taking it,'” said Matte, with tears running down his face as he reflected on the moment. “A guy saying that shows everyone wanted it for each other.”
“We all talked about who would lift the Cup first and agreed,” said Dequoy. “It’s Kristian Matte.”
The Alouettes had some tough times between championships, including a run of four straight years of missing the playoffs from 2015 to 2018.
At his age, Matte could consider ending his career on a high note. But even as the game clock struck zero Sunday, the thought of going for a repeat crept in.
“Even at that moment, it might be a little silly, but I said to myself, ‘OK now we won,’ and I already started thinking about what would happen next season,” said Matte. “I said, ‘hey, two in a row would be pretty fun.'”
After starting free agency in February without an owner, the Alouettes defied expectations this season by going 11-7 before defeating Hamilton, defending Grey Cup winners Toronto and perennial contender Winnipeg en route to the title.
Is this the start of a run akin to Winnipeg’s two Grey Cup victories – and four appearances – in the last four years? Matte says they’ve steadily been building toward it.
“It’s been a few years now that something’s been building, it didn’t just happen today, yesterday or last week, or even the start of the year,” said Matte.
He noted the arrival of general manager Danny Maciocia in 2020, head coach Jason Maas last December, and new owner Pierre Karl Péladeau in March, to go with an influx of new players, as key building blocks.
“There’s a foundation to build off of,” said Matte. “I’m not sure I want to say we can be even better than we were, but I think with what we’ve got we can build something that will last longer.”
PLAN THE PARADE
The Grey Cup will travel from the corner of De Maisonneuve Boulevard and Crescent Street to Montreal’s “Quartier des Spectacles” when the Alouettes hold their championship parade on Wednesday.
The parade departs at 11:30 a.m. ET. The festivities will end at Le Parterre, a public square located at De Maisonneuve and Clark Street.
Alouettes offensive lineman Pier-Olivier Lestage of Saint-Eustache, Que., grew up a fan of the team, but couldn’t attend the championship parade in 2010.
“I really wanted to go but it was a school day and my parents didn’t want me to miss school,” said Lestage.
Now he’ll get to go as a champion himself – and more kids might be in attendance than usual due to a provincewide public sector strike keeping schools closed between Tuesday and Thursday.
“I’ve got a lot of parents telling me they’ll attend the parade with their son,” said Dequoy. “I’m curious to see what it will be like “¦ I’m looking forward to living it.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 21, 2023.
