What do Tyrice Beverette, Shawn Lemon and Darnell Sankey have in common?
They were all instrumental in the Montreal Alouettes’ conquest of the Gray Cup. But they also have in common the fact that they will become free agents on February 13, at noon.
For Danny Maciocia, the priority is to convince them to stay with the team.
Maciocia, flanked by head coach Jason Maas and team president Mark Weightman, met with members of the media in the Alouettes locker room at Olympic Stadium on Wednesday morning to take stock of this season that few people will forget. The press briefing took place on the pickleball courts that team members marked out on the ground to play during the season.
Obviously, the free agent situation surfaced quickly. The Alouettes beat the Toronto Argonauts and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in particular because of their defensive brilliance and three extremely important players within the squad will be free as the air in mid-February.
“We’re already there. We had conversations. The three players are part of the foundations of this team. The good news is that the organization wants them to come back and all three want to come back,” assured Maciocia.
Also on the list of players without a contract are Kristian Matte, William Stanback, Jeshrun Antwi, Walter Fletcher and Ciante Evans.
“It will be impossible to keep everyone,” Maciocia insisted. We are close to resolving certain issues in the coming days, in the coming weeks. […] It is unanimous that everyone wants to keep the same core in place. »
At the same time, the best selling point to convince the players was to his right, on a lectern. The trophy can undoubtedly help future negotiations. It can also be useful in attracting players from other markets.
In his opinion, Americans, Canadians from the west of the country and Quebecers understood to what extent Montreal could suddenly become an option to consider.
“The parade helped a lot of local players, who play elsewhere, look and say this is something [I] would like to experience one day. »
Maciocia reiterated that the Alouettes are at “two different extremes” compared to last year, where at this time, he did not even have funds available to reach an agreement with players on the signing of contracts.
History repeats itself, however, in terms of infrastructure. The organization is still without a training center, without a permanent home and forced to rent Percival-Molson Stadium to play its home games.
During their final games of the season, at BMO Field in Toronto and Tim Hortons Stadium in Hamilton, some of the team’s players and coaches praised the quality and proximity of the facilities, jealous of not being able to benefit from such infrastructure at the House. Everything was so new, accessible and modern.
Questioned on the subject, Mark Weightman pleaded for patience, since the organization is only in its eighth month on a five-year plan.
“It’s still too early to make any announcements, but I can confirm that visiting all the facilities in Hamilton gave us all the motivation we needed. »
Both the first and last points have been met admirably over the past year. But the problem lies somewhere in between, literally and figuratively.
“There’s not just one way to solve this problem of building something. We have to understand the needs we have and the number of hours and the number of days in a year we have to build a facility like this. There is definitely a will. We spoke about it with Mr. Péladeau, there is a need and it is very clear. »
Still, the results are positive for the organization, despite a dilapidated stadium. According to data provided by Weightman, individual ticket sales are up 24% this season, group tickets are up 53%, box tickets are up 28% and team revenue is up 16%.
