- The Alouettes concluded their short week of training with a brief session on Thursday at Hébert Stadium in Saint-Léonard, and the Montreal team will now enjoy four days off before getting back to work.
- While the training schedule has been known for a long time, Maas was proud to let his players go for four days after all the effort put in this week.
- “Our compete level, our work ethic is unmatched. We weren’t going to sit back and rest this week. We decided to take these three days to work hard, like we’ve done all season,” said Maas, who learned after the session that he was the Eastern Conference coach of the year.
- “I like them to get away. They put a lot of effort into last season and every time they are outside of our framework, I want them to make the most of their life as fathers, brothers, sons. To enjoy life, to get away from football for a few days and come back refreshed in four days. They worked hard this week and the next two weeks will be just as tough. They deserve this moment.”
- For the coach, it was a given that he had to get on the field during the last week, even if the preparation could not be exact, not knowing who, the Ottawa Redblacks or the Toronto Argonauts, would be at Percival-Molson Stadium in a little over a week.
- “It makes us a better football team, more experienced,” Maas said. “We could have taken a week off; we chose the more difficult path, to improve. We always want to improve, we don’t want to stand still. We want to make the most of this opportunity. That’s what we did.”
- Surprise visit
- The Alouettes players received an unexpected visit in the locker room before practice, when former mixed martial arts world champion Georges St-Pierre came to meet the team.
- St-Pierre, who held the UFC welterweight and middleweight belts, spoke about his experience as champion, but more importantly, the mentality to adopt in order to remain one.
- “It was very well received,” said linebacker Alexandre Gagné. “Even those who are not fans of mixed martial arts know ‘GSP’. He’s a guy who represented Montreal, Quebec and Canada well and who remained at the top of his game for so many years.”
- “His message was that you have to work hard to become a champion, but now that you are, what do you have to do? Everyone wants you now, you have to raise the bar a little bit to continue to achieve. He talked to us about the process behind it, how to identify yourself as a champion and remain [the team] to beat. It hit the mark.”
- Gagné added that what also struck the Alouettes players was the humility of the former champion.
- “He’s not someone who thinks he’s someone else. He talks about his philosophy, but doesn’t claim to have all the answers. He’s very down to earth. He’s not here to brag, but only to share his experience.”
Leave a Reply