The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are the hosts of this weekend's East final, but bookmakers have the Montreal Alouettes as 2.5-point favorites to win.
The Alouettes earned a 42-33 victory over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the Eastern semi-finals. The offense was exceptional, with Davis Alexander throwing for 384 yards, one touchdown and one interception, and Stevie Scott III rushing for 133 yards and two scores.
Montreal lost both regular season games to Hamilton, although Alexander was unable to play in either game due to a hamstring injury. The 26-year-old passer is 11-0 as a CFL regular-season starter, a career-best as a starter, and 1-0 in the playoffs.
The Tigercats beat the Alouettes 35–17 in Week 4 as Bo Levi Mitchell threw for 247 yards with touchdown passes to Kenny Lawler and Tim White. McLeod Bethel-Thompson started in Montreal's place in Alexandre's place and threw for 203 yards, one score and two interceptions.
Steeltown beat Montreal again in Week 14, this time on the road, with Greg Bell rushing 20 times for 156 yards and one touchdown. James Morgan started for the Alouettes with Alexander, Bethel-Thompson and Caleb Evans out with injuries and struggled, throwing for 138 yards and one interception.
Hamilton finished atop the East Division standings for the first time since 2019 and is looking to return to his first Gray Cup since 2021. Meanwhile, the Alouettes went to and won the Gray Cup under Cody Fajardo in 2023. The team hosted last year's Eastern Final but was upset by the eventual Gray Cup champion Toronto Argonauts.
The Montreal Alouettes (11-8) will face the Hamilton Tiger-Cats (11-7) in the Eastern final on Saturday, November 8th at Hamilton Stadium, with tip-off scheduled for 3:00 pm EST. The Alouettes defeated the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the Eastern semi-finals, 42-33.while the Tigercats remained on the sidelines after finishing atop the East Division standings.
The weather forecast for Hamilton calls for a high of six degrees with a 30 per cent chance of showers. The game will be broadcast on TSN, CTV and RDS in Canada and CFL+ worldwide. Radio listeners can tune into TSN 690 in Montreal and the Ticats Audio Network.
