Drew Willy may have been named the CFL Offensive Player of the Week following his clubs 45-21 victory over the Toronto Argonauts, but the quarterback got strong support from both his offensive line and another eye-opening surprise in the Winnipeg Blue Bombers offence. Tim Krul Replica Jersey . Nic Grigsby was superb in his CFL debut in Week 1, and the 25-year-old feels hes just getting started. "As the game went on my game started to come back," said Grigsby, who ran for 122 yards on 21 carries and added a pair of catches for 17. "It got a little slower. I still got a lot of stuff to get better on — just some little things and detail that coaches got on me about to be a better player and have a better game." The Bombers O-line opened up some wide lanes in the run game against the Argos. Winnipegs young tailback has history with one lineman in particular, who pulled from the right tackle spot to be the lead blocker on a couple big Grigsby gains up the middle. "Me and (Dan) Knapp, we went a long way (back)," said the University of Arizona product of his new favourite blocker. "We played against each other in college. He went to Arizona State, my rival, so when we got here in camp we bumped heads a little bit — not bumped heads — but just, you know, the rivalry-type stuff. But now were on the same team. Were in the same boat, and hes pulling for me and everything. I love them guys up front." The head coach isnt taken aback by Grigsbys impressive debut in the slightest. "Nope, didnt surprise me. Hes been steadily getting better all the way through camp," said Mike OShea. "My concern maybe early on was, he might not have taken advantage of every hole that was there, and now hes through it. It was just a matter of him getting comfortable with his vision, with his reads, and the CFL field — the size of it, I think. But hes done well." OShea is enamoured by Grigsbys ability to adapt and pick things up quickly. That goes double when youre protecting a lead late in the game. "One of the things thats impressive is, when were running that last three minutes and we have the ball and youre asking a guy to stay in bounds and slide, you know? For years and years and years American tailbacks come up here, they get in their first game and run out of bounds when we want that clock to run. You tell them and they still do it. But right away, I tell (Grigsby) once, he was sliding in bounds all the time making sure that clock kept running. Obviously hes an intelligent football player and took that instruction, basically in a three-second conversation, and applied it." With running back Will Ford still working to get back into game shape after a hamstring pull, and Paris Cotton out for a few weeks with a knee injury (hes been wearing a heavy brace in light on-field workouts during practice), Grigsbys fight to stay healthy enough to play has also impressed the coaching staff. "Its as good as its going to get right now," scoffed Grigsby playfully. "Everybody is banged-up and bruised. Nobodys at 100 per cent, I dont care who you are, (even) if youre a quarterback. Its day-to-day of getting better. Get your body in the cold tub, getting the therapy, and come ready to play. "You know youve got to be durable in this league. Its all about growing and depending on yourself to actually do the extra little things thats going to keep you on the field." This week sees another challenge, in that the Blue Bombers will try to prepare for their Week 2 opponent — the expansion Ottawa Redblacks — having minimal game film to study. Ottawa had a bye in Week 1. "Were going out there blind to the eye other than what the base preseason games are. And a lot of teams keep preseason really base," said Grigsby of the "vanilla" offence the Redblacks have shown. "Our coaching staff did a great job putting (video) cut-ups of the (Redblacks) coaches that they have now and what they did in the past, so were going to use that to our ability. Come game time there is that adjust-on-the-fly and be ready to go." NOTES: Eleven-year CFL veteran Korey Banks asked the team for his release this week after not securing a job in the teams starting lineup. The club has placed him on the suspended list indefinitely and flown him home to Atlanta... Mike OShea says he doesnt want to tinker too much with a lineup that looked pretty solid in Week 1. National cornerback Donovan Alexander may be ready to return following a calf injury, but Matt Bucknor will continue to start at field corner... Tailback Will Ford (hamstring) may be ready to go as well after missing both preseason games, but Nic Grigsby will start with the ball... Defensive backs Alex Suber (hamstring) and Marty Markett (high-ankle sprain) both still need time to recover and are again out this week... Slotback Cory Watson suffered a hamstring injury in the first half Thursday night and didnt return to the game. The 30-year-old will miss a week, at least, and it appears fellow national receiver Julian Feoli-Gudino, who hauled in a touchdown pass in Watsons second half absence, will start in his place... Defensive tackle Zach Anderson has missed some significant practice time this week with a heel contusion. OShea says he should be ready for the game... Another defensive tackle, Bryant Turner, has been excused from practice this week for the birth of his daughter. The 2013 Eastern All-Star is expected to play against Ottawa. If either Turner or Anderson are unable to go Thursday night, Kashawn Fraser is an option to come off the practice roster and dress. Stefan de Vrij Jersey . The import DB was taken to a nearby hospital after catching his head awkwardly trying to tackle Winnipeg running back Will Ford in the first quarter of the game at the Rogers Centre. Dirk Kuyt Blue Jersey . When you think teams you imagine a group of people who all shop at the same jersey store and move together in a large pack with a common goal, which is usually scoring goals. But at these Olympic Games the idea of becoming a team in figure skating makes perfect sense because of a new event called, shockingly, the Team Event.The Calgary Flames got off to a miserable start last season, recording nine regulation wins in their first 50 games, but did manage to finish strong over the final 32 games. Off-Season Game Plan looks at a Flames team that has new management and will be looking to build on the strong finish and hope not to fall back to where they started the 2013-2014 season. Flames president of hockey operations Brian Burke was positive about what the Flames accomplished late in the season. "I think there were a lot of positive developments in this season that Im proud of," Burke said at seasons end. "I think we gave (the fans) a product they enjoyed watching." The first move of the Flames offseason was to hire a new general manager and that resulted in Burke picking Brad Treliving, who had been the Assistant GM for the Phoenix Coyotes. At his introductory press conference, Treliving sure sounded like would be in alignment with the plans of the president. "I think the style of play, people talk about big and whatever word you want to use, I think you need to have heavy teams now," Treliving said. "I think you have to play a heavy game." Its challenging enough for rebuilding teams to acquire good hockey players, let alone doing so with size as a pre-requisite. Making matters even more fun is that the Flames top prospect is a tiny scoring forward, Hobey Baker winner John Gaudreau, so there will be some challenges if the Flames are intending to get bigger and better immediately. Nevertheless, those are some of the challenges that Treliving faces with a team that also has to believe their finish to the 2013-2014 season wasnt fools gold. If it wasnt, then adding the likes of Gaudreau and getting further development from last years sixth overall pick, Sean Monahan, could help advance a team that, if nothing else, put forth a good effort for head coach Bob Hartley. Effort is admirable, character and grit are admirable. But if the Flames are going to climb the ladder in the Western Conference, they are ultimately going to need more talent, no matter the size. The TSN.ca Rating is an efficiency rating based on per-game statistics including goals and assists -- weighted for strength (ie. power play, even, shorthanded) -- Corsi, adjusted for zone starts, quality of competition and quality of teammates, hits, blocked shots, penalty differential and faceoffs. Generally, a replacement-level player is around a 60, a top six forward and top four defenceman will be around 70, stars will be over 80 and MVP candidates could go over 90. Sidney Crosby finished at the top of the 2013-2014 regular season ratings at 87.12. Salary cap information all comes from the indispensable www.capgeek.com. CF% = Corsi percentage (ie. percentage of 5-on-5 shot attempts), via www.extraskater.com. GM/COACH Brad Treliving/Bob Hartley Returning Forwards Player Rating GP G A PTS CF% Cap Hit Mikael Backlund 69.48 76 18 21 39 51.7% $1.5M Curtis Glencross 69.41 38 12 12 24 42.7% $2.55M Jiri Hudler 69.20 75 17 37 54 46.7% $4.0M Matt Stajan 68.36 63 14 19 33 47.6% $3.13M David Jones 65.31 48 9 8 17 45.3% $4.0M Sean Monahan 64.76 75 22 12 34 43.8% $925K Brian McGrattan 54.61 76 4 4 8 38.4% $750K Free Agent Forwards Player Rating GP G A PTS CF% Class 13-14 Cap Hit Mike Cammalleri 72.04 63 26 19 45 50.8% UFA $6.0M Paul Byron 65.08 47 7 14 21 50.4% RFA $644K T.J. Galiardi 61.48 62 4 13 17 49.5% RFA $1.25M Joe Colborne 61.47 80 10 18 28 45.4% RFA $600K Lance Bouma 59.16 78 5 10 15 43.5% RFA $578K Kevin Westgarth 55.99 74 7 12 19 42.9% UFA $725K 25-year-old centre Mikael Backlund could be the top returning forward on the Flames roster and hes coming off a season in which he scored a career-high 39 points. But Backlund also been the Flames best possession forward over the past five seasons and, over the past three seasons, hes been doing it while not getting the easy work, starting shifts in the defensive zone and facing quality opposition. Hes widely underrated because he doesnt have big point totals, but is a quality player at a bargain price. Curtis Glencross had knee and ankle injuries cost him more than half the season, and his possession numbers werent good, but hes been an effective goal-scorer. Even with some injuries, 77 goals over the past four seasons ranks 65th in the league and hes somehow one of the highest-percentage finishers in the game. Jiri Hudler was the Flames leading scorer last season and while hes not a dominant player, hes also put up three 50-point seasons over the past five (including one lockout-shortened campaign), so his skill stands out in this group. Matt Stajan didnt bring the best bang for the buck on his last contract but, given a better opportunity last season, he handled some difficult assignments with a lot of defensive zone starts, earning a new contract. Stajan seems like he can be a good fit as a responsible third-line centre, but there have been times in the past that they havent had enough better options available. Veteran winger David Jones was a risky enough signing last year and, following an injury-marred season, hes managed a dozen goals and 26 points in 81 games over the past two seasons. He can skate, has good size and may fit better in a checking role, even if his salary is a tad high for that expectation. For as impressive as a 22-goal rookie season was for 19-year-old Sean Monahan, he naturally has much room to improve and, to his credit, there was progression in his game as the year went on. For example, prior to Christmas, he was on the ice for 40.7% of 5-on-5 shot attempts and 45.9% after. Thats progress and Monahans emergence is a big part of the Flames future. On the basis of pure hockey skills, there isnt an argument to justify Brian McGrattan holding down a spot in the lineup. He was overmatched, despite favourable usage, but when it comes to evaluating enforcers on the roster, there is a different set of rules, especially on teached at Scott.Cullen@bellmedia.ca and followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tsnscottcullen. For more, check out TSN Fantasy on Facebook. cheap jerseys wholesale jerseys ' ' '