Hamilton Tiger-Cats host Edmonton Elks in annual Hall of Fame game

HAMILTON – With the Hamilton Tiger-Cats still processing the death of general manager Ted Goveia, head coach Scott Milanovich says he won’t use Goveia’s memory as a rallying cry for his team.

Goveia died last Friday of esophageal cancer. The 55-year-old native of Burlington, Ont., was hired as Ticats general manager Dec. 5, 2024.

Plans had been made before Goveia’s death to honour his contribution to Canadian football during Hamilton’s Sept. 12 game against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, the franchise Goveia had spent 11 years with before returning to southern Ontario. Following his death, the contest — which the Ticats won 32-21 — became a celebration of Goveia’s life.

The Ticats (8-5) return to Hamilton Stadium on Saturday night to face the Edmonton Elks (5-8) in the annual Hall of Fame game.

“Everybody is going to deal with their grief in their own way,” Milanovich said this week. “We have to give each other the grace to understand that somebody might be handling it differently than we are.

“Like I said to (Orlondo Steinauer, Hamilton’s president of football operations), it makes me sad to walk by Teddy’s office. Everybody’s going through something like that now and I’m being really careful not to try to use it as a rallying cry because I think it’s disrespectful. I know these coaches, players, staff, everybody’s got him in mind and everybody’s going to give their very best for him.”

The 2025 class will be honoured at halftime. It consists of players Bryan Chiu, Jovan Olafioye, Jeremaine Copeland, Scott Flagel and Darryl Hall as well as builders Glen Johnson and Frank McCrystal.

For much of the season, Hamilton’s offence was very pass-heavy and led the league in yards through the air, with Bo Levi Mitchell leading all quarterbacks. 

Over their last two games, the Ticats have run the ball exceedingly well — 234 yards in a 26-9 win over Montreal on Sept, 6, then 163 yards versus Winnipeg — but Milanovich, who’s also the club’s offensive co-ordinator, says he takes many considerations into mind before deciding how to call a game.

“I’m going to play the game with, ‘What’s the score? What’s working for us offensively? What are the elements,'” he said. “All of those things have a factor in how I’m calling a game.

“I’m not going in saying, ‘Hey, we’re pounding it.’ There might be a game where we’re trying to establish the run a little bit ore early for whatever the reason may be (but) usually I’m trying to be somewhat balanced early in a game and then let’s react to what we’re seeing.”

Greg Bell accounted for 293 of the rushing yards and two touchdowns on 42 carries (roughly seven-yard average)

Hamilton also scored two touchdowns against Winnipeg following interceptions by Jamal Peters and DaShaun Amos. The Ticats have registered a CFL-high 98 points off turnovers.

“Every time we get the ball, yes, we want to make plays on defence but we also know how much more important it is to set the offence up as well,” Amos said. “We know that leads to scores and that leads to winning.”

Receiver Tim White said the offence feels a responsibility to take advantage of opportunities created by either the defence or Hamiltons special teams.

“I feel like we can do that, that’s kind of like the natural belief that we have,” he said. “As an offence right now we just want to continue to get better.

“We understand that there’s so much more that we can work on and there’s so much more room to grow and we have time to grow some more. We’re just putting our hands down and continuing to work and when we get the opportunity to show it there out on the field during game day, it seems like we’re just putting the points up.”

Hamilton is second overall in offensive scoring (27.2 points per game), tied for second with Saskatchewan in offensive TDs (35) and first in passing touchdowns (26). The Ticats’ defence has also forced a league-high 32 turnovers — second in interceptions with 17, tied with Winnipeg for first in fumble recovers with nine.

Rookie linebacker Devin Veresuk, who left Friday night’s game on a stretcher, was a full participant in practice. He’s expected to play Saturday.

Hamilton is looking to sweep the two-game season series with Edmonton. The Ticats earned a 28-24 road win Aug. 2.

“They’ve made some changes, they’ve adapted, they’ve grown together so I think they’re a way better team than the last time we saw them,” Amos said. “Even back then, we knew they were very talented and were just figuring it out.

“They’re going to bring about challenges … they’re going to come ready and give us their best shot.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2025.