Bleeding Tricolour: Pitch-and-catch progeny joining Big Yellow Guys

Notes on our athletes/teams of interest from The 613...

"Queen's brings an American atmosphere to Canada. They get a lot of fans at their games, and they get a lot of media coverage. That was a plus for me." — Justin Chapdelaine

The news has been out there for a while (even this site takes a month off from thinking Queen's Football — always capitalized). However, it bears noting brothers Justin and Matt Chapdelaine, sons of former Vanier Cup-winning coach and long-time CFL assistant coach Jacques Chapdelaine, have signed on with Queen's.

Justin Chapdelaine, a quarterback, was a stellar passer for his B.C. high school team, which went to the provincial final last season. Matt Chapdelaine, a receiver, played for Alberta a couple seasons ago, before encountering concussion problems.

Queen's quarterback Dan Brannagan is entering his fifth season, so there would be an opportunity for Justin Chapdelaine to advance early in his career. Between players such as Chapdelaine, Ottawa defensive back Chayce Elliott and Laurier linebacker Mitchell Bosch, there's a steady trickle of B.C. football players coming to Central Canada.

For anyone wondering, Queen's coach Pat Sheahan's teams were 4-3 vs. Jacques Chapdelaine's Laval squads when they were rival coaches from 1997-2000. Concordia beat Laval in the infamous Blackout Bowl (the 1998 O-QIFC final which required two days to complete after it became too dark to play). Sheahan's Stingers also also handed the Rouge et Or one of their two losses in 1999, when they went on to win their first Vanier Cup.

(The last meeting between those two coaches was Sept. 30, 2000 in Kingston. Laval won that one, 33-14, but at least the third man on the CFRC 101.9 crew was on the call for the Gaels' first offensive touchdown at home all season, a long strike from Craig Spear to Nathan Gorham. It kind of spoils the vibe to mention it took till the third quarter of the third home game for the offence to get in the end zone. It was a long season for the Gaels, 1-7, but it is not forgotten who was the "one.")