Chris O’Leary
Edmonton Journal
Grant Shaw was in the minority amidst all the head scratching and scraping of jaws off the floor across the country when the Ricky Ray trade was announced last December.
The Edmonton-born kicker, viewed by many as a mere cog in one of the biggest trades in Canadian Football League history, was ecstatic to be coming home to ply his craft in front of friends and family.
Shaw, of course, was packaged with Toronto Argonauts quarterback Steven Jyles and the second overall pick in the 2012 Canadian college draft in exchange for Ray.
“I was happy,” he said, after the Eskimo practice wrapped up Friday. “Ultimately, I wanted to be back in Edmonton at some point. It probably happened sooner than I ever thought it was going to happen. I definitely wasn’t upset and, at the same time, you don’t want to just leave teams. I had a lot of great relationships in Toronto. For me, it was coming back to Edmonton and playing for my hometown.”
Eight games into the season, the Ray trade still can split a room like talking politics at a party, but few will argue Shaw’s effectiveness this year. The 28-year-old is second in the league in points scored and has made 19 of 23 field goal attempts. He was red-hot in Monday’s win over the Argos, making four of five place-kicks, including a season-best 50-yarder.
Shaw said he felt like he couldn’t miss at Rogers Centre, but added that he’s had that feeling a lot this year.
“That’s generally the mindset that I try to have at all times during games, is to just be super-focused and ready to go,” he said.
Eskimo head coach Kavis Reed sounds like he’s got as much confidence in Shaw as the kicker does.
“Extremely important impact,” Reed said. “Grant, from the start, he was almost solely responsible for our first victory against Toronto (Shaw was four-for-four on field goals and added a convert for 13 of Edmonton’s points in a 19-15 win in its season opener) and he was very instrumental in the last victory.”
Edmonton’s kicking game lacked consistency last year. Damon Duval handled kickoffs, punts and field goals for the majority of the season, before Derek Schiavone was activated for field goal duties down the stretch. Reed said the tandem of Shaw and punter Burke Dales, who owns the league’s highest punting average at 46.9 yards, has let that part of the game slip under the radar this season.
“When you’re not talking about the kicking situation, it’s always a positive thing,” Reed said. “Right now, we have two of the best guys near the top in the league … Burke is doing a phenomenal job at punting, so we have a great tandem there.”
The Eskimos had the option of letting Shaw try a 57-yard field goal at the end of the first half Monday. Instead, quarterback Kerry Joseph heaved a Hail Mary pass. Reed said the choice was more about the man under the uprights – Argos return specialist Chad Owens – than Shaw’s foot.
“In terms of game management, we didn’t want to give (Owens) a lot of field goal return. That being said, if it was a game-winning situation, we would not have any question if (Shaw) has the opportunity to make those kicks.”
The next two games on the schedule will be big ones for the Jasper Place High School product and former Edmonton Huskie junior player.
It will be the first time Shaw participates in the CFL’s Battle of Alberta.
While he’d rather play sports than watch them on TV, he knows the significance of Monday’s game in Calgary and the rematch on Friday at Commonwealth Stadium.
“You grow up hearing about the rivalry all the time,” Shaw said. “But for us, we’re treating it like it’s an extremely important game.
“If you get two wins against a division rival, that helps us out in the standings and helps us out in our goal of finishing first. We’re just trying to take it one game at a time now and Calgary’s next.”
coleary@ edmontonjournal.com
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