Ruckstuhl says Montreal's St. Leonard Cougars are boycotting Quebec's admittance. Right now, the Cougars are the only Quebec-based team competing for the national championships, because they switched to the Ontario league. Ruckstuhl says the Cougars fear losing the recruiting advantage they have from competing nationally. The Riders have reached the playoffs each year and have competed in four league finals since the organization started five years ago. Riders coach, Dan Murphy, says the losses were a wake-up call.
Players sometimes come in expecting to win.
This year, the Riders finished the season with eight wins and two losses in the five-team league. Murphy now faces the challenge of filling the void left by the expected departure of up to 12 star players. All-star quarterback Tucker McCabe, won't be returning after his third season. Tucker is the Riders all-time passing leader, completing 114 of his 235 passes, for a total of 1,850 yards. He was offered a scholarship from Norwich University in Vermont and Connecticut State University has shown interest, but McCabe hasn't made a decision.