Alexandre Gagné brings warrior attitude to Alouettes' special teams

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Alexandre Gagné knew something special was happening after he made a sixth special teams tackle against Toronto and several Alouettes teammates began telling him he was on the verge of a record.

“It was nice to be able to do this for the Montreal Alouettes,” Gagné said. “Doing it the first game of the year is just fun. It gets you excited for the other games.”

In last Friday’s season-opening 28-10 win against the defending Grey Cup-champion Argonauts, Gagné ultimately tied a CFL single-game record by making seven special teams tackles.

It takes a warrior mentality to play special teams in the CFL. When was the last time a guy who plays on punts and kickoffs drew widespread media attention? Well, on Friday night, Gagné received his 15 minutes of fame.

“Every year you want to re-establish yourself,” the 33-year-old St-Hubert native said. “What you’ve done in the past doesn’t matter anymore. Coming here and still being able to make plays, still being able to make an impact on the game and being able to win games in front of our fans, that’s what’s most important.”

The single-game record is shared by seven players, including Mike Miller, now Winnipeg’s special teams co-ordinator, who holds the CFL career record with 226 special-teams tackles. The record might never be broken, and unlikely by Gagné, who sits at 111 heading into Friday night’s game at Ottawa.

Nonetheless, the 6-foot, 230-pounder has carved out an impressive career, considering he was never drafted. When Gagné returned for a fifth season of eligibility at Université de Sherbrooke, he figured that would be the end of his days as a linebacker, so he concentrated on getting his Master’s degree in finance.

To Gagné’s surprise Sasha Ghavami, his Montreal-based agent, got him a rookie mini-camp tryout with Saskatchewan and a CFL career was launched. Gagné played three seasons with the Roughriders — he spent most of his rookie campaign on the practice roster — before signing with the Als as a free agent. He’s now in his eighth season and has 106 regular-season games to his credit.

“I had a shot (in his second training camp in 2018) to play on special teams,” he remembered. “I made sure I wasn’t going to let (the opportunity) go.”

While special-team members generally fly under the radar — at least until they make a mistake — Als head coach Jason Maas and special-teams co-ordinator Byron Archambault devote attention to its finer details during every practice.

“It’s internal motivation,” Gagné explained. “Maas and Archambault put a big emphasis on the importance of special teams. All the group feels it. Everyone wants to contribute a little bit on special teams, even if they play on offence or defence. They want to participate because we’re having fun, we have a big impact on the game and I feel the coaching staff puts that mind into it.”

Archambault said Gagné leads by example, bringing his veteran experience to the units.

“He comes to work and is a lunch-pail type of guy,” Archambault said. “He knows what he has to do, gets everything done and does more. That’s what brings you to those results. The way he approaches the game and the respect he has for the game, it extends to his capacities as a leader.

“That’s exactly what we expect out of that kind of leader. He surpassed our expectations. Seven tackles in a game; you barely ever see that. It couldn’t happen to a better guy in the locker room.”

Despite his age, Gagné said he feels good, remains productive and football keeps him young. But as the married father of two young boys, and a homeowner in St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, he also realizes there are many things he and his teammates don’t hold in common.

“I talk to the young players about my life,” he said. “Having a house, two kids, homework to do, grass to cut … sometimes they don’t realize we don’t have the same life outside of football. But when I come to the stadium I feel like I’m here just to play football with my friends. At 33 and still being able to make it … I feel pretty young, too.”

Notes: The Als could have a new left offensive tackle for this game. Nick Callender (foot) remains sidelined and didn’t practise for a second consecutive day on Tuesday. Possible replacements are Ed Montilus or Des Holmes, both American rookies. … Defensive-tackle Trevon Mason has been released.