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There were no Riders or Argos to start this year's CFL playoffs.

Now there's no Alouettes either.

The best team is out. The Cup is up for grabs.

In a game that will probably one day be aired on some TSN specialty channel for instant Canadian football game classics, one of them took place four days ago at Olympic Stadium in La Belle Province.

The Hamilton Tiger-Cats did what nobody else in the CFL has done in the past two years.

In a game in which something had to give in terms of defence, which was pretty much non-existent for the latter half of the game, the offences took over and turned it into a wild shootout.

Hamilton won 52-44 in a game that needed overtime. Hamilton advances to the East final where they take on Winnipeg.

There is no way that game will be anywhere near as good as this one.

The Grey Cup may not be as good as the semi final.

Kevin Glenn, who was in the middle of a huge quarterback confusion going into the Alouettes game, was spectacular in the win.

Anthony Calvillo wasn't too shabby either, throwing for more than 500 yards.

He wasn't too sharp on the final play, which cost them the game but what it does do is mean that the best team in the CFL is now done and the championship is now up for grabs.

On the western side, the Edmonton Eskimos are going indoors for the rest of the duration of their playoff run.

On Sunday afternoon, following Hamilton's big win over Montreal, they got their own big win, a 33-19 triumph over the visiting Calgary Stampeders.

They treated over 30,000 of their fans to a victory in their first post-season win at Commonwealth Stadium in seven seasons.

Their focus now shifts westward over one province, as they trek to British Columbia for what could be their first of two straight games in Vancouver.

This game turned out to be a lot closer than the East game earlier in the day.

Trailing 26-16 with nine minutes left, Henry Burris led the attack and had a good chance to make a comeback.

They had trailed by 16-point deficit but he couldn't connect on a pass to Nik Lewis and had to settle for a 23-yard field goal.

Edmonton then got an opportunity to get three points back on a 46-yard field goal but missed it.

Edmonton would go on to win the game when they capitalized on a bizarre turnover.

Rookie Stamps QB Drew Tate dropped the ball as he prepared to throw it and Edmonton linebacker Damaso Munoz jumped on it and ran it 77 yards for a touchdown.

It gave Edmonton a lead they wouldn't give up. Tate reportedly took it hard after the game.

He told reporters it was probably his fault they didn't win the game.

Edmonton had a halftime lead of 25-9 and then the defence took over. They held Calgary to three field goals and a single in the second half.

Edmonton pounded out 22 points in the second quarter and now meet the British Columbia Lions in the Grey Cup semi finals.

That sets it up for Hamilton at Winnipeg and Edmonton at British Columbia next Sunday on the CFL on TSN.

The winners move on to the 99th Grey Cup Championship in Vancouver.

If there's anything you'd like to see covered by Game 7, please forward your suggestions to the Yorkton This Week sportsdesk by phone (306) 782-2465, or send and email to the Sports Desk at [email protected].