Spectre of Ricky Ray trade hangs over Eskimos in wake of painful playoff loss

TORONTO – The Edmonton Eskimos’ season ended as it started, under the cloud of the Ricky Ray trade.

And it’s not as if there weren’t other topics of conversation in the wake of a 42-26 loss to Toronto in a CFL East semifinal that was nowhere near as close as the score suggested.

Star linebacker J.C. Sherritt came out in street clothes and a walking boot, thanks to a nagging ankle injury.

Matt Nichols, the quarterback of the future, started the second half in relief of Kerry Joseph and was carted off minutes later after a gruesome dislocated ankle suffered while being sacked.

In between, the Eskimos gave up 31 points in the second quarter, a league record for the post-season.

Head coach Kavis Reed said he wasn’t second-guessing himself about not bringing Nichols in until the second half, saying special teams and defensive errors did the team in, not the offence.

But Reed coach paused and chose his words carefully whenever the off-season trade that send Ray to Toronto was brought up.

He called it a “very difficult situation,” saying there’s no argument that Ray is a franchise quarterback.