QUEBEC CITY (CIS) – The No. 4 Queen's Gaels (10-1) and No. 2 Calgary Dinos (10-1) are set to face off in the 2009 Desjardins Vanier Cup on Saturday at PEPS Stadium on the campus of Université Laval.

The championship match kicks off at 12 p.m. local, 10 a.m. MT, live on TSN and Radio-Canada.

The week of festivities for the first CIS football final staged in the province of Quebec officially got underway Wednesday at 1 p.m. with the traditional Meet the Teams media conference at Loews Le Concorde Hotel.

For all the info on the Desjardins Vanier Cup, visit www.vaniercup.com.

THE 45th VANIER CUP FINAL: DID YOU KNOW…

Georges-Philéas Vanier (1888-1967), the late Governor General of Canada, earned a bachelor of laws degree from the Montreal campus of Université Laval in 1911 (the Montreal campus became Université de Montréal in 1918)...

Saturday's duel will be the second meeting in history between Calgary and Queen's. Calgary prevailed 31-21 in the 1983 Vanier Cup in front of 18,324 spectators at Toronto's Varsity Stadium...

In that 1983 Vanier Cup final, Hec Crighton-winning quarterback Greg Vavra led Calgary to victory over Queen's. On Saturday, current Dino QB Erik Glavic, the Hec Crighton trophy winner in 2007 with Saint Mary's and a nominee for the award this season, will team up with offensive coordinator Vavra as they try to lead Calgary over Queen's...

Calgary's Blake Nill and Queen's Pat Sheahan are the first head coaches in history to lead two programs to Vanier Cup appearances. Prior to joining the Dinos in 2006, Nill was at the helm at Saint Mary's from 1998 to 2005 and guided the Huskies to the CIS final in 1999 (loss), 2001 (win), 2002 (win) and 2003 (loss). Prior to joining the Gaels in 2000, Sheahan patrolled the sidelines at Concordia from 1989-1999 and led the Stingers to the CIS title match in 1998 (loss)...

Sheahan, who will coach in the first-ever Vanier Cup final staged in the province of Quebec on Saturday, was the offensive coordinator of the 1987 McGill Redmen, the first Quebec team to win the Vanier Cup. The Redmen dominated UBC by 36 points in the 1987 final (47-11), which still stands as the largest margin of victory in Vanier Cup history...

Should Calgary win on Saturday, Nill would become the fourth head coach in history to claim three Vanier Cups or more along with current CIS colleagues Glen Constantin of Laval (4) and Brian Towriss of Saskatchewan (3), and former Calgary bench boss Peter Connellan (4)...

A Calgary win on Saturday would also tie the Dinos with Laval for second most Vanier cup triumphs, with five, one behind Western. A Queen's victory would tie the Gaels with Calgary in third position...

Saturday's winner will join Laval and Western as the only teams to capture the CIS football title at three different venues. Laval has been crowned at Toronto's SkyDome (1999, 2003), Hamilton's Ivor Wynne Stadium (2004, 2008) and Saskatoon's Griffiths Stadium (2006). Western triumphed at Toronto's Varsity Stadium (1971, 1976, 1977), CNE Stadium (1974) and SkyDome (1989, 1994). Calgary won national championships at Varsity Stadium (1983, 1985, 1988) and SkyDome (1995), while Queen's claimed banners at Varsity Stadium (1968, 1978) and SkyDome (1992)...

Saturday's victors will join Laval (Toronto, Hamilton, Saskatoon) and Laurier (Toronto, Hamilton) as the only teams to hoist the Vanier Cup in at least two cities...

Calgary is making its first Vanier Cup appearance as the Dinos. The UofC team nickname was changed from Dinosaurs to Dinos in 1998-99...

Queen's is making its first Vanier Cup appearance as the Gaels. The Queen's team nickname was changed from Golden Gaels to Gaels in 2008...

Queens (1992) and Calgary (1995) were both victorious in their last Vanier Cup appearances...

In the last Vanier Cup played on Nov. 28, in 1998, Sheahan's Concordia Stingers were defeated 24-17 by Saskatchewan. In the only other CIS football final contested on Nov. 28, Acadia beat Alberta 18-12 in 1981...

In 17 previous CIS football finals between Canada West and Ontario-based schools, Ontario has a 9-8 edge. Calgary is 3-2 in Vanier Cup finals versus Ontario-based universities, while Queen's is 1-1 against West teams in the national final...

Queen's last win over a Canada West opponent dates back to the 1978 Vanier Cup (16-3 vs. UBC)...

The Western-most team has won 24 of the first 44 Vanier Cup finals...

The only Vanier Cup final in history to require overtime was between Canada West and Ontario rivals. Western outscored Saskatchewan 50-40 in 1994 in the highest-scoring CIS final in history...

The only two Vanier Cup finals in history to be decided by a single point were between Canada West and Ontario opponents. Alberta edged McMaster 10-9 in 1967, and Laurier beat Saskatchewan 24-23 in 2005...

Queen's has the only shutout in Vanier Cup history, a 31-0 whitewash of Saint Mary's in 1992...

The only previous time Calgary defeated Saint Mary's in a Bowl game to advance to the Vanier Cup, in 1993, the Dinos lost the national final 37-34 to Toronto...

Regardless of the result on Saturday, the nationals champions will not end the season undefeated for the first time since 2006...

And last but not least: For the 45th consecutive year, the Vanier Cup will feature at least one team named after an animal (including the mythological gryphon)...

QUEEN'S UNIVERSITY GAELS

(OUA champions – Mitchell Bowl winners – Visiting team Desjardins Vanier Cup)

2009 season
Overall record: 10-1
Regular season record: 7-1
Regular season standing: 1st
Playoff record: 3-0
Playoff results:

-32-6 home win vs. No. 9 McMaster (OUA semifinal)

-43-39 home win vs. No. 5 Western (OUA final)

-33-30 home win vs. No. 1 Laval (Mitchell Bowl)

Final Top 10 ranking (Nov. 3): No. 4
Best Top 10 ranking (11 weeks): No. 2 (1 week: 9th poll)
Lowest Top 10 ranking (11 weeks): No. 8 (2 weeks: first 2 polls)
Number of weeks in Top 10 (11 weeks): 11
Regular season offence (272 points / 34.0 per game): 3rd OUA / 5th CIS
Regular season passing offence (348.4 yards per game): 2nd OUA / 2nd CIS
Regular season rushing offence (146.6 yards per game): 7th OUA / 15th CIS
Regular season defence (149 points / 18.6 per game): 4th OUA / 8th CIS
Regular season passing defence (230.8 yards per game): 5th OUA / 12th CIS
Regular season rushing defence (97.9 yards per game): 1st OUA / 3rd CIS


OUA individual honours

Major awards: LB T.J. Leeper (Russ Jackson award nominee)
All-stars offence (First Team): Matt O'Donnell (T), Scott Valberg (IR)
All-stars offence (Second Team): Dan Brannagan (QB), Vince DeCivita (G)
All-stars defence (First team): Osie Ukwuoma (DE), Jimmy Allin (CB)
All-stars defence (Second Team): David Rooney (DB)
All-stars special teams (First Team): Stephen Laporte (cover)
All-stars special teams (Second Team): Dan Village (PK), Jimmy Allin (KR)

Head coach: Pat Sheahan
Year: 21st (10th at Queen's / 11 at Concordia 1989-1999)
Career regular season record: 98-63-1 (50-30 with Queen's)
Career playoff record: 14-14 (8-6 with Queen's)
Career overall record (season and playoffs): 112-77-1 (58-36 with Queen's)
Career record vs. Calgary: 0-0 
Vanier Cup record: 0-1 (with Concordia)
Vanier Cup wins: None
Vanier Cup losses: 1998

Queen's all-time head-to-head vs. Calgary
Overall record: 0-1
Game type: Vanier Cup
Date: Nov. 19, 1983
Location: Varsity Stadium, Toronto
Attendance: 18,324
Result: 31-21 loss
Head coach: Doug Hargreaves

Queen's Vanier Cup history
All-time record: 3-1
Nov. 21, 1992, SkyDome, Toronto (28,645): 31-0 win vs. Saint Mary's
Nov. 19, 1983, Varsity Stadium, Toronto (18,324): 31-21 loss vs. Calgary
Nov. 18, 1978, Varsity Stadium, Toronto (19,124): 16-3 win vs. UBC
Nov. 22, 1968, Varsity Stadium, Toronto (16,051): 42-14 win vs. Waterloo Lutheran

Queen's Vanier Cup head coaches
2009: Pat Sheahan
1992, 1983, 1978: Doug Hargreaves
1968: Frank Tindall

UNIVERSITY OF CALGARY DINOS

(Canada West champions – Uteck Bowl winners - Home team Desjardins Vanier Cup)

2009 season
Overall record: 10-1
Regular season record: 7-1
Regular season standing: 2nd 
Playoff record: 3-0
Playoff results:

- 45-13 home win vs. Alberta (CWUAA semifinal)

- 39-38 road win vs. No. 3 Saskatchewan (CWUAA final)

- 38-14 road win vs. No. 6 Saint Mary's (Uteck Bowl)

Final Top 10 ranking (Nov. 3): No. 2
Best Top 10 ranking (11 weeks): No. 2 (2 weeks: last 2 polls)
Lowest Top 10 ranking (11 weeks): No. 5 (1 week: 3rd poll)
Number of weeks in Top 10 (11 weeks): 11
Regular season offence (316 points / 39.5 per game): 1st Canada West / 3rd CIS
Regular season passing offence (293.4 yards per game): 1st Canada West / 5th CIS
Regular season rushing offence (283.4 yards per game): 1st Canada West / 1st CIS
Regular season defence (172 points / 21.5 per game): 3rd Canada West / 12th CIS
Regular season passing defence (274.1 yards per game): 6th Canada West / 23rd CIS
Regular season rushing defence (92.9 yards per game): 1st Canada West / 2nd CIS

Canada West individual honours
Major awards: QB Erik Glavic (MVP), DT Linden Gaydosh (rookie), Blake Nill (coach)
All-stars offence: Erik Glavic (QB), Matt Walter (RB), Nathan Coehoorn (WR), Anthony Parker (IR), Kirby Fabien (T), Alex Krausnick-Groh (C)
All-stars defence: Andrea Bonaventura (LB)
All-stars special teams: None

Head coach: Blake Nill
Year: 12th (4th at Calgary / 8 at Saint Mary's 1998-2005)
Career regular season record: 67-29 (18-14 with Calgary)
Career playoff record: 17-7 (5-2 with Calgary)
Career overall record (season and playoffs): 84-36 (23-16 with Calgary)
Career record vs. Queen's: 0-0
Vanier Cup record: 2-2
Vanier Cup wins: 2002, 2001
Vanier Cup losses: 2003, 1999

Calgary all-time head-to-head vs. Queen's
Overall record: 1-0

Game type: Vanier Cup
Date: Nov. 19, 1983
Location: Varsity Stadium, Toronto
Attendance: 18,324
Result: 31-21 win
Head coach: Peter Connellan

Calgary Vanier Cup history
All-time record: 4-2

Nov. 25, 1995, SkyDome, Toronto (29,178): 54-24 win vs. Western
Nov. 20, 1993, SkyDome, Toronto (20,211): 37-34 loss vs. Toronto
Nov. 19, 1988, Varsity Stadium, Toronto (13,127): 52-23 win vs. Saint Mary's
Nov. 30, 1985, Varsity Stadium, Toronto (16,321): 25-6 win vs. Western
Nov. 19, 1983, Varsity Stadium, Toronto (18,324): 31-21 win vs. Queen's
Nov. 21, 1975, CNE Stadium, Toronto (17,800): 14-9 loss vs. Ottawa

Calgary Vanier Cup head coaches
2009: Blake Nill
1995, 1993, 1988, 1985, 1983: Peter Connellan
1975: Mike Lashuk

Vanier Cup Venues
Varsity Stadium, Toronto (capacity 21,739): 1965-1972, 1976-1988
CNE Stadium, Toronto (capacity 33,135): 1973-1975
Rogers Centre, Toronto * (capacity 32,000 for Vanier Cup): 1989-2003, 2007
Ivor Wynne Stadium, Hamilton (capacity 28,743): 2004-2005, 2008
Griffiths Stadium, Saskatoon (capacity: sellout for 2006 game, 12 567): 2006

* Formerly SkyDome

-CIS-