Alouettes hope Bombers fans will wear blue and cheer team on during Grey Cup in Winnipeg

Alexandre Gagne figures his Montreal Alouettes might gain new fans in Sunday's Grey Cup against the Saskatchewan Roughriders.

The special-teams captain doesn't think Winnipeg Blue Bomber fans at sold-out Princess Auto Stadium will cheer for the green-and-white Riders — it's just not in their DNA.

"I just can't see it because I don't think it's something that's possible. They were born to hate the Riders," Gagne said this week.

"It's just passed on every generation, so I hope that the Blue Bombers are going to be cheering for us. It's still going to be a blue team that's going to be winning the Grey Cup, so I feel that that's maybe what they're going to be cheering for."

The backup linebacker from St. Hubert, Que., entered the CFL in 2017 and played three seasons with the Roughriders before joining the Alouettes in 2021.

The Bombers crossed over to play Montreal in the CFL East Division semifinal and lost. It halted Winnipeg's chance to play at home in a sixth consecutive Grey Cup, but many of the team's supporters will be among the 32,343 fans in the stands.

Alouettes quarterback Davis Alexander has already been feeling the love in Winnipeg.

"Shoot, every restaurant we go to and every spot we go to, everyone keeps saying, 'Go Als' so that makes us happy," Alexander said Saturday via a video conference call after the team had left the stadium.

"I know a lot of guys on our team were saying [to fans], 'We don't really care, just wear blue. Wear your Bomber blue, that's good with us.' It's been awesome here and the fans have been so great. That's what makes the CFL so cool," he said. 

Grey Cup parties underway in Winnipeg this weekend

The Alouettes didn't hold a regular walk-through practice. Instead, they gathered with