Never mind the gaudy championship ring or the extra money in his pocket.
Winnipegger Cory Huclack would like to win tomorrow's Grey Cup just to shut up his dad.
Huclack, a solid special teamer and backup linebacker with the Montreal Alouettes, is the son of former CFLer Dan Huclack, who won a Grey Cup with the Blue Bombers in 1984 and another with Hamilton two years later.
Those details tend to trump whatever football discussion the two have at family dinner on Sundays.
"All arguments always end with, 'Well, how many rings do you have?'" Huclack, 25, told the Sun from Calgary. "So I'm hoping to get halfway there this year and get one for myself, so I can throw that back at him."
Huclack's done all right since being shocked by the trade that sent him from Winnipeg to Montreal for receiver O'Neil Wilson just before training camp in 2007 -- not long after he signed with the Bombers as a free agent out of the U of M.
Sure, suiting up for his hometown team would have been the stuff dreams are made of.
But he wouldn't be on a first-place team and playing in his second straight championship game if he'd remained a Bomber.
"I couldn't be happier that it happened," Huclack said. "Who knows what's in store for the remainder of the career, but so far I have no regrets. We've just got to win one more this week, and then I'll be really happy."
Huclack had a breakout season this year, finishing second on the Als with 12 special teams tackles. The highlights: blocking a punt in the East Final and recording his first interception, which he ran in for a touchdown against Edmonton, Week 2.
"It was something else," he said. "I had my best year so far, as a professional."
While he plays all the special teams, he's no longer the Als' long snapper, which is fine with him.
"You know me -- I'd rather run down and hit people."
I seem to recall his dad being the same way in the early 1980s.
A bruising fullback, Dan Huclack was a Bomber from 1980-84, that last year producing the franchise's memorable Grey Cup title, its first in 22 years.
Cory was nine months old when his dad hoisted the silver mug.
Last season, the kid just missed getting a sip of ale from the thing, and the loss to Calgary still burns his tongue.
"I don't want that same feeling, come seven or eight o'clock on Sunday," Huclack said. "It was a heartbreaker, and I don't want to go through that again."
The way the Als seem to reload every year, this could become a habit for Huclack.
The franchise's success, he says, comes right from the top, with owner Robert Wetenhall, and trickles down.
"Everyone seems to be on the same page out here," he said.
And every player is reading from head coach Marc Trestman's handbook.
"It's all about guys buying in to what the head coach is selling," Huclack said. "Everyone on this team has bought in to what coach Trestman is selling. Even in games that we did lose this season, we kept our same course. We didn't veer off of it. He's been around and he knows the game of football. He knows how to get his players motivated. He's an amazing head coach."
If the Als manage to complete their amazing season, Huclack will continue to hold bragging rights over the only other Winnipegger playing tomorrow: Saskatchewan cornerback Donovan Alexander.
Huclack's Oak Park Raiders beat Alexander's St. Paul's Crusaders in back-to-back high school championships. Earlier this week, Alexander said it was his turn.
Not so fast, says the former Raider.
"I've got other thoughts," Huclack said. "I'm going to try and make it three in a row. So I can talk to him a little bit in the off-season."
Right after he finally gets the last word with dad.
Contact Paul at paul.friesen@sunmedia.ca or 632-2788.
