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When a team turns the ball over three times in the game’s opening quarter, it does not bode well and things did not, to say the least, go well for the Ticats, who were thumped 33-12 by Winnipeg in the biggest game of the year.

So good for the entire season, so bad when it mattered the most, the Ticats gathered for the final time at Tim Hortons Field knowing the 2019 team will not be the same as the inevitable off-season changes begin.

“It’s hard to express exactly how you feel,’’ said Van Zeyl, a class act who will be back in the Hammer for the 2020 season. “It’s gut-wrenching. You make it as far as you do and to not win. I haven’t experienced that.

“For me, it was pretty tough. I would imagine it’s pretty tough for a lot of guys to varying circumstances as far their contracts and the length of their careers. Fortunately for us we had an incredible season, perfect at home, we were 16-3 up until the Grey Cup. There were a lot of great things to talk about and reflect on. The only sad part for me right now other than losing the Grey Cup, obviously, is that these guys won’t be back next year and the locker room won’t be the same.

“That’s tough. Saying goodbye to a lot of these guys is tough and not knowing who you are saying goodbye to for the last time is tough. But that’s something you have to, unfortunately, deal with, every year.”

Van Zeyl hasn’t watched any replays of the Grey Cup on TV.

“I know how it went for myself,’’ he said. “I’m not making it a high priority. I don’t know if I’ll watch it or not.”