Hey there, Dave Dickenson. Time to start formulating your witty answer to the annual “will you let your players have sex?” question at the coaches’ media conference. Step up, rookie.

Here are the Division Finals takeaways:

1. Snow angels are good for the soul.

So are snowy, blowy, wintry football games. If there was one moment that encapsulated the great joy we all get from a good old-fashioned snow globe game, it came when Ottawa’s Greg Ellingson caught the opening touchdown pass in the Eastern Final and proceeded to the gentle hillside behind the end zone, where he flopped and plowed the snow with horizontal jumping-jacks.

Hats off to the fans who braved the elements and made TD Place a madhouse of chilled and soaking wet joy, all cowbell and moustache icicles. Same thing to the players who, despite the conditions, made more than a snowmobile mitt full of terrific plays and near-plays, at times looking like all of us attempting to navigate the slope of our treacherous driveways as we head to our cars, trying not to slide past and onto the street.

Weather like that isn’t a negative. It does not have to be a hindrance. It’s just another player in the drama that’s unfolding and on a day like Sunday’s in Ottawa, the weather goes from mere setting to colourful protagonist in the story, forcing the other characters to resort to the extraordinary.

The only thing that could have made this game more CFL legend-worthy would’ve been the waterboys handing the players cups of steaming hot Timmy’s during the timeouts.

2. Rust? Rust shmust.

Bo Levi Mitchell comes out and fires an 18-yard dart to Bakari Grant on his first pass attempt and the Calgary Stampeders go 57 yards in four plays, complete a two-point convert and go up 8-nothing before the game is two and a half minutes old.

The Stampeders installed some new and surprising plays and formations during their time off and it helped keep the BC Lions off balance in the Western Final. The team with so much time off – a cause for concern for some – was sharp and detailed and energetic.

Last year, the Edmonton Eskimos had three weeks between the end of their regular season and the Western Final and they went on to win the Grey Cup. This year, the Stampeders get the regular season finale bye and even rested their star quarterback in the final game of the season and they crushed it in the Final.

Time to put talk of too much time off to rest. It’s not a bad thing at all; It just needs to be managed properly, as has been proven by the Esks and Stampeders in consecutive years.

By the way, the Ottawa REDBLACKS had the bye into the Eastern Final and rested a ton of their starters in their last regular season game. They did alright as well. I say again: Rust shmust.

3. Ya don’t know what ya don’t know.

Until you know it, ya know? Ottawa running back Kienan LaFrance was a bit of an unknown element in that Ottawa attack when starter Mossis Madu went down on their first drive of the game.

LaFrance, who’d rushed all of 37 times in his sophomore season, was pressed into emergency action and promptly ripped off a 27-yarder with his first carry, on the way to an incredible day in the snow, capped by a terrific touchdown run in the fourth quarter, one where he showed not just straight line speed, but also the change of direction abilities of a mountain goat on an icy mountainside.

LaFrance went from “good Canadian depth” guy to “should we should get another Canadian or two to back up our 2017 starter?” guy.

4. You can have it all.

Calgary linebacker Glenn Love is proof of that, showing it in the span of four plays. A special teams wiz, he ended the regular season as one of the leaders in kick coverage with 21 returner takedowns. When Stamps’ veteran Deron Mayo went down with a season-ending injury in Week 17, Love was elevated to starting linebacker and he has been steady in the position.

He was more than that during the Western Final, making an athletic, leaping interception in the Calgary end zone during the third quarter, showing that his drop-and-cover skills are top drawer. On the third play following that pick, the Stampeders punted to Lions’ returner Marco Ianuzzi who flicked a lateral to the very dangerous Chris Rainey.

The Lions’ speedy returner was eying the corner when he was tripped up by a lunging tackler who hadn’t been fooled. That was Love, holding the gain to one yard.

5. There is a catch Ernest Jackson can’t make.

Take note, all you defensive coordinators out there, I have a hot tip for you.

Jackson was not hung with a dropped ball all season long. Not one. He makes all the ones he’s supposed to make and most of the ones he isn’t.

In the Eastern Final, Ottawa’s Edward Glue-Hands made an amazing, clutch catch to convert on second-down as the REDBLACKS were stitching together an impressive clinching drive, late in the fourth. However, I spotted a soft spot in his seemingly impossible-to-pierce armour a few minutes earlier, when he failed to corral a Henry Burris pass in the end zone.

I have surmised an attempted reception scenario where Jackson may be vulnerable: It’s the one where he is diving straight backwards, with his stomach facing the heavens, stretched to the limit, in tight coverage, hitting the ground with a mighty crash, in the middle of a snowstorm. It’s simple. Just constantly force him into that situation and you’ll be fine. Note: I do not guarantee you’ll be fine.

AND FINALLY: Just call him “Marquay All Day.”