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WINNIPEG — Through his 21 years in Montreal as the Alouettes’ general manager and, occasionally, head coach, Jim Popp never was at a loss for words — until his firing, when his only proclamation, eventually, came through an innocuous statement.

Nothing unusual about a guy not attending or offering an opinion on his own execution.

Although many in the Als’ front office said Popp took the news hard and, predictably, was emotional when he cleaned out his desk, the passage of time appears to have healed the wounds.

“There was nothing to say. Things happen and I had nothing to say. It was better not to say anything. I left. I’ve moved on,” Popp, now the Toronto Argonauts’ GM, said Friday, following a football operations media conference at CFL week. “Anytime you’ve been somewhere for a long time, it’s always going to be hard.

“I have nothing to add.”

While it would be easy for Popp to have the last laugh — the Argos shocked many, upsetting Calgary last November to win the Grey Cup, while the Als hit rock-bottom, going 3-15 while losing their final 11 games — he has refused to gloat, at least publicly. Every league franchise goes through lean years, he said.