HAMILTON — Luke Tasker’s 2016 season ended earlier than he had anticipated.

He missed the final third of the season with a nagging injury, one that kept him – and the Ticats’ medical staff – guessing each week whether he was ready to get back on the field or not.

“My injury was such that it was just kind of bizarre,” Tasker told CFL.ca at Mark’s CFL Week in Regina. “Week by week we weren’t sure how long it was going to be and as it turned out it ended my season. So it was frustrating but that’s part of the game and I’m just happy that it wasn’t something that’s lingering on throughout my off-season. I’m healthy now.”

He’s in good shape – he’s been training in his hometown of Buffalo this off-season – and is excited to get back to work with the Tiger-Cats when training camp begins at the end of the month.

Last season, the 26-year-old wideout was on his way to having the best year of his four-year CFL career before his season-ending injury.

In the 12 games he suited up in before being sidelined, he caught 852 yards and five touchdowns – that means he was on pace for 1,278 yards, more than his previous career-high in 2015 (1,066).

Tasker wasn’t the only Tiger-Cat sidelined with injuries last season, either. Quarterback Zach Collaros, and receivers Andy Fantuz and Chad Owens all missed time in 2016 as the injury bug hit hard in the Ticats’ locker room. The defence was also dealing with injuries as safety Craig Butler obtained his own season-ending injury before the season even started and his replacement Courtney Stephen missed time as well.

The timing of the wounds were less than ideal for the Tabbies. Most came late in the season, right when the team was trying to make a push for the top spot in the East.

They ended up second in the division and hosted the Edmonton Eskimos in the Eastern Semi-Final. Tasker watched his team lose from the sidelines as the Ticats couldn’t stop Esks’ running back John White, who rushed for over 120 yards that contest.

“It was a year with a lot of adversity, and especially having been injured for me personally.” Luke Tasker

“It was a year with a lot of adversity, and especially having been injured for me personally it was a lot of adversity,” he said. “Any year you don’t win the Grey Cup it’s good to have it behind you. We’re going to go in this year and I think the greatest teams always have the end in mind – they always start with a championship in mind and day one in camp we need to make sure everyone is on the same page of winning the Grey Cup.”

Making a Grey Cup run is, like all nine teams in the league, at the top of Tasker and his Ticats minds as they head into 2017. Tasker is hoping his connection with quarterback Collaros will help to lead the charge to do so.

Collaros trusts Tasker – the receiver has been one of the pivot’s favourite targets for the past few seasons – and Tasker trusts Collaros even more so.

“I would be 100 per cent ready to follow Zach and to put the entire offence into his hands,” Tasker said of Collaros. “That’s how strongly I feel about him. If someone’s arguing he should be in the second tier of quarterbacks, maybe you’d bring up some injuries he’s had and stuff but shoot, quarterbacks take some hard hits. To me, mentally and his physical ability, he’s at the top of the list.”

Heading into his fifth season in Tigertown, Tasker feels right at home – he’s just a few hours drive from where he spent his childhood – and is looking forward to bringing winning football to the fans in Hamilton.

“I think I found a city that really works for me,” confessed Tasker. “Not only its proximity to where I grew up but just the feeling of the city. I feel the same way about football and about the Ticats that the fans do. It’s been great.”