PLAYER #90 - JOHN MALINOSKY (1980-84)

The old CNE Stadium was a cold and unforgiving place, especially when the wind and rain came in off the lake. But in late autumn, there was no better place to be than watching an Argo game, shivering in the cold with a mickey in one hand and a loud horn in the other.

Some of the greatest moments at the "mistake-by-the-lake" occurred in the early 1980's, when the Argonauts were a Grey Cup contending squad and John Malinosky was anchoring their offensive line. Included in the memories had to be the 1982 Grey Cup game, the Argos' first appearance in 12 years, when they took on the dynasty of the Edmonton Eskimos, who had won four straight titles going into the contest. The Boatmen even led 20-14 at halftime, but ended up losing the game 32-16 in a steady drizzle, an occurrence that sped up construction of the SkyDome.

"It seemed like 40 degrees colder than it was, and the clock just died (in the second half)," was how Malinosky remembered it. Two years later, in similar weather conditions, the Double Blue lost another heartbreaker, 14-13 to Hamilton in overtime, and it ended up being Malinosky's last game in an Argo uniform.

"I think that one must have taken me three-to-four days to get the cold out of my bones," admitted Malinosky. However, in between the painful ends of the 1982 and 1984 seasons was the joyful conclusion to the 1983 campaign, a year that marked the Argos' first Grey Cup win in 31 years, 18-17 over the B.C. Lions.

"You had to kind of pinch yourself, it was an unbelievable feeling," said Malinosky, who was able to win the big game in his hometown of Vancouver, with his parents and brother in the crowd.

Growing up on the west coast, Malinosky moved east for university at big-time NCAA school Michigan State, and suddenly he was playing in front of 85,000 people one year after playing in front of less than 850 for a championship high school game.

"The first year or two, you just sit and learn," said Malinosky. "I enjoyed it, it was a nice experience, except that in my last three years there, (our school) was on probation."

Drafted as a territorial exemption by B.C. in 1977, Malinosky's rights were traded to Calgary, where he spent his rookie season. He played in Winnipeg the next year, and came to the Argos in 1980, where he lived and played for the duration of his career. Included in that span was a humourous occasion during the Willie Wood era, when Wood and general manager Tom Hudspeth got mixed up over who should have called the bus for a game in Hamilton. The result was the team having to change on the bus and getting to the stadium five minutes before game time.

The result was a predictable Ti-Cat slaughter, but for Malinosky, his stay in Toronto had more positives than negatives.

"If I played in a town, I lived there and got involved in the community," said Malinosky, who also worked at the Syl Apps Youth Centre while he played. He then got involved with the Tim Horton's donut chain, and today owns a franchise in Acton, Ontario. He also helps coach football at his son Joshua's high school in Georgetown. Malinosky and his wife Sarah have two other children, daughter Faith and son Noah.