The 38-year-old slotback won three Grey Cup championships with the Alouettes.

“I’ve been on a magical ride with highs and lows that I never could have imagined,” said Cahoon. “I just wanted to say thank you, it’s been amazing, and I’m looking forward to the next stage of my life whatever that is.”

The sudden announcement will no doubt affect CFL Betting Odds for the Alouettes next season.

Cahoon was drafted by Montreal in 1997, the same year veteran center Brian Chiu, who also retired after last season, began playing as a starter.

Cahoon’s contribution to the Alouettes was noted by Montreal GM Jim Popp.

“There’s not question that Ben will be an icon of the CFL for its history,” said Popp. “He is by far one of the toughest football players we have seen pound for pound. He’s got a tremendous future and we thank him very much.”

During his career Cahoon caught 1,017 passes for 13,301 yards and scored 65 touchdowns, and holds the Grey Cup receiver record with 666 yards and 47 receptions.

Cahoon hopes to get a coaching position with the BYU Cougars, where he went to university.

Montreal is a 3.5-point favorite and the over/under total is 51 in CFL betting Odds.

The Saskatchewan Rough Riders won two playoff games to play their way into the Grey Cup by first beating the BC Lions by a field goal and then beating the Calgary Stampeders by four points to earn the spot in the Grey Cup Championship game.

The Montreal Alouettes path to the Grey Cup title game was much easier. The Alouettes took on the Toronto Argonauts and made short work of them after earning a bye in the first week of the CFL Playoffs. Anthony Calvillo was once again the best quarterback on the field in that game passing for 334 yards and two touchdowns.

This game will come down to the quarterbacks and this will give the Montreal Alouettes a decided edge in the game. Anthony Calvillo has thrown for 4839 yards and 32 touchdowns this season as opposed to the Rough Riders quarterback Darien Durant who has thrown for 5542 yards and 25 touchdowns. Calvillo’s quarterback rating is 108.1 this season and Durant owns a quarterback rating of 87.2. Durant may have the edge over Calvillo in yardage but old pro Calvillo is more accurate of the two.

Saskatchewan earned their way into this game by beating the team with the best win/loss record in the league, the Calgary Stampeders. The Montreal Alouettes own the second best win/loss record

The best record in the CFL was held by the Calgary Stampeders with 13 wins followed by the Montreal Alouettes with 12 wins. Montreal and Toronto met for the last two game of the regular season and split them. Montreal winning the first of the two games 37-30 and then losing the last game of the season 30-4.

Now with the Grey Cup on the line Anthony Calvillo and his high powered offense will be gunning for Toronto in this game. The Toronto versus Montreal series has been one of the closest and bitterest in the CFL this season with the Montreal Alouettes holding a 3-2 edge over the Argonauts.

Toronto has a slim chance to earn their way into the Grey Cup. Cleo Lemon, the much maligned quarterback of the Argo’s, has shown glimpses of greatness in big games and if he can put together a big game this weekend, Toronto has a punchers chance.

Cory Byrd is another factor that can contribute to a Toronto Argonauts trip to the Grey Cup this season. Byrd is a solid up and down running back that can be a game changer. If Lemon is ineffective at the quarterback position, look for Byrd to get more carries to grind out a win.

Football odds favorite, Anthony Calvillo and the Montreal Alouettes have a record of 11-5 and will be looking to sweep the final two games against their rivals, the Toronto Argonauts. Calvillo has already thrown for over 4,000 yards with two games remaining and is ranked fourth among CFL starting quarterbacks with 4,457 yards in passing. Calvillo’s favorite target, Jamel Richardson also ranks fourth among CFL receivers with 1,179 yards receiving.

Cleo Lemon may not be lighting up the board with passing yards but he does have an explosive weapon to fall back on in the Toronto Argonauts back field. Cory Boyd leads all CFL rushers with 1,279 yards on the ground and five touchdowns along with his two touchdowns and 284 yards receiving out of the back field. Boyd has shown a propensity to cough up the football with his five fumbles.

The Toronto Argonauts are a model of inconsistency with their up and down 8-8 record. This relates back to their quarterback Lemon and their offensive issues. The Montreal Alouettes have a stellar 7-1 home record but have only managed a 4-4 record on the road. This includes a loss in their last and only visit to Toronto earlier in the year.

Both teams enter this game as the leaders of the East and West divisions of the CFL and as always happens in a home and home series, there should be some bad blood between the two. In the first game in McMahon Stadium, the Calgary Stampeders made the most of their home field advantage.

Stampeders quarterback Henry Burris had one of his best games of the year throwing for 412 yards and passing his way to ninth all time on the CFL All Time passing leaders. Burris added more yardage with his feet, running for 56 yards and keeping the Alouettes defense honest. The Stampeders jumped out to a 14-0 lead and after the Alouettes came back to score 14-7 but that was as close as they would get to the Stampeders.

Other players that made an impact in last weeks confrontation that may be shut down in this weeks game were Ken-Yon Rambo and Montreal’s Avon Cobourne. Rambo was the leading receiver for the Stampeders with 169 yards and will have double coverage throughout this game. The Stampeders will have to jump up and play more effectively against the run and Cobourne who had 76 yards in last weeks game.

The battle of the quarterbacks in this game is very one sided. The home team Eskimos quarterback, Ricky Ray has been embattled all season long and his seven touchdowns versus his 13 interceptions is not a statistic that will help Ray’s cause. Ray has thrown for a total of 2600 yards and rushed for 127 yards.

Kevin Glenn, the quarterback for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, has thrown for 3507 yards to go with his 20 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. Glenn has shown he is capable of taking over a game but he needs to finish games to be considered an elite quarterback. Glenn is in a must win situation with the Tiger-Cats. A win will give the team a chance for sole possession of second place in the CFL East. The first place team is the Montreal Alouettes who have already clinched their playoff berth.

DeAndra’ Cobb, the lead running back for the Tiger-Cats, has allowed Glenn to rack up his numbers by running effectively enough to set up the play action pass. Cobb has 830 yards heading into this game and could be a major factor if Hamilton is to beat the Edmonton Eskimos.

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers have stumbled their way to a 3-8 record this season, while the Montreal Alouettes have impressed. Montreal has only lost three games on their way to the second best record in the CFL at 8-3, trailing only the 9-2 West Division leaders, the Calgary Stampeders.

The Blue Bombers only selling point in this game is that they do have a winning 3-2 record on their home field and two of the Alouettes three losses have come in road games. Montreal is still a tough team to beat on the road but the Winnipeg Blue Bombers can cling to slim hopes of a playoff berth with a win in this game.

The Montreal Alouettes strong suit is their passing game lead by Anthony Calvillo. Calvillo only ranks fourth in the CFL in passing but he does have the best passer rating of all the starting CFL quarterbacks.

Calvillo has a good one-two combo at receiver. Both Kerry Watkins and Jamel Richardson are unselfish receivers to a fault and both have great football instincts. The two run strong routes and know how to separate from the defense on a quick routes.

On the other sideline, the Blue Bombers will need to breathe life into their offense. They are better than their 44 points over the last two games indicates and a victory over a strong Montreal team could do wonders for the teams morale.

The Hamilton Tiger Cats enter the game with a hot quarterback in Kevin Glenn and a hot slot receiver in Arland Bruce. Bruce scored the game winner last weekend against Winnipeg. The Hamilton Tiger Cats have struggled in the 2010 CFL season and are still below .500 with a record of 3-4. As per the latest football reviews, this game against Toronto will make or break the season for Hamilton. It could get them off to a fresh start for the second half of the season.

The Toronto Argonauts are on the other end of the spectrum. Coming off a win against East Division rival, Montreal, the Toronto Argonauts are now 5-2 and tied with Montreal for a share of the East Division lead. Toronto cannot afford to let one slip against a hungry Hamilton Tiger Cats team.

Toronto’s Cleo Lemon may not be the popular choice at quarterback but he is Head Coach Jim Barker’s choice, so he isn’t going anywhere. Running back Cory Boyd and Lemon have worked well together to this point of the CFL season and they should be more than capable of disposing of the Hamilton Tiger Cats.

Cleo Lemon, a football betting favorite player, remains the quarterback for Toronto, despite his pedestrian performance to this point of the season. Lemon’s five interceptions and four touchdowns, along with his 1198 yards passing, are not instilling fear into many CFL secondaries, including Montreal’s.

Montreal’s quarterback Anthony Calvillo, compared to Cleo Lemon is almost unfair. The two quarterbacks are in different stratospheres. Calvillo’s touchdown to interception ratio is 12 touchdowns to two interceptions and he has already thrown for 1,858 yards in six games. The quarterback advantage was exploited two weekends ago in the first regular season meeting between these two teams. The two also met in the pre season and Montreal won 23-31 in Montreal.

Neither teams are defensive stalwarts and action will ensue from the opening kickoff. Although the score of the last game in Montreal was 41-10 in Montreal’s favor, don’t look for this game to be as one sided. Cleo Lemon is the key in this game. If he can keep the ball out of the Montreal corners hands and throw for 250-275 yards, Toronto could pull this game off and even up their record with Montreal.

Following a difficult week one, these teams will square off. In an absolute shootout, the Alouettes took on Saskatchewan. The two teams combined for more than 100 points. The Alouettes were unfortunately defeated by a score of 54-5.

Likewise, the Eskimos had a tough week one. They were thoroughly handled as they took on BC. They managed to score just 10 points while surrendering 25. For BC, this lack of offensive output will be a big concern as they start the season.

To put up points against the Alouettes, the Eskimos will have to find a way, as they are a high-powered team. They will score a lot of points against just about any defense in the league, although their offense can be slowed to some extent. The Eskimos cannot afford to put up 10 points on the board again if they hope to compete in this one. So for now Alouettes are the odds favorite for this upcoming event.

Last year, the Alouettes were the Grey Cup Champions. This being said, if they hope to repeat this season, they cannot afford a start of 0-2. Sometimes a poor start can cause your team to lose momentum and allows other teams to hit the ground running. on both sides of the ball last year, the Alouettes were one of the best teams and will need a solid game both offensively and defensively to get back on track towards the Grey Cup.