The East semis will feature the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and the BC Lions at Tim Horton's Field. That matchup has a connection to a member of the Winnipeg Jets, Ben Chiarot.
Chiarot's grandfather, Gord, played for both franchise's in the 1950's and the family football tree stretches out to Ben's father, Matt, and uncle who both played for McMaster University. Because of the family tradition on the gridiron, a young Ben wanted to follow in their footsteps.
"I wanted to play football more than I wanted to play hockey as a kid. You want to do what your dad and uncle and your grandfather did," said Chiarot.
"I begged them (his parents) to play football every year along with hockey. Football was probably my first choice but they knew what it does to your body and he (Dad) steered me towards hockey and I'm glad he did."
Things have turned out nicely for Ben who played with the Ontario Hockey League's Guelph Storm before being selected in the fourth round of the 2009 NHL draft by the Atlanta Thrashers. But that doesn't mean his dreams of putting on football cleats instead of skates went down without a fight.
"My buddy lived just across the street (in Hamilton) his dad was the (football) coach," said Chiarot.
"He brought home the equipment and I walked into my house wearing all of the equipment with the sign-up sheet for my dad to sign and he wouldn't budge. He wouldn't let me do it, he said 'no forget it'."
With his father saying no to football, Ben tried another angle.
"I went to my grandfather and said 'He (his dad) won't let me play and I want to play'," explained Chiarot.
"My grandfather said no too. It wasn't going to happen with those two around."
Ben's brothers had the same football aspiration, but like their brother, they took the hockey route. 21-year-old Josh plays with the Niagara Whalers of the GMHL and 16-year-old Aaron was recently drafted by the OHL's Peterborough Petes.
While hockey is now Ben's main focus, football still piques his interest.
"The glamour of the NFL is pretty undeniable, it's a big show," said Chiarot.
"CFL is more fun to watch sometimes cause the ball is in the air so much more. When I'm back home in Hamilton, I like going down to Ticats games every now and then. When you are on the field and you see how quick they are moving, it's impressive."
In case you are wondering who Chiarot is cheering for on Sunday, it's his hometown team, the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.
