Scott Milanovich expects Tim White to have extra motivation against Hamilton Tiger-Cats

Photo: Blair Takahashi/COACHTAK/3DownNation. All rights reserved.

The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are expecting Tim White to be at his best when he faces his former team for the first time on Thursday night.

“Tim’s a great receiver — four 1,000-yard seasons in a row, which is pretty impressive. It speaks to his conditioning, his health. I don’t think Tim ever missed a practice here, and so all that’s very impressive,” head coach Scott Milanovich told the media on Tuesday.

“I’m sure he does (have some extra motivation). These things happen in pro football. It was not a situation where we didn’t want Tim White, we simply couldn’t afford him. There’s a couple others — Casey Sayles was the same way.

“When both tackles get raises, and (Jamal Peters), Stavros (Katsantonis), and Bo (Levi Mitchell get raises, too), you can just add them up. The cap doesn’t go up that much, and so it was a situation where we had to let a couple of good football players go.”

White spent five seasons in Steeltown, earning three All-CFL selections and four All-East Division selections. He was a pending free agent this offseason when the team cut him loose, allowing him to explore the market early and eventually sign with the Blue Bombers.

Shortly after he joined Winnipeg, White indicated there was “no movement” in contract negotiations with the Tiger-Cats, who never formally offered him an extension. He was released by the team at his request when it became clear an offer wasn’t going to materialize.

For what it’s worth, White downplayed the revenge angle back in January and again recently.

“I’m not too big on answering too many questions about Hamilton right now,” he told the Winnipeg Free Press this week. “I’m focused on being a Bomber, I’m focused on the things I can do to benefit my team.”

The five-foot-ten, 173-pound target made five catches for 60 yards and one touchdown in his Winnipeg debut last week, helping the team beat Calgary by a score of 30-28. It was a big win for a club that was swept 3-0 by the Stampeders in 2025.

However, the real star of the game was Brady Oliveira, who ripped off 15 carries for 113 yards and one touchdown.

Though Milanovich respects what White might achieve through the air, he made it clear that his number one concern is stifling Oliveira.

“The priority has got to be to stop the run game first,” he said. “We need to be able to stop the run.”

The Hamilton Tiger-Cats (0-1) will visit the Winnipeg Blue Bombers (1-0) at Princess Auto Stadium on Thursday, June 11, with kickoff scheduled for 8:30 p.m. EDT. The Tiger-Cats are coming off an overtime loss to the Montreal Alouettes, while the Blue Bombers got a walk-off game-winning field goal from Sergio Castillo to beat the Calgary Stampeders.

The weather forecast in Winnipeg calls for a high of 21 degrees and a 30 percent chance of rain. The game will be broadcast on TSN and RDS2 in Canada, CBS Sports Network in the United States, and CFL+ internationally. Radio listeners can tune in to the Ticats Audio Network in Hamilton and 680 CJOB in Winnipeg.