nal, however, still rankles To

REGINA -- The Western final is behind Calgary running back Jon Cornish. Johnny Patrick . The Eastern final, however, still rankles Toronto quarterback Ricky Ray. One of the two will have something to celebrate Thursday night as the CFL hands out its annual awards. Cornish is up for both Most Outstanding Player, against Ray, and Outstanding Canadian, against Winnipeg linebacker Henoc Muamba. Cornishs Stampeders were ousted 35-13 by Saskatchewan last weekend while Rays Argonauts were bounced 36-24 by the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. For Ray, the scab is still fresh. "It is tough because youve got to wait six months until you get to really put it out of your system by moving on to the next year," he said of the pain. "Those are the games that are always going to haunt you a little bit. "Even losing the Grey Cup in Edmonton my first year (in 2002), I still have bad memories from that game. Even though Ive been back and been able to be on the victorious side, I still have bad thoughts about that game. Im sure this will continue to give me bad thoughts throughout my career." Cornish is past the pain. "I sort of left it back in Calgary," he said Wednesday night in a pre-awards availability. "It would have been harder to swallow if it was a closer game, But the way we lost and having seven turnovers, its not hard to be able to walk away from a game like that and just forget about it. We didnt play Stampeder football. Theres no use in holding onto it." Cornish led the league in rushing with a Canadian-record 1,813 yards. The 29-year-old from New Westminster, B.C., was also No. 1 in yards from scrimmage (2,157) and TDs (14). When healthy, Ray was like a metronome with a league-record 77.2 per cent completion average and just two interceptions in 303 pass attempts. The 34-year-old from California missed six starts due to injury and was a healthy scratch in Torontos regular-season finale He was in a remarkable groove for most of the season. "It felt like guys were open. I was just dropping back and finding guys open," Ray said. "Things were just clicking ... Its a good feeling to have." But the finale to the season inexplicably went south after a fine first half against Hamilton. "They just came out and played better. Obviously I didnt play good enough to win," he said. "Thats what you think about when you lose. You think about all the plays you wish you could have back to do over again. Maybe make a better throw, a better read." Ray was offered the chance to take in the championship game as a spectator but declined. "It would be tough to watch the game live and sit in the cold. Id just think about last week and wanting to be here. So I chose not to." Ray and Cornish exchanged compliments in their separate media scrums. "Cornish has been one of the best, most consistent guys weve had in this league over the last few years," said Ray. "Just the numbers hes been able to put up on a game-by-game basis, add them up throughout the year and its pretty special." Said Cornish: "Rickys performance this year is going to go down in the record books for his effectiveness on every play. Ive been saying for years Ricky Ray is one of the best players in this league. For me, not even winning, just being up against him is one of the biggest honours Ive had." Ray may well be hurt by his occasional inactivity. "I guess the big question is did I play enough," he said. Tight end Tony Gabriel (1978, Ottawa) and quarterback Russ Jackson (1963, 66, 69) are the only Canadians to have won Most Outstanding Player honours. Cornish is one of four Stampeder nominees, joining defensive end Charleston Hughes (defensive player), centre Brett Jones (rookie) and kicker Rene Paredes (special-teams player). Brendon LaBatte of the Saskatchewan Roughriders was the West Divisions top lineman. The other East Division finalists are Montreal linebacker Chip Cox (defensive player), Toronto centre Jeff Keeping (lineman), Hamilton Tiger-Cats running back C.J. Gable (rookie) and Marc Beswick (special-teams player). The awards are voted on by the Football Reporters of Canada and the leagues eight head coaches. Sheldon Richardson . The visitors put aside days of boardroom turmoil that saw chairman Nicola Cortese resign on Wednesday by scoring volleys through Jay Rodriguez in the fourth minute and Dejan Lovren in the 31st. Tajh Boyd . Orlov, who scored two goals in the game, was assessed a major penalty for boarding on the play. The Flyers scored once on the power play and again with the extra attacker with 65 seconds remaining to send the game to overtime.VALENCIA, Spain -- Gareth Bale filled the void left by the injured Cristiano Ronaldo, sealing Real Madrids 19th Copa del Rey title with a late goal in Wednesdays 2-1 win over Barcelona. Ronaldos extra-time play gave Madrid the 2011 Copa del Rey title at Barcelonas expense. In his absence Wednesday, Bale scored in the 85th minute -- his first goal in three "clasico" matches -- to make sure Madrid repeated the feat. Angel Di Maria scored Madrids opener from a counterattack in the 11th minute, capitalizing on a Barcelona lineup that seemed to lack ideas in attack and was slow to recover in defence. Defender Marc Bartra equalized against the run of play in the 67th by heading in from a corner kick to ruin goalkeeper Iker Casillas record run of not conceding in this edition of the tournament. The goal appeared to energize Barcelona, sparking Lionel Messi into action and ensuring the last 15 minutes became a frenetic back-and-forth contest. But with the game hanging in the balance, Bale got the winner when he sprinted down the left side of the pitch, even running out of bounds to avoid Bartra, before racing into the area and rolling the ball under goalkeeper Jose Pinto. "It is difficult to see a player be able to sprint like that at that stage of the game," Barcelona coach Gerardo Martino said. "The game was going our way after we had levelled, until that counterattack." Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti said the goal was "surely the most important" of Bales career, which took a major turn last summer when Madrid broke its own spending record to pay his (euro)100-million transfer to pry him from Tottenham. "It was a decisive moment. When Bartra scored anything could have happened," Ancelotti said. Barcelona, however, still had one last channce, only for Neymars shot to hit the upright in the 90th. Calvin Pace. Neymars last-gasp effort almost "scared us to death," Casillas said. "Fortune was on our side, and we are thankful for it." Ronaldo joined his teammates to celebrate with their fans on the pitch before the team filed past King Juan Carlos to receive their medals and the prized trophy. The plane carrying the Spanish monarch had technical problems that delayed take-off, but he arrived on time to watch the match along with more than 50,000 spectators divided into large sections of white and blue-and-burgundy club colours. After failing to win the cup competition between 1993 and 2011, Madrid has won it twice in the last four years. Ancelotti earned his first trophy for Madrid and first "clasico" win after losing his first two meetings with Barcelona, and his team will now focus on overtaking Atletico Madrid in the league and its Champions League semifinal against Bayern Munich. The loss is a setback for Barcelona and a major blow to Martino. In an eight-day span, Barcelona exited Europes top-tier competition with a loss, slipped to third place in the Spanish league, and then lost Copa del Rey to its fiercest rival. "It has been a hard week on all fronts," said Martino, who remains confident of hanging on to his job for one more season. "As I have said for one, two, three months now, I dont feel that my future has changed because of all that we lost, and nor do I think it would be different if we had won." Barcelona will now have to catch both Madrid and Atletico with only five rounds left in the Spanish league to make sure it doesnt end the season without a major piece of silverware for the first time since the arrival of Pep Guardiola in 2008-09. ' ' '