Nic Demski stood alone in front of his locker late Thursday after the Winnipeg Blue Bombers had dropped their home opener, but on a night that saw the gifted receiver quietly join an exclusive Canadian Football League club.

Demski’s last of his four catches in the 37-27 loss to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats came on the final play of the night, as he latched onto a Zach Collaros pass for a nine-yard gain.

And with that the 32-year-old proud product of Winnipeg — and of the Charleswood Broncos/Oak Park Raiders/University of Manitoba Bisons — became just the 19th Canadian player in the long history of the CFL to record 500 career receptions.

“It’s pretty cool. I knew about it coming into the season but honestly didn’t know how many catches I had today,” Demski told bluebombers.com after the game. “My auntie actually texted me — shout out to Auntie Kelly — and told me I had reached 500.

“Obviously, I’d like to have it under different circumstances, but it is a pretty cool milestone.”

Drafted by the Saskatchewan Roughriders in the first round, 6th overall, in the 2015 CFL Draft, Demski returned to his hometown as a free agent in 2018.

A multi-faceted receiver/running back/returner during his days with the Bisons, Demski has flashed all of those skills with the Blue Bombers.

He has posted three consecutive 1,000-yard seasons through last year and led the club in receiving in each of the last two campaigns while being named a West All-Star for a fifth straight time.

“I never would have thought about this at all when I was a rookie. Not at all,” Demski admitted. “It’s pretty crazy to think about 500 catches — it’s a big number for me.

“Honestly it wasn’t something I thought about until I saw an article earlier this year. I tried not to think about it, about being six catches away heading into the season but when it happens it is now something that will stay with me forever.”

Montreal Alouettes’ legend Ben Cahoon tops the list of Canadians in the 500-reception club and the list includes four other players with Blue Bombers connections — running back Andrew Harris is seventh on the list with 609, with Joe Poplawski 11th at 549, Kamau Peterson 12th at 534, followed by Rick House at 522.

And with a decent season — another 54 receptions — Demski would move into the Top 10 on the following list:

THE CFL’S CANADIAN 500 CATCHES CLUB

Joe Poplawski

Ben Cahoon — Mtl (1998-2010) — 1,017
Ray Elgaard — Sask (1983-96) — 830
Rocky DiPietro — Ham (1978-91) — 706
Andy Fantuz — Sask/Ham (2006-2017) — 637
Jock Climie — Tor/Ott/Mtl (1990-01) — 627
Tony Gabriel — Ham/Ott (1971-81) — 614
Andrew Harris — BC/Wpg/Tor (2009-23) — 609
Terry Evanshen — Mtl/Cal/Ham/Tor (1965-78) — 600
Paul Masotti — Tor (1988-99) — 556
Tom Forzani — Cal (1973-83) — 553
Joe Poplawski — Wpg (1978-86) — 549
Kamau Peterson — Cal/Wpg/Ham/Edm/BC (2001-11) — 534
Jim Young — BC (1967-79) — 522
Rick House — Wpg/Edm (1979-91) — 522
Bobby Taylor — Cal/Tor/Ham/Edm (1961-73) — 521
Mike Morreale — Tor/Ham (1995-06) — 509
Brad Sinopoli — Cal/Ott (2011-20) — 509
Jason Clermont — BC/Sask (2002-11) — 501
Nic Demski — Sask/Wpg (2015- ) — 500

Demski is the CFL’s active receptions leader with 500 — Ottawa’s Eugene Lewis is next at 476 — and his touchdown against Hamilton in the home opener was his 44th as a Blue Bomber, now just four shy of moving past Jeff Boyd (47) into 10th place on the franchise’s all-time list behind Milt Stegall (147), Charles Roberts (79), Leo Lewis (75), Gerry James (63), James Murphy (62), Ernie Pitts (55), Willard Reaves (53), House (49) and Poplawski (48).

He’s also now at 5,667 receiving yards as a Blue Bomber, good for seventh place and just 257 yards shy of tying Perry Tuttle for sixth spot at 5,817.

Now, as mentioned above, Demski was lamenting the fact the feat was accomplished in a loss. Even with that, the veteran receiver sees so much upside in the Blue Bombers new attack.

“I’ve said this from Day 1 of training camp — we’ve just got to learn and grow together,” said Demski. “Me, being an 11-year vet, I’m still learning a new offence.

“Obviously, this is a familiar setting in a familiar place for me, but it is a new offence with new guys around. We’ve still got to keep learning and growing together and we’ve got to play smarter football as a team.

“Everybody in this locker room is committed to being great and we’ll all put the work in to get there.”