Starting the season with a bang! @Rikester13 and @Dee_Sky_Walker connect on a 101-yard touchdown for the first TD of the 2018 @CFL season! #CFLKickoff pic.twitter.com/8Bp6P68PGq
— CFL on TSN (@CFLonTSN) June 15, 2018
ESPN2 is down to a single game, the early game on Friday Night Football with the Blue Bombers in La Belle Province.
The CFL has games in the East this week after last week's opening week in the West. The Saskatchewan Roughriders are in the nation's capital for Thursday Night Football as the RedBlacks start their season. The Tiger-Cats continue on the road in Edmonton in the late game on Friday.
Toronto's home opener features the rematch of the 2017 Grey Cup with the Stampeders in town.
The BC Lions enjoy some nice weather back home in Vancouver for the week.
ESPN2
Friday
Winnipeg @ Montréal, 7p
TSN
Thursday
Saskatchewan @ Ottawa, 7:30p
Friday
Winnipeg @ Montréal, 7p
Hamilton @ Edmonton, 10p
Saturday
Calgary @ Toronto, 7p
Bye week: BC
"The earliest that the CFL season has ever begun becomes the latest that a game ever ends." — Rod Black
A good CFL game ran up against Mother Nature with 2 lightning delays in Winnipeg Thursday night. The delay time was more time (2:55) than Toronto-Saskatchewan used Friday night. The previous record for delay time was 2:29 on August 3, 2016, also in Winnipeg. The 2016 contest was delayed at the start.
The Reklaws were originally supposed to play at halftime, then shifted to play during the warmups for Winnipeg 2.0, then finally their appearance was cancelled.
Chris Streveler became the first QB straight out of college to start a CFL opener since Anthony Calvillo in 1994 with the Las Vegas Posse. Calvillo and Joe Theismann in 1971 with Toronto are still the only 2 in that category to win that first game.
The studio crew was in Winnipeg. They had a lot more time to fill. Some of that content was references to the Rum Hut on the concourse in Winnipeg. The Rum Hut was closed well before the 2nd delay.
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Zach Collaros snapped a 12-game losing streak as a starter, one short of the league record held by Lynn Amedee with 13 in 1963-1964. Anthony Calvillo (1996-1997) is one of several QBs with a 12-game streak.
Collaros last victory as a starter came on September 9, 2016 for Hamilton vs. Montréal.
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Calgary had a slow start, especially in the red zone. Hamilton made a game of it for most of the contest, a far cry from the 60-1 dominance the Stampeders put on the Tiger-Cats in Calgary last August. Hamilton could only muster a field goal in the second half. If the Tiger-Cats don't win this week, the team will have gone 0-2 in 10 of its last 14 seasons.
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Montréal lost its 12th straight over the last 2 seasons. The Alouettes had a good 1st quarter; now they need to solve the other 3 quarters. The BC Lions proved they are good enough to beat Montréal at home.
The Ottawa RedBlacks are resting comfortably in first place in the East with a 0-0 record.
CanadianCrossing.com CFL coverage
The new TSN innovation is a split screen where the replay is on the left while the live play is on the right. We've seen U.S. outlets use this to run ads but nice to see a football use for the technology.
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For our American readers, this will likely mark the start of ESPN+ if you feel like the money is justified. We will report back on our impressions. Feel free to leave a comment about your ESPN+ experience, good and bad.
Twitter capture: @CFLonTSN
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