The CFL finally goes east of Winnipeg and west of Alberta for the first time since 2019. In other words, the CFL will go beyond the Prairies.
The BC Lions play the home opener welcoming the Elks to Vancouver on Thursday Night Football.
Montréal completes its Alberta trip with a visit to Calgary on Friday night.
The Toronto Argonauts host Winnipeg at BMO Field in the second half of a home-and-home series. Let's hope for a decent crowd. Toronto sports fans haven't been able to watch their teams at home until recently.
The RedBlacks trip to Saskatchewan (insert Roughriders/Rough Riders jokes) completes the Saturday doubleheader.
Hamilton may spend its week off back home in the east.
ESPN2 has a pair of games with the home openers on Thursday in Vancouver and Saturday afternoon in Toronto.
ESPN2
Thursday
Edmonton @ BC, 10p
Saturday
Winnipeg @ Toronto, 4p
TSN
Thursday
Edmonton @ BC, 10p
Friday
Montréal @ Calgary, 9:30p
Saturday
Winnipeg @ Toronto, 4p
Ottawa @ Saskatchewan, 7p
Bye week: Hamilton
Calgary and Edmonton aren't just 0-2; the Alberta teams are 0-2 at home. Montréal won for the first time in Edmonton since 2013. Calgary's offence is struggling but the Stampeders are a kilometre ahead of their northern neighbours. The Elks finally scored a TD late in the game against the Alouettes in Week 2.
Winnipeg and Saskatchewan are 2-0, both at home. Hamilton accounts for half of those wins. The Blue Bombers have won 13 of the team's last 14 home games.
Montréal and Ottawa are 1-0, both in Edmonton. Based on the results against the Elks, the Alouettes have the edge over the RedBlacks.
The Tiger-Cats offence was virtually missing in both games while the Toronto Argonauts offence struggled in Week 2.
McLeod Bethel-Thompson excelled in Week 1 for Toronto. Nick Arbuckle was the spark in Week 2, replacing Bethel-Thompson and leading the Argos to the team's lone touchdown drive in Winnipeg.
I believe the Mitchell injury occurred on this hit from #Argos Charleston Hughes. Don’t be shocked if #Stampeders are coy on the length of injury, given what’s happened with BC the past 2 weeks, but the expectation is Bo could miss at least a couple of games. @CFLonTSN @TSN_Edge https://t.co/8xbQrtJi2E pic.twitter.com/yv8OrVPF3w
— Farhan Lalji (@FarhanLaljiTSN) August 16, 2021
Michael O'Connor becomes the second Canadian quarterback to start a CFL game in 2021. O'Connor replaces Bo Levi Mitchell for the Calgary Stampeders. The Stamps are home this week to Montréal.
Mitchell didn't look good last week with 4 interceptions. 2019 was the year of the backup quarterback. O'Connor gets more time with the first string offence than Nathan Rourke had with the BC Lions in the opening week. The CFL has never had 2 Canadian quarterbacks start games in a season.
O'Connor played in 2 games in 2019. He is a product of the University of British Columbia in Vancouver.
2021 CFL Week 2 preview
The CFL is electrified by kickoff and punt returns for a touchdown. Montréal's Mario Alford had the first CFL punt return with an 86-yard touchdown run in Week 2. The CFL/TSN contest potentially gives $1,000,000 to a selected fan if there are 2 kickoff returns for a touchdown in a game. That money has been earning interest for a long time.
Ottawa's Abdul Kanneh had a significant 102-yard interception return for a touchdown in Week 1. Still impressive but not with the same flavour as a kickoff or punt return.
2021 CFL Week 1 preview
Takeru Yamasaki made history by becoming the first Japanese-born player to score a point in the CFL. Yamasaki has been off to a rough start for the BC Lions, going 4/8 in field goal tries. The Lions went for the 2-point conversion early in Week 2.
His misses have been on short kicks and those misses have come at crucial times for the Lions.
The Lions released Yamasaki, who had been the team's 3rd round pick in the 2021 Global Draft.
BC started on the road in tough places such as Regina and Calgary; the team has its home opener this week. Making those kicks is the idea, no matter where you are from in the world.
The team will have a new kicker and has a new owner: Amar Doman, founder and sole shareholder of the Futura Corporation, is the new owner of the BC Lions.
2021 CFL preview
The Blue Bombers solid start is more remarkable since Andrew Harris has been out with a calf injury. Winnipeg native Brady Oliveira made this easier for the Blue Bombers, running for 126 yards against Hamilton in the opening week. While Oliveira only had 29 rushing yards against Toronto, a solid running without Harris will be made that much stronger once he can return. Harris, like Oliveira, is also from Winnipeg.
CanadianCrossing.com CFL coverage
The CFL on TSN should fine any on-air person for using the old Edmonton nickname. The panel members have been good. Glen Suitor would lead the way in fines; Rod Smith would have had at least a single fine. The money should go to Indigenous groups.
We get an actual slip up or beginning to say that e-word. The difference is that the word is being used to show context for past events for the team. The Edmonton team/franchise is a nice generic term to use. You can even say "the old nickname" without saying that nickname.
The cruelty of using these words as sport team nicknames is that the word gets repeated over and over ad nauseam.
Short-term solutions for TSN to replace Chris Cuthbert on CFL telecasts
Some CFL fans will be thrilled to not hear Rod Black for most of August. Black is calling games at the IIHF Women’s World Championship.
Dustin Nielson and Duane Forde were in Calgary on Thursday and Regina late on Saturday. Hope Nielson got to do his morning show on TSN 1260 from Calgary on Friday.
Rod Smith and Glen Suitor had a quick turnaround from Winnipeg on Friday to do the early game in Edmonton on Saturday.
Milt Stegall and Matt Dunigan are still working from south of the border on the panel. Dunigan has been the go-to for a 3rd game analyst on tripleheaders. With all the talk of those who do play by play, Suitor, Forde, Dunigan, and Henry Burris have been the only CFL analysts for years.
logo credit: CFL
Twitter capture: @FarhanLaljiTSN
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