CFL Playoffs are set! LET'S GOOOO!
— Kristina Costabile (@kcostabile1) October 23, 2022
Western Final: TBD at Winnipeg
Western Semi-Final: Calgary at BC
Eastern Final: TBD at Toronto
Eastern Semi-Final: Hamilton at Montrealhttps://t.co/QZ7r7dQ4tF
The 2022 CFL playoffs have 6 teams: 3 in the East and 3 in the West. This is the second year in a row where that is true. The crossover seemed to be a part of the CFL playoff picture in the late 2010s.
Winnipeg and Toronto have byes and await their opponents for home games in those cities on November 13. Those were the sites of the CFL division finals in 2021. The difference was that Hamilton pulled off the road upset while Winnipeg came out on top.
The 2022 Grey Cup will be in Regina, home of the Saskatchewan Roughriders, a team that missed the playoffs.
Montréal won the season series over Hamilton 2-1 with each team winning at home. The Tiger-Cats won 24-17 on July 28 in the Steel City. The Alouettes edged out a win 29-28 on August 20. Montréal got the tiebreaker with a 23-16 win on September 23. In the 3 games, the Alouettes scored 1 more point than the Tiger-Cats.
The West semifinal produced the opposite result, where the road team won every game in 2022. The Lions posted a 41-40 win in Calgary on August 13 in what was the most exciting game in the league in 2022. BC pulled out a 31-29 overtime win on September 17. Calgary had the widest margin of victory in Vancouver with a 25-11 win over the BC Lions on September 24. The Stampeders had a +11 point advantage despite losing 2 out of 3.
Nathan Rourke played the first quarter for the BC Lions last Friday. That makes an already intriguing West semifinal that much more interesting.
ESPN2
Sunday
Hamilton @ Montréal, 1p
Calgary @ BC, 4:30p
TSN
Sunday
Hamilton @ Montréal, 1p
Calgary @ BC, 4:30p
The BC Lions playoff drought is on some level related to 2018. The Lions crossed over because BC won a tiebreaker with Edmonton. The Lions went into Hamilton and lost 48-8.
2016 marked the 20th straight playoff year for the BC Lions, longer than any current streak. BC hosted a playoff game that year in the West Division. The playoff drought in Vancouver has been severe.
This is the first indoor CFL playoff game since 2016. In 2012, 3 of the 4 CFL playoff games leading into the Grey Cup were played indoors.
The BC Lions under new owner Amar Doman get a well-deserved break in hosting the 2024 Grey Cup in Vancouver. The West Coast city has hosted the Grey Cup 16 times, the most recent time was 2014.
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Given that a West team crept into the East semifinal 2016-2019, 2014, 2012, and 2009, Hamilton and Montréal couldn't get together too often in the CFL playoffs. Yet Sunday's game will be the 4th game the 2 teams have played in the East semifinal since 2011.
| Year | Road | Home | Score |
| 2021 | Montréal | Hamilton | 12-23 |
| 2013 | Montréal | Hamilton | 16-19* |
| 2011 | Hamilton | Montréal | 52-44* |
*game went into overtime
This doesn't bode well for the Alouettes, the team that lost all 3 of these playoff games.
The 2013 game was the infamous wind game in Guelph, ON.
| Team | Total | Home | Road |
| BC | 8 | 5 | 3 |
| Saskatchewan | 6 | 4 | 2 |
| Winnipeg | 5 | 1 | 4 |
| Ottawa | 5 | 2 | 3 |
| Montréal | 4 | 2 | 2 |
| Toronto | 4 | 2 | 2 |
| Edmonton | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| Hamilton | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| Calgary | 2 | 2 | 0 |
The BC Lions had the biggest bounce back on the field and ESPN cable appearances. Almost half of the BC games were on U.S. cable TV, including 5 in Vancouver. Saskatchewan had 6 games with 4 at home on ESPN2 or ESPNews.
The Ottawa RedBlacks, worst team in the East, got 5 appearances along with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, best team in the West.
For the second year in a row, Tim Hortons Field, home of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, did not get on TV. Calgary was only shown at home.
June 16 Montréal @ Toronto, 7:30p ESPN2
June 17 Winnipeg @ Ottawa, 7:30p ESPN2
June 18 Saskatchewan @ Edmonton, 9:30p ESPNEWS
June 24 Hamilton @ Winnipeg, 8:30p ESPN2
June 25 Toronto @ BC, 10p ESPN2
June 30 BC @ Ottawa, 7:30p ESPN2
July 2 Montréal @ Saskatchewan, 7p ESPN2
July 8 Ottawa @ Saskatchewan, 9:30p ESPNEWS
July 9 Winnipeg @ BC, 7p ESPNEWS
July 14 Edmonton @ Montréal, 7:30p ESPN2
July 22 Winnipeg @ Edmonton, 9p ESPN2
July 23 Toronto @ Saskatchewan, 7p ESPNEWS
July 29 BC @ Saskatchewan, 9p ESPN2
July 30 Winnipeg @ Calgary, 7p ESPN2
August 6 Hamilton @ Toronto, 7p ESPN2 // Edmonton @ BC, 10p ESPN2
August 13 BC at Calgary, 7p ESPNews
August 26 Saskatchewan @ BC, 10:30p ESPN2
September 23 Hamilton @ Montréal, 7:30p ESPN2
September 30 Ottawa @ BC, 10:30p ESPN2
October 10 Ottawa @ Montréal, 1p ESPN2
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| Year | Team | Result |
| 2019 | Edmonton (8-10) | beat Montréal (10-8), lost to Hamilton (15-3) |
| 2018 | BC (9-9) | lost to Hamilton (8-10) |
| 2017 | Saskatchewan (10-8) | beat Ottawa (8-9-1), lost to Toronto (9-9) |
| 2016 | Edmonton (10-8) | beat Hamilton (7-11), lost to Ottawa (8-9-1) |
| 2014 | BC (9-9) | lost to Montréal (9-9) |
| 2012 | Edmonton (7-11) | lost to Toronto (9-9) |
| 2009 | BC (8-10) | beat Hamilton (9-9), lost to Montréal (15-3) |
| 2008 | Edmonton (10-8) | beat Winnipeg (8-10), lost to Montréal (11-7) |
| 2005 | Saskatchewan (9-9) | lost to Montréal (10-8) |
| 2003 | BC (11-7) | lost to Toronto (9-9) |
| 2002 | Saskatchewan (8-10) | lost to Toronto (8-10) |
| 1997 | BC (8-10) | lost to Montréal (13-5) |
5 of the final 6 CFL seasons in the 2010s had a crossover. Hasn't been one since 2019. 2015 was the sole season in that stretch where there was no crossover. There were 3 East teams all above .500. In fact, the 3rd place BC Lions in 2015 were a playoff team under .500.
2015 was also the first year all 3 Ontario teams made the playoffs since 1983. Ottawa had a 12-6 record and Hamilton and Toronto tied at 10-8.
This season, the East semifinal will be Hamilton (8-10) at Montréal (9-9). By contrast, the Lions and Stampeders were both 12-6. BC hosts the West semifinal because of winning the tiebreaker with Calgary.
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Saskatchewan didn't waste time adjusting its coaching roster. Craig Dickenson stays as head coach. 3 assistant coaches are gone: Jason Maas (offensive coordinator), Stephen Sorrells (run game coordinator and offensive line), and Travis Moore (receivers).
The offensive line blocking was a key negative for the Roughriders. Cody Fajardo's injuries did not help plus the awkward, reluctant inclusion to finally give Mason Fine some time.
CanadianCrossing.com CFL coverage
Dustin Nielson and Glen Suitor did 2 games out west with Farhan Lalji on Friday in Winnipeg and Brit Dort on Saturday in Calgary.
Marshall Ferguson and Duane Forde started out the tripleheader with Matthew Scianitti in Toronto. Rod Smith and Matt Dunigan with Claire Hanna were in Ottawa for the middle game.
Twitter capture: @kcostabile1
logo credit: CFL
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