The BC Lions start out on Thursday Night Football with a trip to Winnipeg in a battle of 2-0 teams. This is the first meeting between the teams since the 2022 West final in Winnipeg.
Hamilton becomes the last CFL team to have a home opener. The Tiger-Cats welcome the Montréal Alouettes to Tim Hortons Field for Friday Night Football. CBS Sports Network will have that game in the United States.
Bo Levi Mitchell was supposed to make his regular season debut in the black and gold in Hamilton. Matthew Shiltz starts for the injured Mitchell.
Green meets red when the Saskatchewan Roughriders go to Calgary on Saturday night. Each team is looking for win #2 with 1-1 records.
Toronto is in Edmonton for the Sunday night game. The Argos were impressive in their home opener. The Elks are coming off being shut out and have a CFL record 18 straight home losses at Commonwealth Stadium.
This is a good CFL weekend to be in Alberta since you could catch both weekend games in person. I did this many years ago back when Greyhound was an option to travel from Edmonton to Calgary.
Ottawa gets to enjoy more of the summer solstice and hopes the extra week means Jeremiah Masoli will be the starter next week.
CBS Sports Network
Friday
Montréal @ Hamilton, 7:30p
TSN
Thursday
BC @ Winnipeg, 8:30p
Friday
Montréal @ Hamilton, 7:30p
Saturday
Saskatchewan @ Calgary, 7p
Sunday
Toronto @ Edmonton, 7p
Bye week: Ottawa
We know shutouts are rare in the CFL. The 22-0 win in the BC Lions home opener over Edmonton was the first shutout for the Lions since a 30-0 win over Toronto on August 23, 1977. This was only the third shutout in BC modern history.
Edmonton hasn't been shutout since a 40-0 loss to the Roughriders in Regina on August 15, 1976.
The last CFL shutout was in October 2021 when Winnipeg whitewashed the Lions 45-0. Your humble narrator got to see Montréal shutout Toronto at Molson Stadium about a decade ago.
Janarion Grant scored a 90-yard punt return touchdown for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in Regina. The punt return proved to be a turning point in the prairie battle. The referees called an illegal block penalty. After the review, they found no illegal blocks. This is why teams should get 2 shots for review, but only one of them could be used in the first half. Right now, if you are unsuccessful in the first half, you lose the right for the rest of the game.
Saskatchewan has now lost 8 in a row to Winnipeg in regular season and postseason games. The teams will play on the day before Labour Day and the following Saturday for the Banjo Bowl.
Ottawa scored no touchdowns in Week 1. Brandin Dandridge returning a punt 79 yards for a major in Week 2. The RedBlacks need to get touchdowns in some other way, defence or offence. Calgary had a defence touchdown against Ottawa. Jeremiah Masoli will help when he returns. Masoli's running ability may get off to a slow start.
Maybe the Toronto Argos are for real. They did look good at home Sunday night. Hamilton didn't look that sharp.
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We noted in our Victoria Day notebook about naming rights for Canadian stadiums and arenas. BC Place hasn't had naming rights until now. The Save-On-Foods Field at BC Place moniker is only applicable for BC Lions home games. The MLS Vancouver FC Whitecaps also play at BC Place.
We will not refer to the stadium by this new moniker other than this mention.
2023 CFL preseason schedule
CanadianCrossing.com CFL coverage
The Edmonton Elks had a smart reaction to the loss of TSN 1260. The team offered $12.60 tickets for lower bowl section 00 with the promotional code THANKS1260 for the Argos game Sunday night. The Elks radio rights are held by 630 CHED. Former TSN 1260 hosts are scheduled to be there to honour their contribution.
And a huge shoutout to the @CFLonTSN panel for spending a couple great days on the west coast!
— BC LIONS (@BCLions) June 18, 2023
We think they had fun 😉@KateBeirness @MattDuniganTSN @MiltStegallTSN @DavisSanchez @TSN_Sports
pic.twitter.com/pRSaE2Io53
Marshall Ferguson made his 2023 CFL debut with Duane Forde along with Claire Hanna in Ottawa on Thursday. Ferguson and Matt Dunigan were with Matthew Scianitti for the Toronto Argonauts Grey Cup 2022 banner lifting.
Rod Smith and Glen Suitor with Brit Dort were in Regina for the Saskatchewan home opener on Friday night. Smith and Suitor quickly made their way to Vancouver with Farhan Lalji on Saturday afternoon.
Dustin Nielson likely had the weekend off originally scheduled, something about a golf trip. The loss of TSN 1260 in Edmonton made that timing look more awkward. Nielson weighs in on all of this.
We don't mean to pick on Kate Beirness, who is very good in her role of hosting the CFL on TSN panel. We have to point out Beirness tossed to the crew in Vancouver by saying "Rod Black and Glen Suitor" instead of Rod Smith. Credit to Smith for continuing as if nothing happened. Rod Black was likely watching and launched into "Hello Canada" from his couch.
Dave Naylor and Jim Barker filled in on the panel on Sunday night.
Joel Gasson of 3 Down Nation started a new segment breaking down the CFL on TSN telecasts. This initial column was a good read and we look forward to reading more of them as the season goes along. Gasson's take on the team of Dustin Nielson and Duane Forde is spot on.
CBS Sports Network didn't jump into coverage from Vancouver since there was a delay for the home opener. You can rightly assume that the U.S. network can't carry any coverage outside of the game.
logo credit: CFL
Twitter captures: @BCLions
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