Canadian Crossing

Toronto Argonauts win yet another Grey Cup over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers

The CFL has 9 markets. The one with the least enthusiasm is Toronto, the team that keeps winning Grey Cups. The Argos slim 17-16 4th quarter lead became a 41-24 win over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers at the 111th Grey Cup Sunday night at BC Place in Vancouver.

The Toronto Argonauts have now won their last 8 Grey Cups with the last loss coming in 1987. The team is 19-6 in Grey Cup games. The Blue Bombers are now 12-17 in those games.

Toronto is 9-0 against Winnipeg in the history of the Grey Cup, winning in 1937, 1938, 1942, 1945, 1946, 1947, 1950, 2022, and now 2024. The Argos edged out a 24-23 win in 2022 with a heroic comeback by Chad Kelly. The 2024 edition has Kelly suspended and then injured in the East final. Nick Arbuckle did what his coach Ryan Dinwiddie couldn't do: win a Grey Cup as the backup quarterback after the starter was injured in the CFL division final (2007).

Arbuckle went 26-for-37 for 252 yards and 2 touchdowns.

Zach Collaros was struggling even before the injured finger he suffered in the second half. Throwing with gloves did not help though the gloves were not the problem. Collaros went 15-for-30 for 202 yards. 3 of his 4 interceptions came after the injured finger. Ontaria Wilson led the Blue Bombers receiving core with 99 yards on 5 catches.

HOUSE CALL!!

Robert Priester takes it all the way back and the @TorontoArgos are up by 18 late!#GreyCup LIVE on TSN, CTV, RDS & CBSSN
📱: Stream on CFL+ pic.twitter.com/hYlrNTDswg

— CFL (@CFL) November 18, 2024

Key moments in championship games is taking advantage of what your opponent does. The Toronto defence was very prepared for such an event.

Winnipeg had its own opportunity to get momentum. Toronto punter John Haggerty had his punt blocked by Michael Ayers at the end of the 3rd quarter. Unfortunately, the Blue Bombers were penalized on the play. Kyrie Wilson had a push in the back that was unnecessary to the play. The Argos got the ball back.

Admittedly, Arbuckle then threw a short interception to Willie Jefferson, who does these sort of matters. Unfortunately, Terry Wilson looked not up to the task and Winnipeg had to settle for a field goal. That made the score 17-16 with the Argos up at that point.

"Where the [bleep] was Jake Dolegala?" That was the question I had in my head as I was watching the game. In a sea of backup quarterback scenarios, Dolegala would have been a better hand in that situation to lead the Blue Bombers to a possible touchdown and lead.

Terry Wilson is a good 3rd string quarterback. Chris Streveler, done in by a cheap hit in September, could only wonder what might have been.

THE @TORONTOARGOS WIN THE 111TH #GREYCUP. pic.twitter.com/GUi1x7uHbQ

— CFL (@CFL) November 18, 2024

The Toronto Argos don't win in a pretty way. Just enough offense, plenty of defence, sprinkle in some special teams, and the team wins another CFL championship.

52,349 fans is the 7th most at a Grey Cup game in Vancouver.

1. 1986 - 59,579 (Hamilton)
2. 1987 - 59,478 (Edmonton)
3. 1983 - 59,345 (Toronto)
4. 2005 - 59,157 (Edmonton)
5. 1994 - 55,097 (BC)
6. 2011 - 54,313 (BC)
7. 🏆2024 - 52,349
8. 2014 - 52,056 (Calgary)

— Ben Steiner (@BenSteiner00) November 18, 2024

The CFL wants to spread around the Grey Cup love to different cities, except for Montréal. Vancouver is a logical destination to have the Grey Cup because of an indoor stadium, large capacity, great weather (low bar), and lots to do. Having the Grey Cup in the West (outside Vancouver) is a relatively new phenomena.

Winnipeg is on the clock for the 2025 Grey Cup.

Montreal makes it 8 in winning the 2023 Grey Cup

2024 CFL Grey Cup preview

2024 CFL division finals preview

2024 CFL playoffs preview

2024 CFL Week 21 preview: Final regular season weekend

Our hearty congratulations to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers to make it to 5 straight Grey Cups. The posts with lots of hits will focus on 3 straight Grey Cup losses. Takes a lot of talent to reach this point. Brady Oliveira is the 4th Canadian to win the Most Outstanding Player (MOP). Ottawa quarterback Russ Jackson (1963, 1966, 1969), Ottawa tight end Tony Gabriel (1978), and Calgary running back Jon Cornish (2013) are the other Canadians to win this award. Surprisingly, Andrew Harris isn't on this list.

Oliveira had 239 carries for 1,353 yards and 3 touchdowns as the rushing leader. The Winnipeg native also caught 57 passes for 476 yards and a touchdown. Oliveira had the most total yards.

“Let’s go Vancouver, come down and party with us!” 🥳🍻@CFL fans do it right.#GreyCupFestival | #AllROARSLeadToThis pic.twitter.com/JkEuptRrjK

— The Grey Cup Festival (@GreyCupFestival) November 15, 2024

The Grey Cup isn't just about a football game. The week long festival is about bringing together CFL fans.

Doesn't hurt to have Prince Harry and the Jonas Brothers in Vancouver. Prince Harry was there to promote the Invictus Games coming to Vancouver in 2025.

2024 CFL Week 21 preview: Final regular season weekend

2024 CFL preview

CanadianCrossing.com CFL coverage

Thanks for another great CFL season in the books. The off-season should be some stability in Edmonton in the general manager chair and coaches on the sidelines, turmoil in BC, quarterback shuffles, and maybe, possibly a Grey Cup win for Hamilton for the first time in the 21st century.

[We apologize profusely for technical difficulties with this post. We had content that has disappeared thanks to Typepad.]

photo credit: @TSN_Sports
Twitter captures: @CFL (x2); @BenSteiner00; @GreyCupFestival

2024 CFL Grey Cup preview

Unlike last year's Montréal-Winnipeg first-time Grey Cup meeting, the Toronto Argonauts and Winnipeg Blue Bombers have Grey Cup history.

The teams met 2 years ago in Regina where the Argos edged out a 24-23 win, the 7th straight Grey Cup victory for the Toronto franchise.

Toronto is 8-0 against Winnipeg in the history of the Grey Cup, winning in 1937, 1938, 1942, 1945, 1946, 1947, 1950, and 2022.

The Argonauts swept the season series against the Blue Bombers. Toronto won 16-14 at home in overtime on July 27 and squeezed by Winnipeg 14-11 at Princess Auto Stadium on October 11.

The first loss put the Winnipeg record at 2-6. The second loss is the only loss the Blue Bombers have had since then, including the West final.

The 2007 East final came up with the Chad Kelly injury. Winnipeg starting quarterback Kevin Glenn hurt his arm as the Blue Bombers won the East final over the Montréal Alouettes. Glenn's replacement against the Saskatchewan Roughriders was current Toronto coach Ryan Dinwiddie. Now Nick Arbuckle will start his first Grey Cup game Sunday in Vancouver, the 111th Grey Cup.

Dave Naylor of TSN reported that Kelly's injury is to his tibia. Other reports said ankle. The Toronto quarterback is anticipated to be out 6-9 months.

Montréal played a highly flawed East final at home against the Argos yet almost came away with a win. Toronto held on to win 30-28. The Blue Bombers jumped out to a quick lead against Saskatchewan and outlasted the Roughriders 38-22 in Winnipeg.

Zach Collaros will be the first CFL quarterback to start 5 straight Grey Cup games. Bob Irving (CJOB radio Winnipeg) pointed out that Collaros has started 6 Grey Cup games, including 2014 with Hamilton.

Mike O'Shea won't take the Alouettes for granted given that Toronto cost them a third straight Grey Cup in 2022. Until the Blue Bombers won in 2019, the team hadn't won the CFL title since 1990.

The Argos won the last 7 Grey Cups with the last loss in 1987. The team is 18-6 in previous Grey Cup games. The Blue Bombers have the most Grey Cup appearances with 28; Toronto is second with 24. Winnipeg is 12-16 in those games.

CBS Sports Network

Sunday
Toronto vs. Winnipeg @ Vancouver, 6p

CTV

Sunday
Toronto vs. Winnipeg @ Vancouver, 6p

TSN

Sunday
Toronto vs. Winnipeg @ Vancouver, 6p

A PICK SIX FOR THE @TORONTOARGOS TO START THIS EASTERN FINAL 👀#GCPlayoffs on CTV, TSN, & RDS
📲: Stream on CFL+ pic.twitter.com/ECQn9GP8ku

— CFL (@CFL) November 9, 2024

A dramatic Pick-6 by the road team in the CFL East final. Shades of Marc-Antoine Dequoy in 2023. The 2024 Benjie Franklin version had a different dynamic. Walter Fletcher should have caught the ball for the Alouettes. Isaac Darkangelo got the primary assist for the Argos.

Still, Franklin had his second Pick-6 of the playoffs; 3 overall for Toronto. The runback wasn't a dramatic 101-yard return.

Montréal got momentum back, scoring the next 16 points. A Janarion Grant 71-yard TD punt return and a late TD pass to Damonte Coxie gave the Argos a surprise 2-point halftime lead.

Then again, the Alouettes with 2 extra points instead of 2 failed 2-point conversions could have sent the East final to overtime.

One could argue that Winnipeg's slow start was partially tied to the absence of Kenny Lawler, due to injury. Lawler "only" caught 4 balls in the West final. 3 of them did go for touchdowns. The yards total was 177 for an average of 44.3 yards per catch. The 177 mark was more than the other receivers combined.

Zach Collaros had 4 passing touchdowns, going 19-for-26 passes for 301 yards. The Blue Bombers offensive line didn't give up a sack. That same line helped Brady Oliveira gain 119 yards on 20 carries.

Winnipeg has won 9 straight home games against Saskatchewan, including 2021 and 2024 West finals.

The Blue Bombers have won their last 6 straight division finals at home: 2001, 2011, 2021-2024. The last time Winnipeg lost a division final at home? 1994 against the Baltimore CFLers in the East Division final.

Just recalled that the @TorontoArgos traded Nick Arbuckle to @GoElks in 2022 for the rights to …. ??? … Chad Kelly.

After the game Argos head coach Ryan Dinwiddie confirmed Arbuckle will start the Grey Cup. #CFL #Argos

— Dave Naylor (@TSNDaveNaylor) November 10, 2024

There is a segment of the CFL audience that was unhappy that Chad Kelly is still playing in the league after the harassment of a coach, which led to her dismissal by the Toronto Argos. The idea of the Argonauts being in the Grey Cup but without Chad Kelly is an odd dynamic. Kelly gets a Grey Cup ring if Toronto wins without him on Sunday.

CFL+ occasionally runs the promo about diversity in people working for the teams and the league. The promos on their own are great but leave a bad taste in your mouth with what happened with Kelly and that coach.

Chad Kelly will miss a great chunk of the 2025 CFL season but for a very different reason than missing time in 2024.

We will be curious about the new commissioner and that person's take on these types of concerns.

Speaking of Arbuckle, the Toronto Argonauts brought back quarterback Bryan Scott. The quarterback was with Toronto until Kelly came back from his suspension. Winnipeg signed Scott and Jake Dolegala (BC released Dolegala when Nathan Rourke returned) to replace Chris Streveler in September. Scott didn’t stay until the end of September.

Cameron Dukes will be the Toronto backup on Sunday.

Taste test time! 🇨🇦 🍁

Watch the @JonasBrothers try these CLASSIC Canadian foods for the first time!

Tune into the Twisted Tea Canada Grey Cup Halftime show featuring the Jonas Brothers on Nov. 17 on TSN, CTV and RDS!@umusic | @GreyCupFestival pic.twitter.com/i4gnMO0Ufa

— CFL (@CFL) November 6, 2024

Caught an odd video where 3 young American men were trying Canadian foods. They were sampling ketchup chips, Timbits from Tim Hortons, and Caesars. There was doing Start, Bench, or Cut with the foods, along the lines of f-ck, marry, kill.

The Caesar drinks looked naked because there was no adornment on them.

Your humble narrator eventually figured out that they were the Jonas Brothers promoting their appearance at the halftime of the 111th Grey Cup in Vancouver.

Jonas Brothers could also push the U.S. audience to tune in, now that they can tune in for the game. Green Day would have been good for this for last year's halftime show.

Country artist Owen Riegling is doing the kickoff show. Pop singer Sofia Camara will sing O Canada.

There is an actual Grey Cup Festival setup in Vancouver. The festival features concerts from Sam Roberts Band, Bif Naked and Felix Cartal as well as The Trews, Tebey, Dear Rouge, Dehli 2 Dublin, En Karma, Chad Brownlee, John Welsh, and Orchard Sky. There are also individual team parties, including the Atlantic Schooners, the currently fictional team representing Halifax and Atlantic Canada.

"It's not up to the standards of modern sport...I'd like to say this is the last time we'll have a Grey Cup at McMahon."

CFL Commissioner @RandyAmbrosie says he wants to start a conversation with @nenshi about a new football stadium in Calgary.#GreyCup107 #GreyCup #yyccc pic.twitter.com/lnrGdSR6S7

— Andrew Brown (@browncbc) November 22, 2019

Randy Ambrosie will be at his final Grey Cup as the CFL commissioner on Sunday. Ambrosie said in 2019 that he would like the 2019 Grey Cup to be the last at McMahon Stadium in Calgary. Oops. Well, Ambrosie won't be commissioner in 2026 or even 2025.

We talked about the joy of playing in the home city for the Grey Cup as the BC Lions wanted to do in 2024. Winnipeg gets that chance in 2025 and now Calgary will have a shot in 2026.

The 2026 Grey Cup will be the 6th time Calgary has hosted the Grey Cup, all at McMahon Stadium, joining 1975, 1993, 2000, 2009, and 2019.

Calgary voters say no to 2026 Winter Olympics

The plan was to replace McMahon Stadium and the Saddledome in Calgary with new facilities leading up to the 2026 Winter Olympics. Then the residents voted against the potential bid. While the new Scotia Place is early in the process of being built just north of the Saddledome, the potential for a new Calgary football stadium is off the stove entirely, not even on the backburner.

Having been there, the facilities are not up to par with other CFL stadiums. Like its fellow western Canadian teams, McMahon Stadium also hosts university football (University of Calgary Dinos). The stadium also hosts the Calgary Colts of the Canadian Junior Football League as well as the Calgary Gators and Calgary Wolfpack of the Alberta Football League.

The stadium is reportedly getting new turf in time for the 2025 season.

Then again, this will be the 3rd Grey Cup for Calgary since 2008, the last year for a Grey Cup in Montréal. We know the perils of Olympic Stadium with the new roof reportedly not ready until at least 2028. Molson Stadium, the current home of the Alouettes, did host the 1931 Grey Cup. Montréal hosted the 1969 Grey Cup at the Autostade and 6 Grey Cups at Olympic Stadium: 1977, 1979, 1981, 1985, 2001, and 2008.

Montréal hasn't seriously been considered for a NHL outdoor game at either Molson Stadium or Stade Saputo, the home of CF Montréal of MLS.

Winnipeg hosts the 2025 Grey Cup at Princess Auto Stadium.

The CFL and CBS Sports Network finally got on the same page and had the U.S. outlet carry the Grey Cup. The playoffs would have been nice.

The joy of having the CFL playoffs on U.S. television was having the transition between the 2 games also on TV, like Canadians have with TSN. CFL+ isn't about such luxuries. The U.S. audience, even with ESPN+, never had full CFL pregame coverage. The U.S. audience would get the 30 minutes or so leading into the Grey Cup and extensive post-game coverage.

Watching the Grey Cup with a crowd at a bar is once again an option in the States.

We were speaking earlier about the 2007 Grey Cup where Saskatchewan defeated Winnipeg 23-19. The 2007 Grey Cup was the last Grey Cup that aired on broadcast TV on CBC until Sunday when CTV carries the TSN feed.

There is the single NHL game involving a Canadian team. Vancouver hosts Nashville at 7 pm PST, shortly after the Grey Cup next door to Rogers Arena at BC Place. The NHL game was rescheduled to that new start time.

CanadianCrossing.com CFL coverage

Toronto @ Montréal: Rod Smith/Duane Forde/Matthew Scianitti
Saskatchewan @ Winnipeg: Dustin Nielson/Glen Suitor/Claire Hanna

Henoc Muamba was on the sidelines in Winnipeg while Jim Barker was on the sidelines in Montréal.

Hanna didn't have to worry about her day job in Ottawa since the Senators were on Hockey Night in Canada.

The CFL on TSN panel with Paul LaPolice were in the studio rather than traveling to the East final. Montréal was likely too far to drive.

We have the details of the extensive Grey Cup coverage. Rod Smith and Glen Suitor will call the game with Matthew Scianitti and Claire Hanna on the sidelines. Dustin Nielson and BC Lions special teams coordinator Mike Benevides will provide analysis.

The East final and West final drew stronger numbers in 2024 versus 2023. The CTV presence in Montréal was likely the deciding factor. The West final numbers were comparable: 1,114,900 (2024) vs. 1,046,000 (2023). The RDS numbers for the East final (Montréal in both years): 439,100 (2024) vs. 448,900 (2023). The jump came in the English language numbers: 1,274,900 (2024 CTV, TSN) vs. 899,400 (2023 TSN).

Congratulations to Montréal Alouettes home host Kenzie Lalonde. Among many roles Lalonde has at TSN now includes calling Ottawa Senators games on TSN5. Lalonde called her first game on Tuesday against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

photo credits: CFL; TSN/CFL; CFL
logo credit: CFL
Twitter captures: @CFL; @TSNDaveNaylor; @CFL; @browncbc

2024 CFL division finals preview

Just like that, we're headed to the next round of the #GCPlayoffs! pic.twitter.com/fy03a6vxiA

— CFL (@CFL) November 3, 2024

We say au revoir to the Ottawa RedBlacks and BC Lions for 2024. Both road teams lost the division semifinal games.

The East semifinal saw 96 points, tying a playoff record. Hamilton defeated Montreal 52-44 in 2011. That also marked the most combined points in a non-overtime game.

Toronto added a couple of late defensive touchdowns to get to 58 points over the RedBlacks.

The BC Lions and Saskatchewan Roughriders were tied at 13 at the half. BC added a pair of field goals in the second half in the 28-19 loss.

Toronto won 2 of 3 against Montréal in 2024. The Alouettes won 30-20 in Toronto on June 28. The Argos handed the Alouettes a tough defeat in Montréal 37-18 on July 11. Cody Fajardo got injured in that game for the Als. Toronto won the tiebreaker 37-31 at BMO Field on September 28.

The teams met last year in the East final with the Alouettes winning at BMO Field.

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers took 2 of 3 against Saskatchewan. The Roughriders won at home 19-9 on July 19. Winnipeg swept the Labour Day weekend game 35-33 at Regina on September 1 and the Banjo Bowl 26-21 on September 7 in Winnipeg.

The Blue Bombers defeated the Roughriders 21-17 in the 2021 West final and 20-13 in the 2019 West final. Winnipeg won the Grey Cup in both of those years.

3 of the 4 remaining teams account for the last 4 Grey Cup champions. Saskatchewan hasn't won the Grey Cup since 2013.

The Blue Bombers have sold out Princess Auto Stadium for the West final and Montréal has a sellout for Stade Molson for the East final.

CTV

Saturday
Toronto @ Montréal, 3p

TSN

Saturday
Toronto @ Montréal, 3p
Saskatchewan @ Winnipeg, 6:30p

DEFENCE ON 💯#GCPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/lk3YwN4uSk

— CFL (@CFL) November 3, 2024

Saskatchewan acquired A.J. Ouellette for these types of opportunities. Ouellette finished with 70 yards on 14 carries with a pair of touchdowns. Trevor Harris went 26-for-33 for 279 yards and a touchdown.

Vernon Adams Jr., a year after his first playoff win at quarterback, completed 20-for-33 for 317 yards and 2 touchdowns, though 3 interceptions. Those in green and white who caught them were Marcus Sayles (early in the 2nd quarter), Nelson Lokombo and Rolan Milligan (end zone picks in the 4th quarter).

Despite the 20-point win for the Argos, Toronto trailed 10-0 in the first quarter. The defensive touchdowns we mentioned came from Pick-6s: Wynton McManis lateraled to Tarvarus McFadden for 88 yards and then Benjie Franklin ran one back 71 yards. Chad Kelly finished 18-for-20 for 358 yards and 4 touchdowns as well as a major on the ground.

Ottawa dominated the time of possession with 39:17 and scored 38 points, yet lost by 20.

Ryquell Armstead was the Ottawa RedBlacks primary running back until the team released him. The RedBlacks never really replaced Armstead with a true back. Bralon Addison did better as a wide receiver (10-103) than a running back (17 yards). Dru Brown was valiant in going 46-for-61 for 476 yards and 3 touchdowns with 2 late interceptions.

Imagine if Ottawa had A.J. Ouellette.

Getting a head start on my prep for next weekend's Western Final and wowee, Zach Collaros is so good in the playoffs.

The Bombers QB is 6-1 in his post-season starts including 5-0 with Winnipeg. #CFL

— Kristina Costabile (@kcostabile1) November 3, 2024

The Toronto Argonauts attendance went up 5.7% in 2024 to 15,127 (teams self-report the numbers). That is still last in the CFL as Ottawa (second-worst) had averaged almost 4,000 more fans per game.

The Argos did draw 18,060 for the East semifinal in 2024.

Not a fair comparison but Vancouver had 30,149 (2023) and 30,114 (2022) in recent CFL playoff games.

2024 CFL playoffs preview

2024 CFL Week 21 preview: Final regular season weekend

Montréal and Toronto have a lot of rivalries. The cities meet at Molson Stadium in the CFL playoffs at 3 pm Eastern and the NHL teams will meet at Scotiabank Arena at 7 pm Eastern on Saturday. The CFL will be on CTV and the NHL on CBC. Neither game is on U.S. television (WTF, NHL Network): CFL+ and ESPN+ in the States.

CanadianCrossing.com CFL coverage

Ottawa @ Toronto: Rod Smith, Duane Forde, Matthew Scianitti
BC @ Saskatchewan: Dustin Nielson, Glen Suitor, Brit Dort

We have Bell Media info on coverage of the CFL division finals (CTV East and TSN both). Teams are the same except that Claire Hanna is the sideline reporter in Winnipeg.

The TV numbers were very good for the division semifinals, as a comparison to recent seasons. The East semifinal (867,200) barely beat out the West semifinal (858,400). CTV simulcast the TSN feed of the East semifinal and will do the same for the East final as well as the Grey Cup.

This was part of the point for the CTV experiment: getting people used to CTV for the CFL.

Twitter captures: @CFL (x2); @kcostabile1
logo credit: CFL

2024 CFL playoffs preview

The #CFL playoffs are set.

Eastern Semi-Final: Ottawa at Toronto
Western Semi-Final: BC at Saskatchewan

Eastern Final: TBD at Montreal
Western Final: TBD at Winnipeg

— Kristina Costabile (@kcostabile1) October 26, 2024

The 2024 CFL playoffs are very distinct as compared to the 2022 and 2023 versions, which were exactly alike.

Ottawa is back in the playoffs for the first time since 2018, though on the road. Saskatchewan returns with a home playoff game, having been out of the playoffs since 2021. Winnipeg is back and with a bye. Montréal hasn't had a bye since the 2012 East final, which was to this day the last CFL game played at Olympic Stadium.

The BC Lions have the worst playoff record at 9-9. A huge upgrade from last year, where the 6-12 Calgary Stampeders were in the CFL playoffs.

The teams start fresh in the playoffs though the Ottawa RedBlacks are happy to snap a 5-game losing streak. Barely beating Hamilton on the final play of the game is significant, given the Ticats success down the stretch.

Toronto wants to show that last year's loss in the East final to Montréal was a fluke. A win gives them a trip to … Montréal.

The Roughriders want a Banjo Bowl rematch for the right to go to the Grey Cup. The Lions would love to get to the Grey Cup at home at BC Place. The problem is having to go through Regina and Winnipeg to get back home.

CTV

Saturday
Ottawa @ Toronto, 3p

TSN

Saturday
Ottawa @ Toronto, 3p
BC @ Saskatchewan, 6:30p

Ottawa (9-8-1) jumped out to a 31-3 halftime lead before beating Toronto (10-8) 41-27 at TD Place in Ottawa on September 7. Toronto jumped out to a 28-0 lead before beating Ottawa 38-31 on October 19 at BMO Field.

The RedBlacks have never played the Argonauts in the playoffs. The short-lived (4 years) Ottawa Renegades never made the playoffs against any team. The cities matched up in 1990 in the East semifinal where the Argos (10-8) defeated the Rough Riders (7-11) 34-25 at SkyDome in Toronto.

The BC Lions (9-9) won 35-20 at home on July 13 over the Roughriders (9-8-1). Saskatchewan blew out the Lions 39-8 in Regina on October 12.

The teams have not met in the CFL playoffs since 2013 when the Roughriders won the West semifinal 29-25 over the Lions at Regina. Saskatchewan went on to win the Grey Cup that season. The game was in Regina because Saskatchewan won the season series from BC.

2024 CFL Week 21 preview: Final regular season weekend

Crossover? We had inklings of a potential East team (Hamilton) crossing over to the West but that didn't come too close. Our 2022 CFL playoffs preview has a look at the CFL crossover history.

The Ottawa RedBlacks were last in the playoffs in the 2018 Grey Cup. Curious if we see red and black in the crowd in Toronto given the long drought of playoff football in the federal capital.

This will be the RedBlacks' first road playoff game in franchise history. To date, the franchise has played 7 playoff games in its 10-year history. 4 have been at home (with 3 wins) and 3 have been in the Grey Cup. Since Grey Cups don’t count as road games, this year will be the RedBlacks' first road playoff game.

The team won the 2016 Grey Cup at BMO Field so Ottawa is technically 1-0 on that field.

Your heart might go out to the 3rd-place teams — BC or Ottawa — given their great starts and recent collapses. Your humble narrator was going to ask about their likelihood of advancement into the division finals. Since the CFL on TSN panel addressed this issue, we felt their expertise would dazzle by comparison.

2024 CFL Week 20 preview

For the first time since 2021, all of the Grey Cup playoff games, outside of the actual Grey Cup, will be outdoors. This didn't used to be a big deal when SkyDome/Rogers Centre and Olympic Stadium were in play. The CFL went 2017-2021 without an indoor playoff game.

Vancouver has hosted the Grey Cup 16 times, the most recent time was 2014.

The division semifinals and finals are on Saturdays for the second year in a row.

A WALK-OFF PUNT!

A ROUGE WINS IT IN OVERTIME FOR EDMONTON!!@GoElks @CFL pic.twitter.com/Q5JQI8Q9Xi

— CFL (@CFL) October 26, 2024

We have wondered about the use of the punt single to win a game with a rouge. We saw Edmonton use this successfully in its final home game of the season against Toronto.

If a CFL playoff game goes to overtime, the teams play until there is a winner. 

2024 CFL Week 19 preview

The CFL current playoff streaks are: Winnipeg 9; Montréal 5; Toronto 4; BC 3; Ottawa 1; Saskatchewan 1; Calgary 0; Edmonton 0; Hamilton 0.

Last year with home playoff games

2024 Montréal Toronto Winnipeg Saskatchewan

2023 BC

2021 Hamilton

2019 Calgary

2018 Ottawa

2015 Edmonton

Calgary had an 18-season playoffs streak. Hamilton had a 5-season playoffs streak, reaching the Grey Cup in 2019 and 2021.

Team	Total	Home	Road
Hamilton	11	6	5
BC	10	5	5
Edmonton	10	4	6
Winnipeg	8	4	4
Montréal	7	5	2
Saskatchewan	7	4	3
Calgary	7	3	4
Toronto	6	3	3
Ottawa	4	1	3

 

The CBS Sports Network stuck mostly to its original 2024 schedule. Added a Calgary-Winnipeg game and deleted a Montréal-Hamilton game. Added Touchdown Pacific in Victoria, BC.

Hamilton zoomed up to 11 of its 18 games with BC and Edmonton having 10 games on U.S. TV. 3 teams tied for 7 appearances. Ottawa finally got good and only had 4 games, including road games in Victoria, BC (Touchdown Pacific) and Canadian Thanksgiving in Montréal.

Division winners Montréal (7) and Winnipeg (8) had 15 appearances combined.

CBS Sports Network 2024 CFL schedule

June 6 Montréal @ Winnipeg, 8:30p
June 8 Saskatchewan @ Edmonton, 4p (tape delayed at 7p)
June 9 BC @ Toronto, 7p
June 15 Calgary @ BC, 7p
June 16 Saskatchewan @ Hamilton, 7p
June 22 Edmonton @ Toronto, 7p
June 23 Hamilton @ Saskatchewan, 7p
June 29 Winnipeg @ Calgary, 7p
June 30 Hamilton @ Ottawa, 7p

July 6 Calgary @ Montréal, 7p
July 7 BC @ Hamilton, 7p
July 12 Calgary @ Winnipeg, 8:30p
July 13 Saskatchewan @ BC, 7p
July 14 Ottawa @ Edmonton, 7p
July 20 Toronto @ Hamilton, 7p
July 21 BC @ Calgary, 7p
July 27 Winnipeg @ Toronto, 7p
July 28 Hamilton @ Edmonton, 7p

August 3 Edmonton @ Saskatchewan, 7p
August 10 Hamilton @ Montréal, 7p
August 11 BC @ Edmonton, 7p
August 16 Montréal @ Saskatchewan, 9p
August 17 Edmonton @ Hamilton, 7p
August 18 Winnipeg @ BC, 7p
August 23 Hamilton @ Winnipeg, 8:30p
August 25 Edmonton @ Montréal, 7p
August 31 Ottawa @ BC, 7p

September 1 Winnipeg @ Saskatchewan, 7p
September 2 Toronto @ Hamilton, 2:30p
September 2 Edmonton @ Calgary, 6p
September 6 BC @ Montréal, 7:30p
September 13 Toronto @ BC, 10p
September 27 Edmonton @ Winnipeg, 8p

October 14 Ottawa @ Montréal, 1p
October 18 Calgary @ Hamilton, 7p

CFL+ has a 48-hour window to watch the regular season and playoffs, including the Grey Cup. Those on the U.S. side will appreciate the small concession versus last season.

The Grey Cup will air in the United States on the CBS Sports Network, as we learned last month. CFL+ would apply for the Grey Cup outside of Canada and the United States.

CTV is carrying the East playoff games and the Grey Cup in a TSN simulcast, meaning the games are not exclusive to CTV, unlike the regular season.

Your humble narrator will be at an event on Canadian soil during the first round of the playoffs, so CFL+ isn't viable. You can watch the video recaps of the playoff games. Canadians can record the games, go out and have a real life, and come back to watch the CFL playoff games. No one else in the world has this luxury.

THAT MONTREAL WEATHER 🍁

The Autumn wind forces a short punt!#CFLGameday on CTV & RDS
📲: Stream on CFL+ pic.twitter.com/YShRAyIJkv

— CFL (@CFL) October 26, 2024

2023 was the year of the mini punt from the Alouettes. The final regular season game in Montréal had a different kind of short punt. The wind helped field position so the Winnipeg Blue Bombers could kick a game-winning field goal to clinch the West Division crown.

After miserable home records for Edmonton and Ottawa in 2023, the RedBlacks were 7-1-1 at home while the Elks were 3-6. Calgary won for the first time since August 4 against Toronto and got its first and only road win of 2024 in Regina.

Justin McInnis (BC) and Brady Oliveira (Winnipeg) made Canadian history in 2024. They are the first Canadian duo to lead the CFL in receiving and rushing, respectively.

Randy Ambrosie’s decision to step-down follows a vote on his future earlier this month where the votes were not present to dismiss him but it was clear he did not enjoy full support of the BOG. #CFL

— Dave Naylor (@TSNDaveNaylor) October 26, 2024

Randy Ambrosie will stay on as CFL commissioner until his replacement has been selected. Usually, the week is filled with coach firings. The league’s board of governors reportedly voted not to renew Ambrosie's contract.

Good and bad during his reign but the first thing to stick in my mind was not getting some kind of 2020 season when other leagues made that work.

Dave Dickinson will return as Calgary coach, though the team released several assistants. Edmonton has to decide on a permanent general manager as well as coach, though the Elks did name a new president.

2024 CFL preview

CanadianCrossing.com CFL coverage

Hamilton @ Ottawa: Rod Smith/Duane Forde/Claire Hanna
Toronto @ Edmonton: Dustin Nielson/Glen Suitor/Tom Gazzola
Winnipeg @ Montréal: Marshall Ferguson/Duane Forde/Kenzie Lalonde
Calgary @ Saskatchewan: Dustin Nielson/Glen Suitor/Brit Dort

Bell Media has a nice press release for the division finals coverage.

The game in Montréal set a high water mark for the CFL on CTV. The Saturday game drew 576,000 with Winnipeg in town and  252,500 via RDS. The other games were below 357,000 each. 

The previous high number in the CTV experiment was 571,000 for the Banjo Bowl. 

A reminder that the CTV playoff games (East semifinal, East final, and Grey Cup) will also air on TSN.

Twitter captures: @kcostabile1; @CFL (x2); @TSNDaveNaylor
logo credit: CFL
photo credit: CBS Sports Network/CFL

2024 CFL Week 21 preview

The East Division dominates the last Friday night doubleheader of the 2024 CFL season.

Hamilton goes north as the RedBlacks finish the regular season at home on Friday night before the playoffs. The Tiger-Cats are playing for pride while the RedBlacks will likely rest a lot of people since their position is set.

Toronto will likely rest players as the Argos go to Edmonton. McLeod Bethel-Thompson knows a lot of the Toronto players. This concludes the Friday night doubleheader.

CTV gets a reunion of the 2023 Grey Cup in the home of the 2023 CFL champions on Saturday afternoon. Winnipeg needs a win or tie to clinch first in the West.

Saskatchewan will know before its kickoff as to whether the Roughriders need to win to take the West title. Calgary wants to play well for next season. The question is whether Calgary sports fans care more about the Flames hosting the Winnipeg Jets on Hockey Night in Canada at the same time.

The BC Lions will enjoy the rest offered by a mid-autumn weekend in Vancouver before their playoff run on the road.

CTV

Saturday
Winnipeg @ Montréal, 3p

TSN

Friday
Hamilton @ Ottawa, 7p
Toronto @ Edmonton, 9:30p
Saturday
Calgary @ Saskatchewan, 7p

Bye week: BC

admin would also like to play some hot potato fellas 🫣#CFLGameday pic.twitter.com/iTmcOljtM9

— CFL (@CFL) October 19, 2024

Toronto scored the first 28 points of the game with Ottawa last Saturday afternoon. Ottawa scored the last 25 points of the contest that came down to the final play. The Argos 38-31 win means the teams will play each other November 2 in the same location at BMO Field in the East semifinal.

Chad Kelly went 31-for-43 for 331 yards for Toronto. Dru Brown was back and healthy with 31-for-43 for 400 yards with 4 TDs and an interception. Brown is now 7-6-1 record as a starter.

Ottawa recovered 2 onside kicks as part of the comeback. Impressive even in a loss.

Fun fact: Ottawa won the tiebreaker with a +7 differential in the pair of games with Toronto. The RedBlacks can't catch the Argos in the standings.

The Argonauts hit a season-high attendance at 20,487.

https://www.cbc.ca/arts/q/kaniehtiio-horn-channelled-her-rage-into-seeds-her-directorial-debut-1.7359321

2024 CFL Week 20 preview

2024 CFL Week 19 preview

Vernon Adams Jr. helped make the BC Lions look good. Back in the starting quarterback role, Adams was 27-for-37 for 393 passing yards. 2 touchdowns, and 2 interceptions. He also scored a rushing touchdown.

Keon Hatcher (8-117 yards) and Justin McInnis (7-106 yards) were the top receivers for the Lions.

Cody Fajardo and Davis Alexander split the quarterback duties for the Alouettes by halves. Montréal got a 4th quarter field goal to avoid the shutout.

Bo Levi Mitchell went over 5,000 yards to likely lead the CFL in passing for a team that will miss the playoffs. 3 of the top 4 quarterbacks in CFL passing are on teams that can book winter trips in November.

Mitchell went 24-for-37 for 450 yards and 5 touchdowns against his old team (Calgary) and coach (Dave Dickinson). The Tiger-Cats scored the first 30 points of the game. Hamilton has won 5 of the last 6 games.

Greg Bell ran for 139 yards for the Ticats. Tim White and Steven Dunbar Jr. each had a pair of touchdowns and over 100 yards.

Mitchell sort of had a 6th TD pass, a Pick-6 from Tre Roberson just before the half.

2024 CFL Week 18 preview

2024 CFL Week 17 preview

2024 CFL Week 16 preview

2024 CFL Week 15 preview

Winnipeg (10-7) snapped an 8-game winning streak yet still has a home playoff game. The Saskatchewan win means there is a slim chance of a Roughriders division title. A Blue Bombers win or tie in Montréal or a Saskatchewan loss to Calgary gives Winnipeg the West crown. Winnipeg has the tiebreaker with Saskatchewan.

Saskatchewan (9-7-1) has a 4-game winning streak and a home playoff game. The Roughriders trail the Blue Bombers by a ½ game. Saskatchewan hasn't hosted a playoff game since 2021. Both Winnipeg and Saskatchewan got to rest for a week.

The BC Lions (9-9) clinched third place. This is a contrast to 2023, when Calgary got into the playoffs with a 6-12 record. The Lions get a week of rest and reflection in the final week of the regular season.

Montréal (12-4-1) took a loss in Vancouver. Toronto (10-7) cliched second place, a 1½ game lead over Ottawa (8-8-1). The RedBlacks have lost 5 in a row and a 2-7 road record means a rough time on November 2 at BMO Field. Ottawa hasn't even led at any point in those 5 games.

2024 CFL preview

We love celebrating Canadian players in the CFL, especially at positions where they don't always excel. The league has never had a Canadian lead in both rushing and passing yards.

Winnipeg Blue Bombers running back Brady Oliveira (Winnipeg) has 1,318 yards. William Stanback of the Lions will not catch Oliveira.

BC Lions receiver Justin McInnis of Pierrefonds, QC, has 1,469 receiving yards. McInnis is 125 yards ahead of Ottawa's Justin Hardy. The RedBlacks have a home game left while the Lions are done for the regular season.

The last Canadian receiver to lead the CFL in receiving was Saskatchewan's Andy Fantuz in 2010.

2024 CFL preseason schedule

The Winnipeg Jets have faith in the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. The NHL team has a home date with Dallas on November 9, same day as the CFL West final. The Jets were scheduled to play at 6 pm CST but will move the start to 2 pm CST.

The West final is scheduled for 5:30 pm CST, possibly at Princess Auto Stadium. This assumes Winnipeg would win or tie against Montréal on Saturday or a Saskatchewan loss to Calgary.

Winnipeg could play in the West final but in Regina. 

The Jets helped out the Blue Bombers in 2021, delaying its start with Toronto by an hour for the West final, which was in Winnipeg.

CanadianCrossing.com CFL coverage

Calgary @ Hamilton: Marshall Ferguson/Matt Dunigan/Matthew Scianitti
Ottawa @ Toronto: Rod Smith/Duane Forde/Matthew Scianitti
Montréal @ BC: Dustin Nielson/Glen Suitor/Farhan Lalji

Laura Diakun was jn for Kate Beirness all weekend. Henoc Muamba filled in on the panel for Matt Dunigan on Friday while Paul LaPolice was in for Davis Sanchez on Saturday.

A rarity to have home games on back-to-back nights in southern Ontario. Good on TSN to give Marshall Ferguson and Matt Dunigan a chance to do the Ticats last home game in Hamilton this season.

The CTV numbers were terrible as were the TSN numbers. Terrible as in pre-pandemic numbers. The battle of Ontario not involving Hamilton drew 231,000 on CTV, even though playoff seeding was on the line. The Friday night game in Hamilton drew 267,600 while the Saturday night game in Vancouver had 252,000 on TSN and 89,000 on RDS.

logo credit: CFL
Twitter captures: @CFL
photo credit: TSN/CFL

2024 CFL Week 20 preview

The penultimate CFL regular season weekend only has 3 games. The pressures of Canadian Thanksgiving are long gone but playoff positioning has its own pressures.

Perhaps the 2 worst CFL teams meet at Tim Hortons Field Friday night. Bo Levi Mitchell meets up with the few players Calgary has left from his days in southern Alberta. CBS Sports Network airs its final game of the 2024 regular season and unfortunately, this is that game.

CTV has the battle of Ontario that is not Hamilton as Ottawa travels to BMO Field in Toronto. The wind is whipping off of Lake Ontario for the Saturday afternoon tilt. Ottawa has a +14 point differential for the tiebreaker and East Division semifinal positioning is at stake. An Argos win means a home playoff game in Toronto.

Montréal had its sights to play in Vancouver on November 17 (2024 Grey Cup) and wants to explore the place. The host BC Lions also want to play on that day. Vernon Adams Jr., back as the Lions quarterback, gets to see players wearing his old Alouettes uniform on Saturday night.

The same teams that had a bye in Week 15 — Edmonton, Saskatchewan, Winnipeg — get to enjoy another vacation together. The Blue Bombers and Roughriders have their own seeding to consider for the CFL playoffs.

CBS Sports Network

Friday
Calgary @ Hamilton, 7p

CTV

Saturday
Ottawa @ Toronto, 3p

TSN

Friday
Calgary @ Hamilton, 7p
Saturday
Montréal @ BC, 7p

Bye week: Edmonton, Saskatchewan, Winnipeg

THE INT WENT OFF HIS FOOT 👀

Thanksgiving Weekend Presented by @PurolatorInc #CFLGameday on TSN
📲: Stream on CFL+ pic.twitter.com/oAKr8YrTWF

— CFL (@CFL) October 12, 2024

The Nathan Rourke pass was destined for William Stanback. The Lions running back dropped the ball, had it deflect off his heel and then his posterior. The ball was touched by Rolan Milligan Jr. followed by Deontai Williams before A.J. Allen caught the ball and ran 48 yards for a Pick-6. This was BC's second play from scrimmage. The game went downhill from that point for the Lions.

Trevor Harris had 271 passing yards with 2 touchdowns. Running back AJ Ouellette was finally back after missing 6 games with an injury with 84 rushing yards on 16 carries.

Nathan Rourke went 15-for-23 for 200 yards and 2 interceptions, including the fluke-like Pick-6. Rick Campbell chose to finally sideline Rourke yet went with Chase Brice (92 yards passing) instead of Vernon Adams, Jr., who stood on the sidelines.

This game featured Justin McInnes (referee) and Justin McInnis (Lions WR).

2024 CFL Week 19 preview

2024 CFL Week 18 preview

We talked about Montréal winning 8 in a row to finish the 2023 season with a Grey Cup win. Well, Montréal has won 8 straight over the Ottawa RedBlacks. The rainy Thanksgiving game was 4 field goals for each team and a major for the Alouettes, making the difference.

Davis Alexander, filling in for Cody Fajardo, is now 4-0 as a starter in a storyline we didn't expect at the start of the season. Alexander went 14-for-24 for 208 yards and an interception, not stellar but strong leadership when needed. Fajardo was away while his second child was being born.

Ottawa took 12 penalties for 122 yards. The RedBlacks were undisciplined at crucial points in the game.

2024 CFL Week 17 preview

2024 CFL Week 16 preview

The Edmonton Elks (6-11) have won 6 games this season: 3 of them over Calgary and 3 of them with Tre Ford as the starter. This was Edmonton's first season sweep over Calgary since 2002. We know Elks fans are restless to get back in the playoffs but sweeping Calgary should count somewhat.

The Stampeders (4-11-1) are 0-7-1 in their last 8 contests, a trend that hasn't been this bad since a 7-game losing streak in 1977. Calgary's last win was on August 4, a 27-23 win over Toronto. Matthew Shiltz started his first game in the red and white. We know little about P.J. Walker, who might be part of the future for the Stampeders at quarterback.

The contest came down to the final play of the game where Calgary came up short of the major it needed to win the game. Ford threw for 208 yards, a touchdown, and 2 interceptions. Eugene Lewis scored majors in both rushing (1) and receiving (1). Justin Rankin gave the Elks some needed running game with 140 yards.

Shiltz had 215 yards with a touchdown and an interception in the loss for Calgary. Reggie Begelton led all Calgary receivers with 79 yards. Begelton is now over 1,000 yards for the season.

2024 CFL Week 15 preview

Zach Collaros needed 17 yards to get a first down and keep a potential game-winning drive alive. The TSN announcers figure Collaros was 5 inches (12.5 cm) short. Toronto had a rare CFL game where the team didn't score in the second half and still won the game. The Winnipeg 8-game losing streak was sandwiched in between losses to the Argos. This was the first year Toronto swept this 2-game series since 2015.

2024 CFL preview

Winnipeg (10-7) snapped an 8-game winning streak yet still has a home playoff game. The Saskatchewan win means there is a slim chance of a Roughriders division title. A Blue Bombers win or tie in Montréal or a Saskatchewan loss to Calgary gives Winnipeg the West crown. Winnipeg has the tiebreaker with Saskatchewan.

Saskatchewan (9-7-1) has a 4-game winning streak and a home playoff game. The Roughriders trail the Blue Bombers by a ½ game. Saskatchewan hasn't hosted a playoff game since 2021. Both Winnipeg and Saskatchewan get to rest this week.

The BC Lions (8-9) clinch third place. The Lions get a week of rest and reflection in the final week of the regular season.

Montréal (12-3-1) got a win the team didn't need. Toronto (9-7) is now in second place, a ½ game lead over Ottawa (8-7-1). The RedBlacks have lost 4 in a row and a 2-6 record on the road won't be helpful with a must-win in Toronto.

The Argos clinch a home playoff game with Ottawa with a win on CTV. A RedBlacks win means a magic number of 1 for Ottawa to host a playoff game.

Hamilton (6-10) has been eliminated from playoff contention with the Argos win, even with the tiebreaker.

SHE’S BACK 🤩@saraorlesky is in the host’s chair for all #NHLJets home games on @TSN_Sports this season! pic.twitter.com/l2kcNpH9TJ

— Winnipeg Jets (@NHLJets) October 11, 2024

We are at the time of year where the 3 CFL reporters on TSN who also cover hockey can have conflicts: John Lu (Winnipeg), Claire Hanna (Ottawa), and Kenzie Lalonde (Montréal).

Lu had a bad conflict — on the surface — with the Blue Bombers at home Friday night at the same time as the Winnipeg Jets NHL home opener. Lu was at Princess Auto Stadium and former TSN reporter (and current Winnipeg Jets employee) Sara Orlesky was in the host chair.

Turns out Orlesky is back in the host chair for Jets home games this season on TSN3. This is an obvious conflict of interest.

Lalonde had the potential for a busy day on Thanksgiving but the Canadiens game that night was on Amazon Prime Video Canada.

2024 CFL preseason schedule

CanadianCrossing.com CFL coverage

Toronto @ Winnipeg: Marshall Ferguson/Matt Dunigan/John Lu
Edmonton @ Calgary: Dustin Nielson/Duane Forde/Farhan Lalji
BC @ Saskatchewan: Rod Smith/Glen Suitor/Brit Dort
Ottawa @ Montréal: Rod Smith/Duane Forde/Kenzie Lalonde

Laura Daikun (Friday) filled in for Kate Beirness on the CFL on TSN panel. Henoc Muamba (Friday) were in the studio in for Matt Dunigan and Jim Barker (Saturday) in for Davis Sanchez. Sanchez and Milt Stegall sat out on Thanskgiving Monday.

Was watching the TSN3 feed of the Chicago-Winnipeg NHL game Friday night via NHL Center Ice. The signal went out after the game but came back quickly. Since TSN3 had switched to the Blue Bombers game, the NHL feed carried a few minutes of the CFL game. Winnipeg was about to score the team's only major of the night before they switched away from the CFL feed.

This is also the time of year where some TSN channels will carry hockey instead of football: Winnipeg (TSN3) and Ottawa (TSN5). Montréal is on TSN2, which isn't used for live CFL action.

The RedBlacks weren't on TSN5 on Thanksgiving because the Senators matinee was on that channel.

CTV picked a bad year to spotlight the Battle of Alberta on the CFL gridiron. The final game of the rivalry in 2024 drew 327.000 as compared to the nighttime games Friday in Winnipeg (652,400) and Saturday in Regina (543,100). 2 teams out of the playoffs from the same province wouldn't turn too many heads.

The Thanksgiving game drew fewer fans to TSN with 287,500 for the game in Montréal. Then again, RDS outdrew TSN with 319,900 for a holiday total of 607,400, in between the nighttime games. Though as we mentioned, the Ottawa Senators played a holiday matinee game.

logo credit: CFL
Twitter capture: @CFL; @NHLJets
photo credit: TSN/CFL

NHL notebook: First look at Monday Night Hockey on Prime Video Canada

The pilot episode of a TV series isn't always where a series is going. Take that into account with the premiere this week on Monday Night Hockey on Amazon Prime Video Canada.

The camera work immediately outside the Bell Centre and around Montréal was gorgeous: shots of Montréal from the island, on top of Mont Royal, and even the portrait of Leonard Cohen.

The graphics were sharp and looked good. The innovation was the dimming of the team in the score bug when that team is not on the power play. That will be intriguing once we get a short-handed goal.

Andi Petrillo, who hosts a studio show called NHL Coast to Coast on Thursdays, was in the Scott Oake type role on the telecast. Adnan Virk hosted the studio segments from Montréal this week though we wonder whether the studio show will go to the United States. Mark Messier did the majority of the talking on the panel, which is not good news. Blake Bolden, whom Messier kept pointing out was a defenceman, only got to speak after Messier was done.

They had an interview with Montréal Canadiens owner Geoff Molson.

The coverage featured players in pre-game interviews and bumpers. The introduction mentioning fights and playoff beards, though its coverage won't extend to the NHL playoffs.

We presume the announcers were on site, though we only saw Thomas Hickey (on-ice analysis) on camera. John Forslund, who has been known to pretend to be in Canada, was allegedly there based on this tweet. Jody Shelley provided analysis, hopefully on site. We don't mean to be cynical but we saw what happened last spring during the playoffs on TNT.

Rogers sponsored the second intermission and the Prime Video coverage did cross promote with national games on Rogers Sportsnet.

Don't think - just let it rip! pic.twitter.com/kTdZeb10gH

— Sports on Prime Canada (@SportsOnPrimeCA) October 15, 2024

Lars Eller scored a goal for Pittsburgh. My mind went to Eller's career with Les Habs but none of the announcers mentioned that note. Eller scored a second goal for the Penguins. Petrillo noted that when she interviewed Eller during the intermission. Virk reinforced that point and mentioned the years 2010-2016.

This is a symptom of what is likely to come. Coverage in the moment and a few days before. No context of note. Certainly no "so-and-so played junior hockey in Sudbury" type of analysis.

As much as we have loved the Canadian take on covering hockey, your humble narrator has heard from many Canadians who think the Americans cover the sport better. The debut of Monday Night Hockey on Prime Canada felt like American coverage with better graphics.

The games aren't the only wrinkle in what Prime Canada wants to bring to the NHL: this includes NHL Coast to Coast and Faceoff: Inside the NHL. The streaming service gets points for not doing odd things such as Apple TV+'s MLB coverage with percentage likeliness of actions within a game. 

As for whether Canadian hockey fans should subscribe to Amazon Prime Video subscribers, you likely might want the programs more than the games. Maybe your favourite team isn't even in Canada. Using the Apple TV+ example, I was [upset] about the Toronto-Cubs game on a Friday. Listened to the game on the radio, which was not fun. I didn't care much about it a week later. 

Some older people might associate Monday Night Hockey with Peter Puck, who appeared on CBC and NBC back in the day. That was the past. This is the future of sports programming and almost certainly will be part of the new Canadian TV NHL contract in 2026.

You can check the Prime Canada schedule (subject to change). Our American friends can watch those games on ESPN+, subject to local blackouts.

2024-2025 NHL preview: Cutting back significantly on our NHL coverage

2024 NHL preseason schedule

Congratulations to Matt Cullen, the new Ottawa Senators play by play in English on TSN5. Cullen replaces Jon Abbott, who moved on to cover the Calgary Flames for Rogers Sportsnet West. Cullen will call the Ottawa Senators games that Gord Miller won't call for TSN.

You can find out more about Cullen since the NHL ran a story. Bell Media didn't even give us the news. We wish Cullen much luck and hope things work out. Cullen worked a lot on the recent CBC coverage of the 2024 Olympics in Paris.

The Ottawa backup position is one of the worst gigs in that you don't get a regular rhythm with a team. The Ottawa backup position is great if you aren't used to working a NHL gig so you can learn along the way. Abbott and Victor Findlay were those people when Chris Cuthbert jumped to Sportsnet. They worked their way into regular gigs: Abbott in Calgary TV and Findlay in Canadiens radio with upgrades to TV when Bryan Mudryk calls curling.

Canadian film review: I'm Just Here For The Riot

Ray Ferraro got the NHL season off to a furious start. Ferraro called games in Seattle and Salt Lake City (this feels weird to type that out) on opening night for ESPN. Then Ferraro worked the Canucks home opener in Vancouver for Rogers Sportsnet.

That is a new wrinkle for Ferraro this season: being able to do elevated national games for the Canucks. We presume last year he was limited because of his previous TSN contract.

Ferraro has said he will do at least 22 Vancouver Canucks games for Rogers Sportsnet Pacific besides his ESPN duties. In a radio interview, Ferraro said 11 of those will be before Christmas.

Landon Ferraro — son of Ray Ferraro — is now an intermission analyst on Sportsnet Pacific's Canucks coverage.

SHE’S BACK 🤩@saraorlesky is in the host’s chair for all #NHLJets home games on @TSN_Sports this season! pic.twitter.com/l2kcNpH9TJ

— Winnipeg Jets (@NHLJets) October 11, 2024

Sara Orlesky is back as the host for Winnipeg Jets home games on TSN3. Orlesky replaces John Lu in the role, though Lu handles sideline duties for Winnipeg Blue Bombers games. Then again, Lu is a TSN employee while Orlesky works for the NHL team.

Orlesky noted working with Lu in this tweet. So perhaps there is room for both of them.

Still better to have an independent person in that role, even if everyone loves Orlesky.

CBC's future limited in new NHL TV deal; TSN will be gone

Recapping off-season NHL changes on Canadian TV (2014)

Gary Bettman runs a Swiss clock type process in almost anything. Betttman told Sports Business Journal that negotiations for the new Canadian TV deal would start at the beginning of 2025. The new deal would start with the 2026-2027 NHL season.

Bettman said Rogers has an exclusive negotiating period. Rogers has said it intends to pursue a renewal of its broadcast rights. No one believes Rogers will be alone in the new TV deal.

We definitely won't know a thing until perhaps the fall of 2025. We can't be as shocked as we were over the Rogers deal for 2014.

This is a scene from the Montréal Forum, the long-time home of Les Canadiens. This is from Montréal Stories, a 1991 Canadian film with 6 short stories about the largest city in Quebec (review to come shortly).

In La Dernière partie from Michel Brault, Madeleine (Hélène Loiselle) confronts Roger (Jean Mathieu) about a divorce after 40 years of marriage.

Roger mentions Guy Carbonneau in the film. The Habs are hosting the Buffalo Sabres, circa 1990 or 1991.

You might recall that Michel Brault did Les Ordres, one of the best Canadian films of all time. Brault was also a wonderful cinematographer.

Bob Cole, the legend from The Rock, has died at the age of 90

Editor's note: This NHL notebook has been updated as of October 20 with this TVA item.

There were moments in the Rogers local contract (2014-2016) with the Montréal Canadiens where some early season games aired in English on CJNT 62, the Citytv station in Montréal. The Saturday night Habs games air on Citytv (CJNT-62) or CBC (CBMT-6).

November 9 marks a rare occasion where Les Canadiens will be over-the-air en Francaise. TVA, the over-the-air Quebecor network, will carry the Montréal-Toronto game. Viewers in Montréal can watch on CFTM-10 as well as TVA Sports.  

CBMT (CBC in Montréal) should have that same game via Hockey Night in Canada in English.

Ici Radio-Canada Télé, known in French as Société Radio-Canada (SRC), had a rich history of carrying Les Canadiens on La Soirée du hockey on Saturday nights (CBFT-2 in Montréal). 

RDS took over the rights to Habs games during the 2002-2003 season. Then Radio-Canada agreed to produce La Soirée du hockey to air on Radio-Canada and RDS. This lasted until after the 2004 NHL playoffs. RDS produced Le Hockey du samedi soir for the next 2 seasons, airing on Radio-Canada outside Quebec.  

Edmonton Oilers fell short of the dream of winning the Stanley Cup

The PWHL schedule is out, running November 30 through February 1. There are some TBA arenas in the schedule, perhaps for a larger venue. We covered the new arenas and nicknames in our preview. Hopefully, this schedule will be updated so we know where to watch in both countries.

CanadianCrossing.com NHL coverage

Never understood why the NHL completely ignores Canadian thanksgiving Monday. 2 of the 7 teams play today. Why not have a triple header of games featuring Canadian teams? Create a tradition. Would likely be massive ratings for SN too.

— Ryan Henderson (@RJHenderson7) October 14, 2024

Welcome to the first of occasional NHL notebooks. We said we would cut down on our NHL coverage. Our notebooks will not run this often. We just needed to clean up after the start of the 2024-2025 NHL season.

Thanks for indulging us in our reduced NHL coverage.

photo credits: NHL; Amazon Prime Video Canada; Montréal Stories
Twitter captures: @SportsOnPrimeCA; @NHLJets; @RJHenderson7

2024 CFL Week 18 preview

The CFL is only on TSN and CFL+ this weekend. No CTV or CBS Sports Network. There wasn't a Saturday afternoon contest to bump up to CTV. Once again, we have only 6 of the league's 9 teams in action.

This is the weekend for you if you prefer the West teams in the league. The furthest east team in the West (Winnipeg) travels to the league's southern most team in Hamilton. You could look at this as the Grey Cup reunions from 2019 and 2021 for the Blue Bombers and the Tiger-Cats yet they feel like different teams.

Calgary takes its road woes to Vancouver, which can be a tough place for road teams under normal circumstances. We don't have usual circumstances these days as the Lions don't want to play in Vancouver either.

The CFL has some Saturday night momentum on the final weekend before Hockey Night in Canada engages Canadians. The green of Saskatchewan comes to the green and yellow of Edmonton for a tough battle for both teams. The Elks are drawing better at home and plenty of Saskatchewan fans will show up at Commonwealth Stadium.

Montréal, Ottawa, and Toronto get to enjoy autumn colours in the east.

TSN

Friday
Winnipeg @ Hamilton, 7p
Calgary @ BC, 10p
Saturday
Saskatchewan @ Edmonton, 7p

Bye week: Montréal, Ottawa, Toronto

Argos kicked 8 FGs, and won.
Riders kicked 7 FGs, and won.

Points matter everyone! I know spreadsheet boys think field goals shouldn't count.#CFL

— Riders Fan 13 (@CFLFan13) September 29, 2024

Sometimes, CFL teams lose because they settle for field goals instead of touchdowns. Those games proved to be the exception.

CFL goalposts are on the end zone line so they are 10 yards shorter than the NFL. Years ago, the NFL had that but then moved back. The NFL exhibition game in Winnipeg in 2019 reminded us of this difference.

MONTREAL RUNS THE EAST 📍

With Ottawa's loss, the @MTLAlouettes will host the Eastern Final, clinching top spot in the East Divison. #GCPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/eixKkNAFQ6

— CFL (@CFL) September 28, 2024

Lirim Hajrullahu may have been known by non-CFL fans as the kicker who won the game on a rouge. On Saturday night in Toronto, Hajrullahu set a franchise record with 8 field goals as the see-saw battle went to the Argonauts.

Chad Kelly finished 19-for-30 for 287 yards with a passing touchdown and an interception for Toronto. Ka’Deem Carey led the way for the Argos running game with 90 yards and a touchdown while Deonta McMahon added 67 rushing yards and a major.

Montréal clinched first with the Ottawa loss. James Letcher Jr. went 100 yards for a punt return for a major in the second quarter. This was the team's first road loss in over a year — September 9, 2023 also at BMO Field.

2024 CFL Week 17 preview

2024 CFL Week 16 preview

It’s voting season and Rolan Milligan Jr. (@rmilliganjr) is back on the M.O.P. campaign trail.#CFL #Riders #RiderNation
pic.twitter.com/EenU5jzBIQ

— 3DownNation (@3DownNation) September 28, 2024

Saskatchewan has specialised in second half collapses in recent seasons. The 2024 win over Calgary was the first post Labour Day win since November 2021. Now the Roughriders have won 2 in a row in the fall. Brett Lauther, whom some fans wanted gone earlier in the season, kicked those 7 field goals.

Ottawa has lost 4 of its last 5 games.

The CFL suspended Saskatchewan Roughriders’ defensive back Deontai Williams for one game after Williams slammed Ottawa receiver Kalil Pimpleton head first into the turf. There were 6 seconds left in the game. Williams did later apologize to Pimpleton. Your humble narrator gets a football hit. This was not a football hit.

pic.twitter.com/S0dQAeMWy4

— r/CFL on Reddit (@cfl_reddit) September 28, 2024

Your humble narrator watched part of the game in Vancouver. 16-0 at the half. BC Lions scoring drives but 3 field goals in the first half. Peeked in later and saw BC 23, Hamilton 11. Figured I could go to sleep.

Was not expecting 32-29 Hamilton in overtime. The cleverness of the 2-point conversion after the first Tiger-Cat touchdown (Tim White throws a pass to Bo Levi Mitchell). The Lions' defence being more open than the Red Sea thanks to Moses. The Lions offence scoring a major during the comeback and only a field goal to send the game into overtime. Hamilton had the lead for very little time in regulation.

The sudden pass interference in overtime that gave Hamilton the comeback win, even shocking by CFL standards.

The Lions won in Victoria yet haven't won in Vancouver since July 13. This is October and the Lions host Calgary. We did mention that the 2024 Grey Cup is at BC Place. Maybe a few hundred times.

2024 CFL Week 15 preview

Winnipeg started out with 2 long TD passes to Nic Demski and Keric Wheatfall for a blowout win over the Elks. The Blue Bombers posted a +41 over Edmonton in the 2-game series within a week. Zach Collaros finished with 6 touchdowns.

Winnipeg now owns the tiebreaker over every single West team and has a playoff spot. Rather good for a team that started 2-6 and now has a 7-game winning streak.

2024 CFL Week 14 preview: Revenge games

-- The NHL trade deadline coverage is an all you can eat buffet. The CFL trade deadline coverage is a mostly empty automat in Amsterdam.

There was an actual CFL trade at the 2024 deadline: Canadian running back Jeshrun Antwi goes from Montréal to the BC Lions for a 3rd-round pick in the 2025 draft. This was the first deadline trade since 2019 when some quarterback named Zach Collaros went from Toronto to Winnipeg in 2019. The Antwi deal won't be as fruitful as the 2019 trade.

-- BC punter Stefan Flintoff didn't just hit a punt into the scoreboard. The latest punt got stuck in the scoreboard at BC Place in Vancouver. We have noticed, not Flintoff's fault, but the BC Lions haven't won any of the games where the scoreboard interferes with a punt.

-- The 2024 Edmonton squad is the first CFL club since Edmonton and Hamilton both in 1966 to have 3 running backs with at least 500 yards. Javon Leake, Kevin Brown, and Justin Rankin are over 500 yards.

2024 CFL Week 13 preview: Touchdown Pacific comes to Victoria, BC

Montréal (11-3-1) gets a week off and a home playoff game at Stade Molson for the East final. The East battle is to host the East semifinal. Ottawa (8-6-1) still hasn't clinched a playoff spot. The RedBlacks have a 3-game losing streak and a ½ game lead for second place behind Toronto (8-7). These 3 East teams get to sit out this week. Toronto wants to keep playing and Ottawa hopes a week will help Dru Brown's knee. The RedBlacks can clinch a playoff spot with a Hamilton loss.

Hamilton (6-9) is a game back of the BC Lions (7-8) for 3rd place in the West. The team crossing over needs more points than the other team; no ties or tiebreakers. The Tiger-Cats win over the Lions puts Hamilton that much closer to a crossover. Beating Winnipeg at home and having Calgary win in Vancouver doesn't seem likely. Then again, we would have said that about the Tiger-Cats winning in Vancouver.

The Tiger-Cats are 2 games behind Toronto with 3 to play (with the tiebreaker), which is why the crossover is easier. Dave Naylor discussed the potential for a first-time East team as a crossover to the West (for those who missed it last week).

Winnipeg (9-6) has a 7-game winning streak and a playoff spot. This is the 8th straight season where the Blue Bombers are in the playoffs. Life didn't used to be this sunny in the Manitoba capital. The Blue Bombers have the tiebreaker with every West team. The Blue Bombers clinch first place in the West (4th straight season) with a win and an Edmonton win.

Saskatchewan (7-7-1) is riding high with 2 wins in a row, the first 2 such wins post Labour Day for the team since November 2021. The Roughriders have a ½ game lead on the Lions (7-8) for second place. Saskatchewan hasn't hosted a playoff game since 2021.

The Roughriders formula for the playoffs is losses from Hamilton and Calgary with a Saskatchewan win. The Lions formula for the playoffs is wins from BC, Winnipeg, and Saskatchewan.

The 2 Alberta teams — Edmonton (5-10) and Calgary (4-9-1) — play the West teams above them in the standings. Tiebreakers are on the line as the Elks host the Roughriders while the Stampeders travel to play the Lions. Edmonton can only get to 16 points while the Calgary ceiling is 17 points. Calgary has made 18 straight trips to the playoffs, the longest active streak and 4-longest in CFL history.

2024 CFL preview

The CFL was not going to blink of the 2024 Grey Cup conflict with the Vancouver Canucks November 17 home game. The NHL team agreed to move the start time from 5 pm PST to 7 pm PST. Figure the Grey Cup will start just after 3 pm PST on that day. The stadiums are next to each other so traffic would be an issue.

We struggle with why the NHL is so insistent on scheduling Canadian teams on Grey Cup Sunday. Bad enough that happens but to schedule a team in the same market as the home destination of the Grey Cup feels insulting.

The Montréal Canadiens traditionally has matinees on Super Bowl weekend. The NHL could offer up Canadian teams earlier in the day on Grey Cup Sunday, though the Vancouver Canucks play at 7 pm PST the previous night (Hockey Night in Canada) in 2024.

Did anyone else lose streaming abilities on CFL+? What’s going on @CFL #CFL

— Kent Sangster (@KSang09) September 29, 2024

I did watch part of the CTV game via CFL+. I was unable for awhile to access the Montréal-Toronto game on CFL+. Eventually, the video link came back. A reminder that CFL+ has a 48-hour window for rebroadcasts.

2024 CFL preseason schedule

CanadianCrossing.com CFL coverage

Edmonton @ Winnipeg: Rod Smith/Duane Forde/John Lu
Hamilton @ BC: Farhan Lalji/Glen Suitor/Shantelle Chand
Ottawa @ Saskatchewan: Marshall Ferguson/Glen Suitor/Brit Dort
Montréal @ Toronto: Rod Smith/Duane Forde/Matt Dunigan/Matthew Scianitti

Laura Daikun filled in for Kate Beirness on the CFL on TSN panel. Jim Barker and Henoc Muamba were in the studio in for Matt Dunigan and Milt Stegall.

We aren't used to seeing Marshall Ferguson as far west as Regina yet. Farhan Lalji called his first game in Vancouver this season. Dustin Nielson was out for the weekend, so that was a consideration.

The "Red Riders Green Riders" CTV game on Saturday drew the weakest audience of the CFL games over the weekend. The numbers were 409,000 on CTV. The West Coast game in Vancouver on a Friday night drew 478,100.

Another way to look at things is that the CTV game in Regina outdrew the last 2 CTV games: Ottawa at Hamilton in Week 15 (275,000) and Montréal in Ottawa in Week 16 (317,800).

The Canadian over-the-air network is skipping this weekend but will have Saturday afternoon exclusive CFL games through the rest of October.

logo credit: CFL
Twitter capture: @CFLFan13; @CFL; @3DownNation; @cfl_reddit; @KSang09
photo credit: TSN/CFL

2024 CFL Week 17 preview

The Elks wrap up their 2-game set with the Blue Bombers, this time in Winnipeg, to start the Friday night doubleheader. The Ford brothers — Tre Ford at quarterback with Edmonton and Tyrell Ford in the secondary with Winnipeg — won't get to make more memories since McLeod Bethel-Thompson is back as the Edmonton starting QB.

CBS Sports Network has a rare telecast in the second half of the season.

The Hamilton Tiger-Cats start up around their bedtime in traveling to Vancouver for the Friday night matchup. The Lions are coming off a bye with no travel, hoping to do better against the other southern Ontario team.

Nathan Rourke gets the start for the Lions at quarterback. This would have been the first time in 2024 that 2 Canadian quarterbacks started in the CFL, except that Ford isn't starting. Bo Levi Mitchell has better memories of BC Place than the rest of the team in this cat battle.

The Ottawa RedBlacks spent its summer playing West teams and gets to relive those times at Saskatchewan in the CTV Saturday afternoon contest. Maybe one of these teams will win, given the tie the last time they played. Given the CTV history, they should refer to the teams as Red Riders and Green Riders.

The Saturday nightcap feels more like Hockey Night in Canada with Montréal in Toronto at the time they normally play in hockey. This contest determines the tiebreaker between the teams, though the Argos can't catch the Alouettes.

Calgary gets to enjoy an early fall weekend, which could supply cool weather, such as single digits Celsius last week.

CBS Sports Network

Friday
Edmonton @ Winnipeg, 8p

CTV

Saturday
Ottawa @ Saskatchewan, 3p

TSN

Friday
Edmonton @ Winnipeg, 8p
Hamilton @ BC, 10:30p
Saturday
Montréal @ Toronto, 7p

Bye week: Calgary

The tension at McMahon Stadium was thicker than an elk steak (which is a very good local delicacy, medium rare). Saskatchewan had gone 0-6-1 while Calgary had gone 0-5-1. They could tie but what would happen if one of these teams actually won a game?

The Roughriders were struggling with the running game so they signed running back Ryquell (Rock) Armstead, released by Ottawa. Armstead had an incredible debut with 207 rushing yards on 25 carries. Armstead had a balanced attack in each half, as you can see in the above graphic.

The running mark was the best in the CFL since Calgary running back Jon Cornish (Canadian) rushed for 208 yards and a pair of touchdowns against Winnipeg in 2013.

Trevor Harris went 16-for-18 for 248 yards for Saskatchewan.

Backup Calgary quarterback Tommy Stevens had the only major for the Stampeders in the first half with a 69-yard touchdown run late in the first quarter. The play came on a short yardage situation, Stevens' specialty for Calgary.

Jake Maier was proficient with 25-for-31 yet only 197 passing yards for the Stampeders. The team did come close in the second half. While Saskatchewan can breathe a bit easier, Calgary's futility continues and with a bye week, the stew only has more time to cook.

The schedule makers place Ottawa in Regina on the CTV game Saturday afternoon. Armstead will get to see some old friends with the RedBlacks.

2024 CFL Week 16 preview

2024 CFL Week 15 preview

The most adamant Montréal Alouettes fan wouldn't call the win over Ottawa anything like An Eye for Beauty | Le règne de la beauté (also the title for the Denys Arcand 2014 Canadian film).

"This felt like a playoff game," said Montréal quarterback Cody Fajardo after the game. "Our defence played incredible, our special teams played awesome and our offence did enough to win the football game. We've just got to clean some things up and I think we're well on our way." Fajardo went 16-for-27 in the air for 226 yards and scored a rushing touchdown.

The Alouettes defence only gave up a 3rd-quarter touchdown to the RedBlacks. Montréal's Dionte Ruffin got a Pick-6 off of Dru Brown for 79 yards for a touchdown.

Ottawa finished up with Jeremiah Masoli after starting quarterback Dru Brown aggravated an ankle injury late in the second quarter. There were a few minor injuries. The linebacker core has been rocked with injuries, especially linebacker Adarius Pickett, who suffered a season-ending Achilles injury the previous week.

Brown was 8-for-16 for 69 yards with 2 interceptions. Masoli went 17-for-26 for 218 yards and the lone touchdown for Ottawa.

The RedBlacks took 11 penalties for 137 yards. Ottawa has a 2-game losing streak for the first time this season.

#CFL pic.twitter.com/sEotAAzeqf

— CFL Fans Toronto (@CFLFansToronto) September 21, 2024

Brady Oliveira had been pretty patient in not scoring a rushing touchdown in 2024. The Winnipeg star running back took care of that in Edmonton with 2 rushing touchdowns, finishing with 127 yards on 18 carries. Oliveira now has 1,021 yards on the season.

Tre Ford had a rough time in his return as the Elks starting quarterback with a fumble and 2 interceptions. Ford went 10-for-17 for 131 yards. We did make reference to the twin battle with Winnipeg cornerback Tyrell Ford, who didn't have any interceptions from his brother. The teams do meet on Friday, a rare CBS Sports Network TV appearance in the second half of the season.

Edmonton did get help from Justin Rankin with 157 rushing yards on 14 attempts.

The Elks (5-9) lost for just the second time in 7 games. However, Edmonton has to try and beat the Blue Bombers, the team that has won 10 in a row against the Elks.

The teams got off to a slow start on offence: 3 points (Winnipeg) in the first 35 minutes of the game and a 10-10 tie through 3 quarters.

Not sure I’ve seen worse play calling at the goal line, ever. https://t.co/MrTTiZJ3ui

— Dustin Nielson (@nielsonTSN1260) September 21, 2024

Marc Liegghio kicked 6 field goals in all, including the game winner from 48 yards out, to keep some hope in Hamilton for the CFL playoffs. The Ticats swept the season series with the Argonauts for the first time since 2019.

Those field goals came in great part because of the play calling in the red zone. For those whining about the rouge in the last few minutes of a CFL game, a Liegghio miss would have tied the game at 31.

Lirim Hajrullahu's 28-yard field goal put Toronto up 31-30 with 56 seconds on the clock.

Hamilton starter Bo Levi Mitchell is now 15-2 in his career against Toronto, finishing 31-for-40 for 362 yards and a touchdown.

Oop 🫣 pic.twitter.com/IRnhuf9W7F

— Kristina Costabile (@kcostabile1) September 20, 2024

No fan base is as loud and proud in a road contest as Hamilton fans are in Toronto. The Tiger-Cats helped the Argos draw a crowd of 18,210 at BMO Field on a Friday night.

The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are the only current CFL franchise to have never won a Grey Cup in the 21st century, winning the title in 1999.

2024 CFL Week 14 preview: Revenge games

2024 CFL Week 13 preview: Touchdown Pacific comes to Victoria, BC

Montréal clinched a home playoff game with a win over the RedBlacks. The Alouettes technically did this with a Hamilton win over the Toronto Argonauts. Montréal (11-2-1) has a 3-game lead on Ottawa (8-5-1) and the Argos can't catch the Alouettes.

Montréal is undefeated on the road with a trip to Toronto (7-7), a tough place to play. Hamilton is 5-9 yet 3-0 against Toronto. The Tiger-Cats are 2 games behind Toronto with 4 to play with the tiebreaker. Hamilton plays 3 West teams down the stretch while Toronto plays 2 West teams.

The RedBlacks can clinch a playoff berth with a win or losses from Hamilton and Edmonton.

Winnipeg (8-6) is in rather good shape in the driver's seat in the West. The Blue Bombers have the tiebreaker with every division team except for Edmonton and have a +13 going into the other game tonight. The Blue Bombers need a win for a playoff spot. Winnipeg has made the playoffs 7 years in a row.

The BC Lions (7-7) have a ½ game edge on Saskatchewan (6-7-1), which snapped a 7-game winless streak in defeating Calgary.

The 2 Alberta teams are below the playoffs line with tough losses last week. Edmonton (5-9) travels to Winnipeg, winners of 6 in a row, while Calgary (4-9-1) gets to reflect on the CFL equivalent of an early golf season in the NHL (skiing?).

Dave Naylor discusses the potential for a first-time East team as a crossover to the West.

The Canadian Football League’s nine member clubs will proudly wear Indigenous-designed logos to commemorate the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation during its Week 17 slate of games: https://t.co/kXAqEbtniD

— CFL on TSN (@CFLonTSN) September 23, 2024

The National Day for Truth and Reconciliation is Monday, September 30. We have seen the CFL step up in recent years with Indigenous logo designs created by Indigenous people.

Calgary has the week off but the Stampeders wore theirs 2 weeks ago when hosting Montréal.

A first look at gameday inside Northwestern’s temporary lakefront football stadium 🏟️ pic.twitter.com/1RfphV9vZZ

— Front Office Sports (@FOS) August 31, 2024

We haven't and won't give up on the Atlantic Schooners as a 10th team in the CFL. We noted Northwestern University's new temporary football field that is about as close to the water (Lake Michigan) as the water is to the San Francisco Giants ballpark.

The Wildcats are rebuilding their football stadium further inland in Evanston, Illinois. They transformed their practice field and built seats surrounding the field.

The capacity is about 15,000, not much smaller than what is possible in Halifax for the HFX Wanderers FC, the Atlantic Schooners, and possibly the Saint Mary's University Huskies football team. You might recall that Touchdown Atlantic 2023 was placed on the Saint Mary's University campus.

The CFL stadiums in Edmonton, Calgary, Regina, and Winnipeg are tied into university football in those cities.

The Northwestern people made the transition in a matter of months. Admittedly, they had a field in place and just built around that facility. Imagine needing a year to build a nice, permanent facility in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Concerts and other outdoor events can justify the cost.

2024 CFL preview

2024 CFL preseason schedule

CanadianCrossing.com CFL coverage

Hamilton @ Toronto: Rod Smith/Duane Forde/Matthew Scianitti
Saskatchewan @ Calgary: Dustin Nielson/Glen Suitor/Claire Hanna
Montréal @ Ottawa: Marshall Ferguson/Matt Dunigan/Kenzie Lalonde
Winnipeg @ Edmonton: Dustin Nielson/Glen Suitor/Ryan Rishaug

The CFL on TSN put their top east crew on the game that seemingly didn't count as much in the CFL standings. There might have been other forces at work, such as not traveling to Ottawa. Speaking of Ottawa, Claire Hanna ended up in Calgary, the only CFL market without a regular TSN sideline person. Kenzie Lalonde made a quick side trip down Highway 417 to Ottawa.

We assume the soundtrack in the car with Dustin Nielson and Glen Suitor features a lot of country music going from Calgary to Edmonton.

Jim Barker filled in on the panel for both days while Henoc Muamba came in on Saturday. Paul LaPolice did segments from the studio.

The CFL on CTV game drew decent numbers if you count RDS. The combined total of 548,800 (317,800 CTV and 231,000 RDS) was stronger than either of the Friday night games. [Hamilton at Toronto — 431,600; Saskatchewan at Calgary — 452,600].

The battle of the Ford brothers — Winnipeg at Edmonton — drew the best crowd at 640,800.

The true measurement comes for the playoffs when CTV and TSN carry the East playoff games and the Grey Cup.

logo credit: CFL
photo credit: TSN/CFL
Twitter captures: @CFLFansToronto; @nielsonTSN1260; @kcostabile1; @CFLonTSN; @FOS

2024 CFL Week 16 preview

The Battle of Southern Ontario finally gets its revenge game with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and their many fans in Toronto. Beating the Argos on Friday night wouldn't be just for fun; Toronto is the target for Hamilton to find out whether they are still in the CFL playoffs chase.

Saskatchewan at Calgary used to be a battle of the Dickenson brothers as head coaches. Craig Dickenson now works as an assist for his brother Dave. This is the first game between these teams, the late game on Friday night. The revenge game in Regina will be the final regular season game in the CFL season.

The Highway 417 rivalry is the CTV game of the week on Saturday. The RedBlacks have a lot of appearances on CTV. Helps that the team is good this year. This game counts more in the standings than we've seen in a long time. We explore playoff considerations further down in the story.

Speaking of first-time battles, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and Edmonton Elks meet for the first time this season, Saturday night at Commonwealth Stadium. This marks the first battle of the Ford brothers in 2024: Tre Ford at quarterback with Edmonton and Tyrell Ford in the secondary with Winnipeg. Unlike Saskatchewan and Calgary, this revenge game is next week in Winnipeg.

This is a good weekend for the U.S. viewers to get CFL+ set up since CBS Sports Network takes the weekend off.

The BC Lions get a lovely weekend at home in Vancouver to enjoy late summer and to think about last week's loss.

CTV

Saturday
Montréal @ Ottawa, 3p

TSN

Friday
Hamilton @ Toronto, 7p
Saskatchewan @ Calgary, 9:30p
Saturday
Winnipeg @ Edmonton, 7p

Bye week: BC

Regular readers know we are not betters or into gambling. If you asked your humble narrator to put money on last week's games, the money would have gone on BC, Ottawa, and a convincing Montréal win. Toronto easily downed BC in Vancouver, Hamilton had a convincing home win against Ottawa, and we had a second tie this season, featuring Montréal and Calgary.

The Lions were without David Mackie for short-term running. Then again, the Lions had -1 overall yards in the 1st quarter.

BC and Ottawa had something unusual in common: both teams tried out 2 quarterbacks and neither got too much done. Nathan Rourke and Vernon Adams Jr. for the Lions; Dru Brown and Jeremiah Masoli for the RedBlacks. Cool to see Masoli on the Tim Hortons Field turf after all those years in Hamilton.

2024 CFL Week 15 preview

The Alouettes had a couple of early fumbles, leading to 10 Calgary points. Montréal blocked a punt for a touchdown but that was negated by a roughing the kicker penalty.

We noted that the unbalanced schedule means some teams don't travel to every city. Still, the Argos went 2,505 days since their last road win in Vancouver on November 4, 2017. Toronto hadn't swept the season series with the BC Lions since 2001.

2024 CFL Week 14 preview: Revenge games

There is extra pressure for the Grey Cup host to be in that Grey Cup. The BC Lions hosted in 2011 and won the Grey Cup at BC Place. Vancouver last hosted the game in 2014. We have seen BC play lights out football. Ask Hamilton in Hamilton and Ottawa in Victoria. The team that showed up against Toronto has no chance on any level, playoffs or Grey Cup.

The 2007 CFL season was the last time we saw 2 ties in a season. Since July 2007, every CFL tie has involved either Calgary or Ottawa. Consider that those teams have tied each other twice. This was the first CFL tie for the Alouettes since September 20, 1998 at Hamilton.

2024 CFL Week 13 preview: Touchdown Pacific comes to Victoria, BC

We didn't think AJ Ouellette would be gone this long for the Saskatchewan Roughriders. The team signed former Redblacks running back Ryquell Armstead.

Armstead was the CFL's fourth-leading rusher prior to his release. Armstead had 623 rushing yards, 284 receiving yards, and 3 touchdowns in 11 games with Ottawa. Amusingly, Ottawa had signed former Roughrider Jamal Morrow as a replacement at running back.

The CFL decided to do something about Saskatchewan defensive tackle Miles Brown after his low hit on Chris Streveler in the Banjo Bowl. The league issued a maximum fine, ½ a game salary.

We are concerned for the quarterbacks of the future Roughriders opponents this season until Brown gets a suspension.

Winnipeg has former Toronto Argos backup QB Bryan Scott and veteran QB Jake Dolegala on the practice roster. The Blue Bombers will be without linebacker Adam Bighill, who had season-ending knee surgery.

2024 CFL Week 12 preview

2024 CFL Week 11 preview

The BC Lions lost out on a chance to take over first place. The Lions (7-7) are ½ game behind Winnipeg (7-6) and don't have the tiebreaker. The bottom 3 teams in the West are Saskatchewan (5-7-1), ½ game ahead of Edmonton (5-8), and 1 game ahead of Calgary (4-8-1). Since the Roughriders and Stampeders could need a tiebreaker, this week's winner (please, no more ties) is in the driver's seat with the final game between the teams on the last day of the season.

A Montréal (10-2-1) win this week against Ottawa (8-4-1) would be huge for the Alouettes. A win would give Montréal a 3-game lead for the East Division and the tiebreaker with the RedBlacks. An Ottawa win would mean the tiebreaker wouldn't get decided until Canadian Thanksgiving (in Montréal) and a 1-game deficit. Ottawa is 6-0-1 at TD Place in 2024 while Montréal hasn't lost on the road this season. The RedBlacks missed on a chance to clinch a playoff spot in Hamilton.

Montréal clinches a home playoff game with a win over the RedBlacks or a Hamilton win over Toronto Argonauts.

Toronto (7-6) gains ½ game on Montréal and extends its lead over a potential crossover from a West team. Hamilton (4-9), even with the win, trails the Argos by 3 games with 5 to play. The Tiger-Cats own that tiebreaker.

An Ottawa win would also get the RedBlacks a winning record, the third time in franchise history (2015, 2018) in the RedBlacks era. You might recall that Ottawa was 8-9-1 in 2016 when the RedBlacks won the Grey Cup.

Admittedly, both Montréal and Ottawa have had gaps in not being in the CFL but the 2 franchises have not been in the playoffs in the same year since 1985.

2024 CFL preview

Rogers bought out Bell's share of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, the organisation that owns the Maple Leafs, Raptors, Toronto FC, Toronto Marlies (AHL), and the Toronto Argonauts. This would bring Rogers up to 75% ownership.

MLSE chairman Larry Tanenbaum, via his holding company Kilmer Sports, owns the other 25%. Canadian pension fund OMERS owning 20% of that (5% overall) of MLSE.

This will not affect Bell's TV deals and sponsorships, including the CFL TV deal.

"The kick hit the scoreboard.... again!"

Official Ben Major gets a chuckle a month after his entertaining call from BC place, the first time Stefan Flintoft hit the score board! #CFLGameDay
📺: @TSN_Sports 🇨🇦 & @CBSSportsNet 🇺🇸⁣
📲: CFL + pic.twitter.com/pgPq0ZWHTk

— CFL (@CFL) September 14, 2024

Same punter (Stefan Flintoft). Same referee (Ben Major). Same giant scoreboard at BC Place. The previous time was at the last BC Lions game in Vancouver.

Punters want lift in their punts to give the cover team time to get down field.

Good Morning from Calgary!!

Stamps looking to find their game but a tough test with Montreal rolling into town!

I’ve got the call with @GlenSuitor & @britdort! pic.twitter.com/ZgAnJ4TdCM

— Dustin Nielson (@nielsonTSN1260) September 14, 2024

Dustin Nielson features these fun videos of him walking in the CFL city where he is broadcasting. You can find the videos on his Twitter feed. Nielson mentions in this video that he just landed in Calgary from Vancouver with only 6 hours to kickoff. Your humble narrator finds that intriguing about the time frame involved in calling games on back to back days.

The CFL schedule in the autumn means more doubleheaders and quick turnarounds, especially out west where Nielson and Glen Suitor will be most weekends.

2024 CFL preseason schedule

CanadianCrossing.com CFL coverage

Toronto @ BC: Dustin Nielson/Glen Suitor/Shantelle Chand
Ottawa @ Hamilton: Rod Smith/Duane Forde/Matthew Scianitti
Montréal @ Calgary: Dustin Nielson/Glen Suitor/Brit Dort

Matthew Scianitti filled in for Kate Beirness on Friday night. Jim Barker was in for Davis Sanchez on the panel. Kate Beirness and the CFL on TSN panel were at Hamilton for the Canadian Football Hall of Fame ceremonies in Hamilton. If you don't know, the Hall of Fame, as such, is within the confines of Tim Hortons Field.

CTV had the Hall of Fame game in Hamilton. The slow start on the over-the-air network got even slower. The Ottawa contest in Hamilton drew 275,000 on Saturday afternoon. The RDS numbers for the Alouettes at night was 291,600 (the Tiger-Cats game was on RDS2). 

The Argos in Vancouver drew the largest English language audience at 438,800.

logo credit: CFL
Twitter capture: @CFL; @nielsonTSN1260