We’ve finally arrived at Week 1 of the regular season! Buckle up with a few Molsons and a bag of all-dressed chips and make yourself comfy for the summer and fall of 2022, folks.

In league news this week:

• Final cuts dropped over the weekend, and there’s always a few prominent names that raise some eyebrows whenever these lists get released. A quick sample of guys who are likely to find a new home includes the following:
  • Ottawa: WR BJ Cunningham, DB Trumaine Washington (last season’s league leader in interceptions)
  • Montreal: WR Quan Bray
  • Saskatchewan: RB Shaq Cooper, DBs AJ Hendy & Blace Brown
  • BC: DB KiAnte Hardin
  • Toronto: DB Treston Decoud (signed with Edmonton), DLs Adrian Tracy, Kony Ealy, KR Chandler Worthy (signed with Montreal)
  • Edmonton: WR Jalen Tolliver
  • Calgary: WR Jordan Williams-Lambert
• It appears as though Nick Arbuckle has won the starter’s job as Elks’ QB; head coach/GM Chris Jones ran with four QBs in camp right through to the end, and after the Elks put up a stinker of a preseason loss to Calgary last week (a game in which Arbuckle didn’t play at all), perhaps the final evaluations were finished by default. This is an interesting development all the same – the rumour mill has it that Chris Jones tried to trade Arbuckle all through training camp, and nothing panned out – here he is now having to run with him as the starter.
• Due to salary cap issues, Toronto dealt DB Jalen Collins and OL Martez Ivey to Edmonton in exchange for a sixth-round pick in next year’s CFL Draft. Both players have starting potential; Ivey started two games late in the season last year for Toronto, while Collins is entering his second playing Canadian ball; you may remember Collins as the NFL Atlanta Falcons’ second rounder from 2015, where he showed excellent on-field skill but was suspended four separate times, most notably for substance abuse issues. Regardless of his past, both Collins and teammate Ivey are nice pickups for Edmonton and should give them some added American depth to the lineup.
• Larry Tanenbaum, the chairman of Toronto pro sports conglomerate Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, which owns the CFL’s Argonauts as well the NHL Maple Leafs, NBA Raptors, MLS Toronto FC, and several other minor league teams, rankled a few league execs earlier this week with some rare comments about the business acumen of the CFL as a whole. Concerned about the Argos’ lack of success in the busy GTA sports market – even when compared with archrival Hamilton just down the Queen Elizabeth Way – the notoriously interview-shy Tanenbaum made it clear he was concerned about the Argos’ place in both Canadian football and the sporting landscape moving forward. There’s no doubt that the Argos have been mismanaged, even after coming into the MLSE fold, but rather than throwing up his hands and seemingly resigning himself to failure, I sincerely think Tanenbaum should look not just to how outreach from his other franchises has done wonders for brand recognition in a diverse city – not to mention the (caveat: extremely, extremely early) success that BC and Edmonton have had in trying to rebuild their organizations in diversifying urban centres.

And with this info out of the way, onto the games!

WEEK 1 PREVIEWS

Montreal vs. Calgary, Thursday, June 9th, 9:00 PM EDT (TSN, ESPN+): To nobody’s surprise, Montreal declared Vernon Adams, Jr. as their Week 1 starter; he’s the current face of the franchise and most valuable player… The only real controversy, really, was whether or not he’s fully recovered from the shoulder injury he suffered midway through last season. Calgary is also dealing with a starting QB coming back from a significant shoulder injury last season, too… The Stamps may had a slow start last year before coming back to make the playoffs, but if Bo Levi Mitchell can regain the form he’s shown through much of his CFL career, they have a chance for a hot start. Montreal’s offence showed a lot of flash and flair to it, and with most key contributors returning, we’ll see how much trouble they give Calgary’s D.

PICK: Calgary

Ottawa vs. Winnipeg, Friday, June 10th, 8:30 PM EDT (TSN, ESPN+): It’s the first meeting between these two teams since 2019; the abbreviated 2021 season did not allow for the REDBLACKS and Blue Bombers to square off. For those who remember Ottawa’s abysmal 2021 squad, that may have been a blessing to not have to see them annihilated off the face of the earth. It’s a first look at a brand-new Ottawa roster that features a new QB, new receivers and backs, new OL, and new secondary… while I expect them to be way better than last year, getting new systems down takes time, and with so many fresh faces, it’ll be interesting to see how the chemistry develops. They’ll also have to deal with not having starting tailback William Powell available for their season opener. Winnipeg, meanwhile, are the defending Grey Cup champs and will be lifting their championship banner before the start of this game… Even with All-Star RB Andrew Harris gone from the backfield and off to Toronto, the Bombers remain the team to beat by everybody in the league; if they can stay healthy, watch out.

PICK: Winnipeg

Hamilton vs. Saskatchewan, Saturday, June 11th, 7:00 PM EDT (TSN, ESPN+): Despite underperforming through the regular season, Hamilton made it all the way to a second straight Grey Cup game… which they lost in heartbreaking fashion once again to Winnipeg. This year, with Dane Evans the clear starting quarterback out of the gate, the big question is that of identity for this year’s Tabbies squad. Perhaps with fewer roster questions, it’ll be possible to come together more rapidly as a team this year; moreover, the hope is that they’ll be healthier than last year, where David Watford, who was signed off the street, ended up getting multiple starts when both Evans and Jeremiah Masoli were on the injured list simultaneously. For Saskatchewan, there are once again a number of really good pieces on the roster, but the problems are a deep West Division and a lack of O-line protection for QB Cody Fajardo. If Fajardo can get more time and space to make plays, Saskatchewan can challenge for the division crown – but that remains an “if” as opposed to a “when” at this point.

PICK: Saskatchewan

Edmonton vs. BC, Saturday, June 11th, 10:00 PM EDT (TSN, ESPN2): BC comes into this game with a ton of local hype – an incredibly positive development for a team that has seen their average attendance drop by 40% over the last decade. Tickets were in such demand that the Lions elected to open the upper bowl of BC Place for the first time since 2016; the game is accompanied by a OneRepublic concert and sizable block party outside the stadium. Not only this, but according to TSN Sports, it’s the first time in the entire history of the CFL – since its formal inception in 1958 – that a team will have both a Canadian starter and backup at quarterback, in Nathan Rourke and Michael O’Connor. In a time where the future of Canadian football appears, at times, to be fragile, this is a really cool development that I really hope will make the Lions and the CFL more relevant across the crowded pro sports landscape of the Lower Mainland. And hey, it doesn’t hurt that the first game of the year is against Edmonton, a team picked by many, including myself, to probably have a tough rebuilding year once again… we’ll see how Chris Jones fares in his first game on the Elks sidelines since 2015.

PICK: BC

BYE: Toronto

WEEK 1 PICKS

Reminder that this is your last chance to join the Pick ‘Em Pool before the season begins… click the link below to sign up and join! Remember, for added convenience this year, you can also install PoolTracker’s web app to your phone or desktop – it’s free and available here.

https://www.pooltracker.com/join.asp?poolid=205786

Enjoy the games, everyone. Without any further ado, let’s get to it!