I am excited to have the house to myself this weekend, as Lady Maestro heads home for a few days for a brief family visit… as these alone weekends are few and far between, I intend to maximize my time doing as I please… which includes watching every CFL game start to finish as always.

In league news this week:

• Tiger-Cats GM Ted Goveia was recently diagnosed with esophageal cancer and will be stepping away from his full-time duties with the team as he currently undergoes treatment; we here wish him nothing but the best on his road to recovery.
• With RB AJ Ouellette potentially out long-term, the Saskatchewan Roughriders signed RB Ka’Deem Carey to a one-year contract. Carey was the Argos’ lead rusher last year and definitely has lots of game left in him; he was predominantly a salary cap casualty at the end of training camp.
• The Ottawa REDBLACKS signed Canadian receiver Luther Hakunavanhu to their practise squad this week; as someone with an advantageous Canadian passport, he may turn out to be some useful depth in the receiving corps. He set a career high of 9 TD catches back in 2023 as a member of the Calgary Stampeders.
• In other REDBLACKS news, DB Alonzo Addae is already done for the season after suffering an elbow injury in the season opener; after starting 14 games last year, that’s a big loss. Next man up at free safety is Canadian Charlie Ringland; a former special-teamer with BC, he recorded a single tackle in nine games last year. Hope he’s up to the task of being the last man back now.
• After showing a number of games last year on the free CTV channel for the first time in many, many years, the CFL announced it will not only expand its slate available on CTV to a total of 22 games this year, while also continuing to broadcast them simultaneously on TSN – a welcome change from last season. In an era where media presence is everything, I’ve been glad to see that the league has been finding ways to make viewership easier, both inside and outside of Canada (the CFL+ streaming service has been extremely good thus far, based on some VPN tests I’ve run).

Onto the games!

WEEK 1 RECAPS

Ottawa 26 vs. Saskatchewan 31: The REDBLACKS struck first in this game, but the Riders quickly snagged back the lead and never looked back, despite a strong offensive night from both sides. Receivers Sam Emilus and Justin Hardy ended the night with 133 yards receiving, while Ottawa QB Dru Brown threw for over 400 yards in his third straight CFL game (regular season and playoffs). New REDBLACKS Geno Lewis and William each had a TD in their regular season debuts, but unfortunately for Ottawa, it was too little, too late on the comeback; they couldn’t capitalize on any of the turnovers the defence forced in the game and the Roughriders ultimately held strong at the end, sending the friendly crowd home happy to open the 2025 season.

PICK: Ottawa

RESULT: Saskatchewan

Toronto 10 vs. Montreal 28: In a rematch of last year’s East final, Montreal got some revenge on Toronto. With a new full-time starter Davis Alexander finding some instant chemistry with top receiver Tyson Philpot, the Als thumped the defending Grey Cup champs in convincing fashion. The Argos were definitely not displaying their peak offensive, with Sex Pest Chad Kelly on the shelf due to a toe injury, but it seems like he’ll be ready again for game action very shortly. Nick Arbuckle found himself mired in the muck, with 271 pass yards, two picks, and a fumble… Montreal almost had another major had it not been for DB Tarvarus McFadden showing excellent tip drill skills and deflecting the ball to Derek Slywka in the end zone to give possession back to the Argos. These Als are going to be a good, deep team this year.

PICK: Toronto

RESULT: Montreal

Hamilton 26 vs. Calgary 38: All eyes were on seeing Vernon Adams, Jr. in red and white for the first time in his CFL career, but it was running back Dedrick Mills who stole the show for the Stamps, racking up a hat trick of rushing TDs and locking down the home win. Don’t let the final score fool you here – the Stamps had complete control over this one, as the Ti-Cats didn’t get a lot going until the fourth quarter. Return man Isaiah Wooden had a 105-yard kickoff return TD for Hamilton, which was probably the highlight of their night… At least Kenny Lawler had a nice debut in black & gold with six catches for 87 yards and a TD grab, and Bo Levi Mitchell claimed the 11th spot on the CFL’s all-time passing yards list with 304 passing yards and the TD pass to Lawler.

PICK: Hamilton

RESULT: Calgary

Edmonton 14 vs. BC 31: After spending much of last season looking a little off from his 2022 Most Outstanding Canadian form, Nathan Rourke looked every bit his dominant self for the Lions, who rode the power of Snoop Dogg to a big opening week win. Receiver Stanley Berryhill had two TD catches for the Lions, while Justin McInnis and James Butler also racked up majors of their own. Rourke’s three TD passes were a welcome sight for the home crowd, who experienced some inconsistency on offence in the second half of last season. The Elks had two TD drives of their own, but fell apart in the second half, which allowed the Leos to blow the game wide open. Ultimately, the final score would have been a little closer had it not been for a late, poorly-timed Tre Ford pick that the Lions turned into a TD score on the very next play.

PICK: BC

RESULT: BC

BYE: Winnipeg

WEEK 2 PREVIEWS

BC (1-0) vs. Winnipeg (0-0), Thursday, June 12th, 8:30 PM EDT (TSN, CBSSN, CFL+): After spending Week 1 on a bye, the Bombers will kick off their 2025 regular season at home. They won’t have QB Zach Collaros available for this game as he’s currently serving a one-game suspension for not contacting league officials in a timely manner about an off-season drug test. Regardless of the controversy – real, manufactured, or otherwise – I am not certain that this year’s Blue Bombers squad will be as dominant as the ones in years past. Chris Streveler, coming off a nasty knee injury last year, will start this game for Winnipeg, which means that we’ll likely see a healthy dose of RB Brady Oliveira toting the rock in order to take the load off a guy not especially known for his arm talent. The Lions looked very sharp in the second half last week, and it’ll be interesting to see if Nathan Rourke keeps up the momentum he seemed to have found last week against a team with a defense that, despite being depleted from last year, is likely still better than the Elks’ is this season.

PICK: Winnipeg

Montreal (1-0) vs. Ottawa (0-1), Friday, June 13th, 7:30 PM EDT (TSN, CFL+): The big question for Ottawa is how they’re going to weather the absence of Dru Brown from the starting lineup this week; in his absence, Matt Shiltz will be the new guy under centre. Apparently Brown is still feeling the effects of a hip injury suffered late in last week’s game against the Roughriders. This is less than ideal news for Ottawa; the REDBLACKS will need all the help they can get to deal with the Als’ stout defense, however. One may note that they were up against a Toronto backup last week, sure, but they can consistently make plays. Similarly, the REDBLACKS’ secondary needs to tighten up further after looking fairly sloppy last week against Saskatchewan. Davis Alexander has the chance to build momentum and reputation with a road win against their closest geographic rivals this week.

PICK: Montreal

Calgary (1-0) vs. Toronto (0-1), Saturday, June 14th, 4:00 PM EDT (TSN, CBSSN, CFL+): Cool to see Calgary’s offence come to life in a way that I haven’t really seen happen in a quite a while… I will be curious to see how the run game will hold up against an Argos front seven that continues to be commanded by Wynton McManis, who remains one of the league’s absolute best defenders. The Argos need something going on offence – and preferably not involving Nick Arbuckle – the worst people you know are all cheering for Chad Kelly’s imminent return. Playing in the home confines of BMO Field likely won’t hurt things, but maybe there’s a little bit more hope for Calgary this year than what pundits initially predicted during training camp.

PICK: Toronto

Saskatchewan (1-0) vs. Hamilton (0-1), Sunday, June 16th, 7:00 PM EDT (TSN, CBSSN, CFL+): Always tough to have your first home game of the year come against one of the absolute best teams in the league, and the Tabbies are going to have their hands full here. As always, it’s the defence that looks to be their Achilles heel; I was really impressed with how Saskatchewan moved the ball last week against Ottawa and I predict some very bad outcomes for Hamilton if they can’t figure out how to get coverage over the middle. It’s rare for 38-year-old QBs like Trevor Harris to still be playing at such a high level – considering his prior injury history, no doubt the Riders want to pad as many wins as possible before he may end up on the shelf yet again…

PICK: Saskatchewan

BYE: Edmonton (0-1)

STANDINGS AND STATS

East Division Standings

West Division Standings

Passing Yards

1. Brown, OTT – 413
2. Rourke, BC – 324
3. Mitchell, HAM – 304

Passing TDs

1. Rourke, BC – 3
2. Brown, OTT – 2
3. Harris, SSK – 2

Rushing Yards

1. Mills, CGY – 94
2. Thomas-Erlington, MTL – 86
3. Butler, BC – 68

Receiving Yards

1. Emilus, SSK – 133
2. Hardy, OTT – 133
3. Addison, OTT – 112

Defensive Tackles

1. Thurman, SSK – 10
2. Lee, CGY – 10
3. McManis, TOR – 9

Sacks

1. Carney, SSK – 2
2. Baldonado, SSK – 1
3. Thurman, SSK – 1

Interceptions

1. Coldon, OTT – 1
2. Burns, MTL – 1
3. Beverette, MTL – 1

Field Goals

1. Liegghio, HAM – 3
2. Paredes, CGY – 3
3. Maltos, MTL – 2

PICK POOL

A bad start for the commish, here. Guess road dogs only eat later in the season? Hopefully enough time to correct course for the rest of the year. Nice work to Mr. Ayo with the lone perfect week.

Remember to submit your picks here! https://www.pooltracker.com/join.asp?poolid=243178

Enjoy the games, everyone.