The Winnipeg Blue Bombers have ruled Canadian receiver Nic Demski out of Sunday’s Labour Day Classic against the Saskatchewan Roughriders, according to the official depth chart the team issued Saturday morning and reported by 3DownNation.
Demski, a 32-year-old Winnipeg native, was a non-participant in practice this week because of an ankle injury and has been moved to the one-game injured list, 3DownNation reported. The five-foot-eleven, 211-pound slotback has caught 50 passes for 660 yards and three touchdowns through 11 regular-season games this year, ranking third among Winnipeg receivers behind Ontaria Wilson and Tim White.
His absence takes one of the most decorated Canadians in the league out of a game that has long functioned as the emotional midpoint of the CFL calendar. Demski has been an All-West Division selection in five consecutive seasons and was named the Most Valuable Canadian of the 108th Grey Cup. Over 163 career regular-season games he has made 544 catches for 6,945 yards and 45 touchdowns, according to 3DownNation.
That career total put him in rare company earlier this season. The Blue Bombers announced in June that Demski had joined the 500-receptions club, a group that in Winnipeg terms also includes Andrew Harris with 609 catches, Joe Poplawski with 549, Kamau Peterson with 534 and Rick House with 522.
Rookie Dorian Singer will replace Demski at slotback and make his first professional regular-season appearance, 3DownNation reported. The 23-year-old played 29 collegiate games at the University of Arizona, the University of Southern California and the University of Utah, making 108 receptions for 1,695 yards and nine touchdowns.
Winnipeg made several other roster moves ahead of the game. Deatrick Nichols is set to return at boundary halfback after missing last week’s game against the Montreal Alouettes with an ankle injury, while Jonathan Moxey has been moved to the six-game injured list with a groin injury. Trey Vaval will start in Moxey’s place at field-side cornerback after recording three defensive tackles and one pass knockdown in his first start of the season a week ago.
The club also placed Canadian linebacker Brody Clark on the six-game injured list with a hamstring injury and American linebacker Dylan Hazen on the same list with a head injury, according to 3DownNation. Canadian running back Matthew Peterson and Canadian linebacker Charles-Elliot Bouliane were promoted from the practice roster in corresponding moves.
The Blue Bombers, at 6-5, visit the 7-4 Roughriders at Mosaic Stadium in Regina on Sunday, Sept. 6, with kickoff set for 7 p.m. EDT and the game carried on TSN in Canada. Winnipeg lost last year’s Labour Day Classic 34-30, a result sealed when Saskatchewan’s Tevaughn Campbell intercepted a Zach Collaros two-point convert attempt late in the fourth quarter and returned it for a touchdown. Winnipeg is 3-2 in the fixture since 2021.
