A CFL source says the league will announce Thursday it will stage a regular-season game between the Toronto Argonauts and Saskatchewan Roughriders in the Nova Scotia capital.
The contest, with the Argos as the home team, will be played July 25 at Huskies Stadium at Saint Mary’s University.
The source was granted anonymity because the league has not publicly announced the site of the game.
It will be the first regular-season game played at Saint Mary’s. The CFL held an exhibition contest there in 2005.
The previous four Touchdown Atlantic games were held in Moncton, N.B. Last year, the Montreal Alouettes defeated Toronto 28-22 before 10,126 spectators at Croix-Bleue Medavie Stadium.
That stadium’s seating capacity can be expanded to 20,725, but there was no expansion for last year’s contest.
Schooners Sports and Entertainment (SSE), a group trying to secure a CFL expansion franchise for Halifax, will again sponsor the game. It did so last year as well.
Last month, Halifax Regional Municipality voted in favour of providing a one-time $20-million contribution to a proposed CFL-friendly stadium so long as it was located at a site other than Shannon Park. SSE had settled on a six- to eight-hectare site at Shannon Park, a surplus military site in north-end Dartmouth, for $110-million stadium.
But a report suggested Shannon Park lacks transportation options to get spectators to and from the venue and the site would need millions of dollars in infrastructure investment.
League wants suitable stadium
CFL commissioner Randy Ambrosie has remained bullish on Halifax becoming the league’s 10th franchise, but has stated repeatedly it’s contingent on a suitable stadium being built in the largest city in Atlantic Canada.
This year’s Touchdown Atlantic will feature two teams which finished at opposite ends of the spectrum last season.
Saskatchewan, under first-year head coach Craig Dickenson, finished atop the West Division with a 13-5 record. Quarterback Cody Fajardo was a finalist for the CFL’s outstanding player award after finishing as the league’s passing leader (4,302 yards).
Saskatchewan’s season, though, ended with a 20-13 home loss to the eventual Grey Cup-champion Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the conference final.
Toronto, meanwhile, missed the CFL playoffs for a second straight year. The Argos finished third in the East Division standings with a 4-14 record, with three of those wins coming against the league-worst Ottawa Redblacks.
Toronto has a new head coach in Ryan Dinwiddie, a former quarterbacks coach with the Calgary Stampeders. Toronto fired previous head coach Corey Chamblin after just one season in the job.
Toronto will give up a home game at BMO Field this season to participate in this contest. This will be the fourth Touchdown Atlantic appearance for the Argos, who played in the inaugural contest — a 16-16 exhibition tie with Hamilton in 2005.
Toronto had the CFL’s worst attendance last year, averaging 10,652 spectators in six home games — another home game was the Touchdown Atlantic game in Moncton while the club didn’t provide attendance figures for two others dates at BMO Field.
Saskatchewan was one of the CFL’s top draws. The Riders averaged more than 30,000 spectators at Mosaic Stadium and twice attracted more than 33,000 fans to their games.
Saskatchewan also drew 33,300 for the West Division final, which Winnipeg won 20-13.
VANCOUVER – The Vancouver Canucks announced Tuesday that defenceman Alex Edler will sign a one-day contract in order to officially retire as a member of the NHL team.
The signing will be part of a celebration of Edler’s career held Oct. 11 when the Canucks host the Philadelphia Flyers.
The Canucks selected Edler, from Ostersund, Sweden, in the third round (91st overall) of the 2004 NHL draft.
He played in 925 career games for the Canucks between the 2006-07 and 2020-21 seasons, ranking fourth in franchise history and first among defencemen.
The 38-year-old leads all Vancouver defencemen with 99 goals, 310 assists and 177 power-play points with the team.
Edler also appeared in 82 career post-season contests with Vancouver and was an integral part of the Canucks’ run to the 2011 Stanley Cup final, putting up 11 points (2-9-11) across 25 games.
“I am humbled and honoured to officially end my career and retire as a member of the Vancouver Canucks,” Edler said in a release. “I consider myself lucky to have started my career with such an outstanding organization, in this amazing city, with the best fans in the NHL. Finishing my NHL career where it all began is something very special for myself and my family.”
Edler played two seasons for Los Angeles in 2021-22 and 2022-23. He did not play in the NHL last season.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024.
The sixth-ranked Canadian women will face World Cup champion Spain in an international friendly next month.
Third-ranked Spain will host Canada on Oct. 25 at Estadio Francisco de la Hera in Almendralejo.
The game will be the first for the Canadian women since the Paris Olympics, where they lost to Germany in a quarterfinal penalty shootout after coach Bev Priestman was sent home and later suspended for a year by FIFA over her part in Canada’s drone-spying scandal.
In announcing the Spain friendly, Canada Soccer said more information on the interim women’s coaching staff for the October window will come later. Assistant coach Andy Spence took charge of the team in Priestman’s absence at the Olympics.
Spain finished fourth in Paris, beaten 1-0 by Germany in the bronze-medal match.
Canada is winless in three previous meetings (0-2-1) with Spain, most recently losing 1-0 at the Arnold Clark Cup in England in February 2022.
The teams played to a scoreless draw in May 2019 in Logroñés, Spain in a warm-up for the 2019 World Cup. Spain won 1-0 in March 2019 at the Algarve Cup in São João da Venda, Portugal.
Spain is a powerhouse in the women’s game these days.
It won the FIFA U-20 World Cup in 2022 and was runner-up in 2018. And it ousted Canada 2-1 in the round of 16 of the current U-20 tournament earlier this month in Colombia before falling 1-0 to Japan after extra time in the quarterfinal.
Spain won the FIFA U-17 World Cup in 2018 and 2022 and has finished on the podium on three other occasions.
FC Barcelona’s Aitana Bonmati (2023) and Alexia Putellas (2021 and ’22) have combined to win the last three Women’s Ballon d’Or awards.
And Barcelona has won three of the last four UEFA Women’s Champions League titles.
“We continue to strive to diversify our opponent pool while maintaining a high level of competition.” Daniel Michelucci, Canada Soccer’s director of national team operations, said in a statement. “We anticipate a thrilling encounter, showcasing two of the world’s top-ranked teams.”
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024
TORONTO – The Toronto Maple Leafs have announced cookie brand Oreo as the team’s helmet sponsor for the upcoming NHL season.
The new helmet will debut Sunday when Toronto opens its 2024-25 pre-season against the Ottawa Senators at Scotiabank Arena.
The Oreo logo replaces Canadian restaurant chain Pizza Pizza, which was the Leafs’ helmet sponsor last season.
Previously, social media platform TikTok sponsored Toronto starting in the 2021-22 regular season when the league began allowing teams to sell advertising space on helmets.
The Oreo cookie consists of two chocolate biscuits around a white icing filling and is often dipped in milk.
Fittingly, the Leafs wear the Dairy Farmers of Ontario’s “Milk” logo on their jerseys.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024.
