The Checkdown: CFL alerted to 'incident' after B.C. Lions win against Calgary Stampeders - The Province

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The Checkdown: CFL alerted to 'incident' after B.C. Lions win against Calgary Stampeders – The Province

Published

2 years ago

September 18, 2022

Harry Miller

Postmedia and TSN report Calgary linebacker Cam Judge threw a punch at Lions receiver Lucky Whitehead. Whether or not it was a ‘sucker punch’ seems to be up for debate.

B.C. Lions James Butler runs the ball against the Calgary Stampeders during CFL football in Calgary on Saturday, Sept. 17, 2022. Photo by Al Charest /Postmedia

The stage has been set for a lively rematch when the Calgary Stampeders visit B.C. Place on Saturday to take on the B.C. Lions.

Something happened between the Stampeders and Lions shortly after B.C. recorded a 31-29 overtime win at McMahon Stadium Saturday evening.

Exactly what happened is still to be determined, but Lions co-general manager Neil McEvoy explained via text message late Saturday that there was “an incident post game. We have alerted the league.”

NEXT GAME

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Calgary Stampeders vs. B.C. Lions

7 p.m., B.C. Place. TV: TSN. Radio: AM730

TSN’s Farhan Lalji was reporting on Twitter that he was “told Cam Judge sucker-punched Lucky Whitehead,” and that it “apparently happened on the field at the end of game.”

Whitehead, the Lions receiver, then backed up having some sort of episode with Calgary linebacker Judge. Whitehead responded directly to Lalji’s tweet with, “And I Pray he travels next week. Cause he could’ve said something at halftime when we have to cross paths to go into the locker room!”

Danny Austin, who covers the Stampeders for the Calgary Sun and Calgary Herald, balked at that version of the story, tweeting that the sucker punch was “not accurate in the view of several people who saw the Judge-Whitehead confrontation.

“Ultimately, I can only report what I have been told. I was told Whitehead repeatedly said things about Judge’s family, which led to a confrontation after the game and a punch,” Austin tweeted.

Austin also tweeted: “A source I trust told me they were squared up and there was a punch, but not at all a sucker-punch.”

I’m told Cam Judge sucker-punched Lucky Whitehead. Apparently happened on the field at the end of the game. Campbell was not happy https://t.co/f4Zrf5LXZT

— Farhan Lalji (@FarhanLaljiTSN) September 18, 2022

And I Pray he travels next week!
Cause he could’ve said something at halftime when we have to cross paths to go into the locker room! You Hit me then run into you locker room! Don’t talk shit on the field if you can’t handle it https://t.co/bWyVJ8uaHh

— Lucky Whitehead (@Luck2fastt) September 18, 2022

Ultimately, I can only report what I have been told. I was told Whitehead repeatedly said things about Judge’s family, which led to a confrontation after the game and a punch.

Lions then came across the parking lot to Stampeders dressing room and yelling ensued.

— Danny Austin (@DannyAustin_9) September 18, 2022

A source I trust told me they were squared up and there was a punch, but not at all a sucker-punch.
I imagine there will be variations leaked from people on both sides.

— Danny Austin (@DannyAustin_9) September 18, 2022

Win gives the Lions the season series edge

If the Lions wind up hosting a playoff game this season, Saturday’s efforts will be looked upon as one of the main reasons why.

B.C.’s win over Stampeders assures the Lions the season series between the two clubs, meaning that the Lions (9-3) get the nod if they wind up tied with the Stampeders (8-5) in the year-end standings.

Second place in the West Division hosts third place in the first round. That’s what we’d have right now with the Lions and the Stampeders, who are both trying to chase down the Winnipeg Blue Bombers (12-2).

B.C.’s final six games start with a rematch against Calgary next Saturday at B.C. Place. That’s followed by hosting the Ottawa Redblacks (3-9), visiting the Toronto Argonauts (7-5), hosting Winnipeg and visiting the Edmonton Elks (4-10), before travelling to Winnipeg for their regular season finale on Oct. 28.

Calgary’s remaining four games after playing B.C. next week include hosting first Toronto, then the Hamilton Tiger-Cats (4-9), before travelling to the Saskatchewan Roughriders (6-8), and then hosting the Roughriders to wrap league play on Oct. 29.

Calgary kicker Rene Paredes was wide left on a 48-yard field goal attempt with 23 seconds remaining in regulation Saturday and the score knotted at 23-23.

After B.C. opened overtime with an 18-yard touchdown run from James Butler and a two-point convert from quarterback Antonio Pipkin, Calgary followed by getting a four-yard touchdown catch from Jalen Philpot but failed on the two-point convert when Jake Maier was incomplete to Reggie Begelton.

If either of those two things played out differently, it’s likely B.C.’s chances of hosting a playoff game wouldn’t look quite as good right now.

“I can’t give our players enough credit for winning twice here in Calgary. They’re a really good team,” said Lions head coach Rick Campbell, whose team also pulled out a 41-40 decision over the Stampeders there on Aug. 13.

“I’m proud of the way our guys battled. I think they had a good idea this game was going to be close. We talked about it ahead of time and that we needed to keep our poise and keep our belief and keep grinding and whoever makes more plays is going to win the game in the fourth quarter and we made one ore than they did.”

Win ‘means so much’ for Adams Jr.

Vernon Adams Jr. was 25-of-32 for 294 yards, with no touchdowns and no interceptions. It was his first extended playing time since Week 1, when he was 18-of-32 or 250 yards, with one touchdown and two interceptions, for the Montreal Alouettes against Calgary. That was three months ago.

It’ll be interesting to see how comfortable he is with another week of practice under his belt. Adams, 29, came to the Lions in an Aug. 31 trade with the Alouettes as B.C. looked to shore up its quarterback situation with Nathan Rourke (foot) likely sidelined for the season.

B.C. Lions quarterback Vernon Adams Jr. was 25-of-32 for 294 yards against the Calgary Stampeders on Saturday. Photo by Al Charest /Postmedia

“It means so much. It means a lot. It’s been a roller-coaster type of year,” Adams said of getting the win. “We had a great week of practice. Guys took me in. I had a bad practice on Day 1 and the guys still stayed with me.

“All these guys are playmakers. It helps a lot. I need to do a better job getting them the ball, going through my reads, not skipping anything and just getting completions.”

Adams’ best season came in 2019, when he passed for 3,942 yards and 24 touchdowns in 16 games with Montreal. That year, he also ran for 394 yards on 82 carries, which works out to five rushing attempts per game.

He ran three times for 32 yards against Montreal Saturday, highlighted by a 15-yard scamper in the third quarter. We’ll see if that number goes up with more experience with the Lions.

Tough night for referees

The game had its messy moments with 21 penalties for 215 yards, led by 12 flags to Calgary for 128 yards. The TSN play-by-play team of Dustin Neilson and Glen Suitor even mentioned the referees having a tough night several times.

The penalty issues didn’t register with Campbell, who said afterwards: “I thought it was a good football game, a hard-fought game. I know there was a lot of penalties. It wasn’t on my mind. I’m happy about the win right now.”

Personally, I think that it’s cool that the refs recognized this game was short on starpower without Nathan Rourke and decided to seize their opportunity and step into the spotlight themselves

— Danny Austin (@DannyAustin_9) September 18, 2022

This is a prime matchup, dog fighting for second. This game isnt smooth thanks to the raining yellow. My gawd let them play. Both sides.

— John Easthope (@vintagejohnny84) September 18, 2022

@BCLions

Please pass on to the owner.

If you REALLY want to fill BC Place… and you and your fellow owners want the CFL to be taken seriously, please spend money on training and better salaries for referees…

Thanks.

— James (@robertojames192) September 18, 2022

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Start time set for Game 1 in Maple Leafs-Bruins playoff series – Toronto Sun

Published

2 hours ago

April 18, 2024

Harry Miller

Fans of the Toronto Maple Leafs will be tuning in a little bit later than usual on Saturday night to see the puck drop for Hockey Night in Canada.

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The NHL announced the start times on Thursday for the Eastern Conference playoff matches and the Leafs and Bruins will faceoff at 8 p.m. ET in Boston on Saturday, a bit later than the usual 7 p.m. puck drop for Toronto.

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The game will be broadcast on CBC and Sportsnet in Canada.

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Saturday’s other game will be the New York Islanders taking on the Carolina Hurricanes at 5 p.m. in Raleigh, N.C.

The other Eastern Conference playoff matchups will start Sunday, with the Battle of Florida between the Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning going at 12:30 p.m. and the New York Rangers playing Washington Capitals at 3 p.m. at Madison Square Garden.

With several Western Conference teams wrapping up their regular-season slates on Thursday, the remainder of the playoff schedule is yet to set.

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The Maple Leafs also announced Thursday that the tailgate at Maple Leaf Square will open its gates at 6 p.m. on Saturday.

Fans must register for a free mobile pass to be admitted to tailgates with passes available only on the Toronto Maple Leafs app and are non-transferable. Passes are available at 1 p.m. ET the day before each confirmed game with each fan permitted up to two passes per game.

Ahead of puck-drop, fans in the Square will be able to enjoy giveaways, special guests, a live DJ and more.

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How the NHL moved the Arizona Coyotes to Salt Lake City – Sportsnet.ca

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3 hours ago

April 18, 2024

Harry Miller

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Canucks fans aren't allowed to buy tickets to playoff games in Nashville – Vancouver Is Awesome

Published

4 hours ago

April 18, 2024

Harry Miller

It’s a long flight to Nashville from Vancouver.

Over 3200 kilometres separate the two cities. With the Vancouver Canucks slated to play the Nashville Predators in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, it’s easily the longest travel distance of any of the first-round match-ups. In fact, It’s a longer distance between two cities than all of the Eastern Conference match-ups combined.

But some intrepid Canucks fans were planning on making the trip. It’s the first time in nine years that Canucks fans have had a chance to see their favourite team in the playoffs in person, so it’s understandable that they would want to make the most of the opportunity.

Unfortunately, fans looking for tickets to Canucks/Predators playoff games in Nashville were in for a rude awakening when they checked Ticketmaster.

. Ticketmaster

Fans were greeted with a warning on the Ticketmaster site that they would be unable to buy tickets from outside of the “Nashville Predators television viewing area – Tennessee, Kentucky, Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia.”

“To better serve Nashville predators fans, a restricted sales area has been implemented,” reads the warning. “Residency will be based on credit card billing address. Orders by residents outside the viewing area will be canceled without notice and refunds given.”

Because the restriction uses the buyer’s billing address, this could even affect Predators fans from outside of the select states who might be temporary residents in Tennessee, such as students at Vanderbilt University.

Teams have done this before in the playoffs. Notably, the Florida Panthers restricted ticket sales to American residents only for their second-round match-up against the Toronto Maple Leafs last year. The intent is clearly to give priority to local fans and prevent opposing fans from filling the arena.

This is also nothing new for the Predators, who even have certain games on their regular season calendar where they restrict sales as well.

“Preds have certain “Gold Games” like Saturday games where they restrict sales to local in hopes of filling the arena with Pred fans,” said one Reddit user. “I’m a season ticket holder and there are games that we cannot even transfer the tickets. The only option is to attend or donate them.”

Canucks fans don’t even have the option of buying tickets on the secondary market. Sites like StubHub use Ticketmaster Ticket Transfers to pass tickets along from the original buyer but the message on the Ticketmaster site says, “Ticket Transfers will be disabled for this event.”

This has understandably upset Canucks fans who were hoping to make the trip.

That includes fans who were hoping to travel from closer to Tennessee, like this fan from Illinois:

Seemingly the only option for fans to buy tickets to the Canucks playoff games in Nashville is to have friends or family who live in the area who can buy the tickets for them.

PITB has reached out to the Predators for comment but did not receive a reply by publication.

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