Roughriders open up CFL season against Redblacks
Regina Watch
WATCH: The Saskatchewan Roughriders opened up the CFL season against the Ottawa Redblacks on Thursday. Donovan Maess has more.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
National Post
17 minutes ago
- National Post
Less stress, more swagger: B.C. Lions' QB Nathan Rourke aiming to have fun this season
Nathan Rourke is trying to add a little something to his game this season — the B.C. Lions quarterback wants to have more fun. Article content 'That's a little bit of a goal for myself, trying to play a little bit more loose and not take things so seriously. So, trying to have a little bit more fun out there,' he said. 'And when you try to have fun, you probably end up doing that and actually have fun.' Article content Article content Article content Last season didn't go the way Rourke or the Lions expected. Article content The Canadian QB wasn't on B.C.'s roster to start the campaign as he worked to land a permanent job in the NFL. Article content He re-signed with the Lions — where he had a standout campaign in 2022 — in mid-August, but struggled in his return. Article content B.C. finished with a 9-9 regular-season record. Article content Vancouver hosted the Grey Cup, but hopes of a home-team win were quashed when the Saskatchewan Roughriders downed the Lions in the West semifinal. Article content B.C. will kick off a new campaign on Saturday when they host a revamped Edmonton Elks side. Article content With a full training camp behind him and new head coach Buck Pierce at the helm, the 27-year-old Rourke believes this year could be different. Article content 'I feel good. Body feels good. I'm excited about Buck's offence,' he said. 'It's been fun to practice these last couple of days and in training camp. Guys are excited about it. So hopefully that excitement just continues and turns into points.' Article content Pierce, a former CFL quarterback and longtime assistant coach with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, was named B.C.'s head coach and offensive coordinator in December, replacing Rick Campbell. Article content Article content The league has long envied the offence Pierce crafted for the Blue Bombers, said Lions defensive back Garry Peters. Article content Article content 'They've been our rivals for so long, so I've admired him from afar. For him to finally be on my side, I can just pick his brain and learn as much as I can about the way they did things over there. Because obviously they're a championship program,' he said. Article content 'For him to bring that over here and instil that in us, it gets me excited and gives me hope that we can do special things this year.' Article content Pierce helped the Bombers to five straight Grey Cup appearances, including wins in 2019 and 2021. Article content Having him in charge has injected a new sense of confidence into the Lions' players, said receiver Keon Hatcher. Article content 'I feel like, especially in the offensive, the skill positions, we're very excited about what he's bringing to the table as an offensive coordinator, as a head coach, calling the plays and stuff like that,' he said. Article content 'I feel like he puts us in a great position to make plays. And I just can't say enough about how excited we are just to learn this offence and be able to go out there and put on a display during the season.'
National Post
17 minutes ago
- National Post
PWHL expansion full of 'bittersweet feelings' for newly signed players
Jenn Gardiner is still in shock. Article content The former Montreal Victoire forward can't quite fathom that she'll soon be playing professional hockey in the city where she grew up. Article content Article content 'I really can't wrap my hand around the fact that there's actually a team at home and I get to be on it,' Gardiner said Friday, less than 24 hours after she signed with the Professional Women's Hockey League's new expansion team in Vancouver. Article content 'Honestly, I still can't believe that it's actually happening. I think there's just been so many little girls that I've heard from, that I work with, that I coach in the summer reach out. And that's just kind of just touching on the importance of this team in Vancouver.' Article content Gardiner is one of five players PWHL Vancouver inked to new deals during an exclusive expansion team signing window this week. Article content The club also picked up defender of the year candidates Claire Thompson and Sophie Jaques from the Minnesota Frost, former Ottawa Charge goaltender Emerance Maschmeyer and former Toronto Sceptres forward Sarah Nurse. Article content Nurse and Gardiner both experienced Vancouver's hunger for professional women's hockey when they played there during a 'Takeover Tour' stop in January. Article content More than 19,000 fans packed Rogers Arena for the game, and the crowd was dotted with signs crying for a permanent team in the city. Article content 'I've always been blown away by the amount of support and the real longing and wanting of professional women's hockey in the West Coast,' Nurse said. 'So I'm just excited that the time is now and we get to be the foundation of the future out west.' Article content Article content Nurse — cousin of WNBA star Kia Nurse and Edmonton Oilers defender Darnell Nurse.– was one of the Toronto Sceptres first three signings. She had six goals and eight assists in 21 games last season, despite missing nearly two months with injury. Article content Article content The 30-year-old from Hamilton added one assist in four playoff contests before the Sceptres were ousted from the semifinals by the Frost, who went on to win the Walter Cup for the second year in a row. Article content 'It is such an honour to play in Toronto,' she said. 'To be able to see all the jerseys in the stands, to be able to see the signs and the messages that have been sent throughout my time in Toronto and also in the last few days has been bittersweet. … I just couldn't be more grateful for all of the support.' Article content Before the Sceptres released their list of the three players they wanted to protect during the expansion process, Nurse spoke with general manager Gina Kingsbury. Article content 'It was definitely a difficult and very emotional conversation,' Nurse said. 'The team in Toronto is deep. There's a lot of players that are worthy of being protected. All the power to their group moving forward because they do have a great group.'
National Post
17 minutes ago
- National Post
Players to watch as Calgary Stampeders kick off season and new era after roster overhaul
And so it begins. Article content The hopeful turnaround of the Calgary Stampeders following a few futile seasons kicks off Saturday against the visiting Hamilton Tiger-Cats at McMahon Stadium (5 p.m., TSN, CHQR 770 AM/107.3 FM the Edge, TSN). Article content Article content Are they headed for another down year, as ugly as their five-win playoff miss of 2024? Or is the Canadian Football League franchise now on the upturn? Article content Article content It's not like the Dave Dickenson & Co. sat on their hands and did nothing in the face of criticism offered over the last two campaigns. Article content They went out and made some noise, just as they promised they would in trying to U-turn their fortunes. Article content While the mission was to improve in all areas of the franchise — both on and off the field — it's the pigskin personnel that matters most to fans. Article content But the Stampeders didn't fall short on that, living up to their promise to be aggressive in the off-season. Article content The Red and White sent underachievers packing, made a monster trade and signed many sought-after free agents. Article content Good on them. Article content But stay tuned Saturday — and beyond — to see how it's turned out. Article content QB Vernon Adams Jr. Article content It's arguably the biggest signing by the Stamps in decades. The veteran CFL pivot is a top-three QB in the league and comes armed with a desire to win a Grey Cup. A championship has eluded him until this point. He's charismatic and talented and should bring excitement to the field as both a passer and runner. After all, they don't call him 'Big-Play V.A.' for nothing. So if nothing else, the offence should be fun once again, with no apologies for the vanilla flavour we've seen from QBs in recent years. Article content Article content WRs Dominique Rhymes and Tevin Jones Article content 'The Twins', as they bill themselves, are tall, rangy, talented pass-catchers, giving Adams two more dynamic targets to go with veterans Reggie Begelton, Jalen Philpot and Clark Barnes. It's quite the receiving corps actually, with Rhymes and Jones bringing as much bravado as three-time 1,000-yard-man Begelton. Rhymes is quite familiar with Adams, so that connection is strong — they hooked up for big passing gains with the BC Lions. And Jones, who has similar traits to Rhymes, should be familiar to Stamps fans, having run amok for 200-plus receiving yards on the Red and White last Labour Day.
