The 2012 CFL season is set to get underway this Friday and the marquee matchup of the week features a rematch of last year’s Grey Cup final with Winnipeg hoping for a different result this time around. They’ll head to Vancouver to face the defending Grey Cup champion BC Lions.
Saskatchewan and Hamilton will kick off their season in the early game of the Friday Night Football double-header while Toronto travels to Edmonton and Calgary hosts Montreal over the weekend.
It’s going to be an action-packed first week of action, so here are some previews to get you warmed up.
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Saskatchewan Roughriders @ Hamilton Tiger-Cats
Friday, June 29th, 7:00 PM ET
CFL point spread: Tiger-Cats -7
The Ti-Cats are favoured by a touchdown and a total of 50 over the Roughriders, who are ushering a new era with head coach Corey Chamblin. He may have a little inside knowledge of Hamilton as he was their defensive coordinator last season. Hamilton also has a new head coach in George Cortez, who returns to the CFL after a two-year stint as the Buffalo Bills’ quarterbacks coach in the NFL but he definitely knows about the league as he has spent many years in the CFL. He was Saskatchewan’s offensive coordinator in 2006.
The Roughriders have owned the Ti-Cats recently with eight wins in their last 10 games against Hamilton and they have covered the spread on seven of those occasions. Saskatchewan missed the playoffs last year and they really could use a win to get a much-needed positive start.
Winnipeg Blue Bombers @ British Columbia Lions
Friday, June 29th, 10:00 PM ET
CFL point spread: Lions -7.5
The Lions won their sixth Grey Cup last season with a 34-23 victory over the Blue Bombers. The win came at B.C. Place where they’ve defeated Winnipeg in seven of their last 10 games. Overall, the Lions have won six of their last 10 against Winnipeg, covering the spread in half of the games.
Even though Winnipeg won the East, cappers expected Montreal to represent the division in the 100th Grey Cup and that offended the Blue Bombers, whose “Swaggerville” defense didn’t perform well against the Lions in that game. They should have a chip on their shoulder on Friday night.
The Lions are starting their first season since 2003 without Wally Buono at the helm but don’t worry, Buono is still the general manager. New head coach Mike Benevides has been with the team for that entire time in different capacities most recently as the defensive coordinator. Don’t expect much of a change as Buono won’t be far from the Lions, who are 7.5-point favourites with a total of 52.
Toronto Argonauts @ Edmonton Eskimos
Saturday, June 30th, 7:00 PM ET
CFL point spread: Eskimos -1
The Eskimos are one-point favourites with a total of 48.5 but the betting lines are a sidestory to this Week 1 matchup. Quarterback Ricky Ray returns to Edmonton where he spent nine years and holds the records for passing yardage, completions and touchdowns (and remember, this is a franchise that had Warren Moon). He also won two Grey Cups. Ray was then traded to Toronto in the biggest move of the offseason.
Edmonton has won six of their last 10 game against Toronto, covering the spread in five of them, and they are now in the second year of Kavis Reed as their head coach. He took the Eskimos to the West final in his first year where they lost to the Lions.
The Argonauts not only have a new head coach in Scott Milanovich, who is aiming to get Toronto back to the playoffs where they have failed to reach in three of the last four seasons. With the 100th Grey Cup game being held in Toronto this year, their goal is to play in it, which means they need a good start.
Montreal Alouettes @ Calgary Stampeders
Sunday, July 1st, 7:00 PM ET
CFL point spread: Stampeders -2.5
In the final matchup of the week, the Stamps are favoured by 2.5 points at home. They have taken six of their last 10 against the Als but keep an eye on the total of 55.5 because these two have gone over in seven of their last 10 games. Both teams made the playoffs last year, but they crashed out in the first round, so they have been waiting for their opening game for a long time.
The head coaches, Montreal’s Marc Trestman and Calgary’s John Hufnagel, were both given their jobs in 2008 when they met in the Grey Cup final. The Stamps won that game 22-14, but they’ve split the six meetings since then, so as much credit as Trestman gets for being a great CFL coach, Hufnagel doesn’t back down for these meetings and that projects on his team.
As always with Montreal, the spotlight will be out on quarterback Anthony Calvillo, who will be 40 years old in August and is searching for his fourth Most Outstanding Player award.
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