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The Winnipeg Blue Bombers have brought receiver Nic Demski home.
The football club on Tuesday signed the former Manitoba Bison to a one-year deal after he had spent the past three seasons with the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
Running back Kienan LaFrance was released by the Saskatchewan Roughriders on Thursday.
The former Manitoba Bison helped the Ottawa Redblacks win the 2016 Grey Cup.
If you were hoping to see the Winnipeg Blue Bombers trample the visiting Saskatchewan Roughriders in the upcoming Banjo Bowl, you better know someone who knows someone.
The football club announced Wednesday the annual game on Saturday, September 9 at Investors Group Field is sold out.
Less than 150 single tickets are left for Saturday’s Banjo Bowl.
The annual Winnipeg Blue Bombers — Saskatchewan Roughriders tilt at Investors Group Field kicks off at 3 p.m.
Winnipeg is third in the West Division behind B.C. and Calgary after last weekend’s 28-25 win over Saskatchewan at the Labour Day Classic.
By The Canadian Press
TORONTO — The Saskatchewan Roughriders announced on Monday they have fired head coach Corey Chamblin, and vice president of football operations and general manager Brendan Taman.
The Roughriders are coming off a 35-13 loss to Ottawa on Sunday that dropped their record to 0-9. They are the only winless club in the CFL this season and sit in the West Division basement — six points behind the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, who are 3-6.
“We are not meeting our expectations or our standards on the field and these changes were necessary to move us forward,” said Riders president and CEO Craig Reynolds.
Ahead of this weekend’s Banjo Bowl at Investors Group Field, fans of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers can take in Fan Appreciation Day.
On Saturday from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., fans can mingle with mascots Buzz and Boomer, observe the Bombers’ walk-through practice, get player autographs and walk on the turf for family-friendly activities.
Free parking will be available in the “U” lot across from IGF on Chancellor Matheson Road.
The Bombers host the Saskatchewan Roughriders in a rematch Sunday afternoon. Kickoff is at 3 p.m.
— Staff
By Darrin Bauming (@DarrinBauming)
WINNIPEG — The Winnipeg Blue Bombers evened the score with their prairie rivals from Regina on Sunday afternoon with a 25-13 victory over the Saskatchewan Roughriders in the tenth edition of the Banjo Bowl in front of a sellout crowd of 33,500.
The victory — Winnipeg’s first at Investors Group Field — squares the all-time Banjo Bowl series at 5-5, and splits the home-and-home that began last week with Winnipeg’s 48-25 loss in Saskatchewan.
Blue Bombers faithful have stuck with this team through thick and thin this year, all despite going winless for over two months and compiling a shaggy 2-8 record.
“We’ve got incredible fans, and I’ve always said; they’ll let you know whenever you’re not doing what you need to get done,” said veteran left tackle Glenn January. “This is a community that demands the best from us, and rightfully so. They support us through thick and thin, and we know that it’s been a long while since this club has been able to reach the ultimate goal. And this is nowhere near a Grey Cup victory, but it’s definitely a step in the right direction for this club. It’s had some turmoil and change up to this point, and this is nothing more than a first step and hopefully we all understand that and continue to prepare the way that we did to help get this win.”
Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall took the first shot across the bow Friday ahead of this weekend’s Banjo Bowl.
With a banjo in hand (naturally), Wall took a jab at the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in a 19-second YouTube clip as they prepare for a rematch Sunday against the visiting Roughriders.
“Oh, hi. I was just playing the banjo,” Wall said as he turns to the camera after strumming a few chords. “You know, it’s funny. I practice a lot… it turns out I’m just not very good at it. Kind of like the Bombers — at football.”
The video was well on its way to going viral, with those on Twitter forwarding the link to Manitoba Premier Greg Selinger asking for his response.
Hall wore a Gene Makowsky jersey to do his trash-talking. The offensive lineman spent 17 seasons and his entire CFL career with the Roughriders before retiring in 2012.
Selinger responded via Twitter a few hours later:
.@PremierBradWall Well done video. How many takes? I’m betting 12…or was it 13? #flagontheplay #GoBlue
— Greg Selinger (@GregSelinger) September 6, 2013
The Bombers dropped their ninth-straight Labour Day Classic last week in Regina, suffering a 48-25 loss to their green and white rivals. Sunday’s game is played amid a weekend full of Banjo Bowl-related activities around the city. Kickoff at Investors Group Field is at 3 p.m.
By Darrin Bauming (@DarrinBauming)
REGINA — For a moment, it appeared the Winnipeg Blue Bombers were about to silence their doubters.
By the final gun, the Saskatchewan Roughriders were 8-1 for the first time in franchise history, and the 1-8 Bombers had dropped their ninth-straight Labour Day Classic in Regina by a score of 48-25 in front of an expanded capacity sellout crowd of 44,910 at Mosaic Stadium.
“If you look at the positives, our offence played better as a unit. I think (offensive coordinator) Marcel (Bellefeuille) made some great adjustments during the game,” said Winnipeg head coach Tim Burke. “I thought Justin Goltz played good until the end of the game when he threw the two picks, because we were in the game. And he contributed a lot towards those 25 points.”
At the half, the Blue Bombers led 18-14. But Goltz’s pair of costly throwing errors in the fourth quarter — both of which Saskatchewan capitalized on with majors as part of a 24-point quarter — sealed Winnipeg’s fate.
By Darrin Bauming (@DarrinBauming)
WINNIPEG — It was a chance for some serious redemption after one of the worst losses in franchise history, but the Winnipeg Blue Bombers came up just short in the 2012 Banjo Bowl, losing 25-24 to the Saskatchewan Roughriders on a last-second field goal.
And while costly penalties at key times definitely hindered the Blue and Gold, a game-changing decision made by rookie head coach Tim Burke came with just under a minute to play.
Leading 23-22 with 55 seconds remaining in the game, the Bombers elected to punt the ball from the Riders’ own 36-yard line, in an attempt to pin Saskatchewan deep with precious time dwindling.
Punter Mike Renaud ended up kicking it nowhere near the sideline and through the end zone for the single to make it 24-22 Winnipeg. It immediately gave the Riders the ball on the 35, where they marched 43 yards on four quick plays to set up a 40-yard Sandro DeAngelis field goal for the victory.
“I’ll be honest. In retrospect, I should have kicked the field goal,” said Burke of his critical decision. “It was 42 yards with the wind. I should have just kicked it. I played it too conservative.”
“The way our defence was playing I thought we’d hold in there.”
Watch post-game reaction:
And while the Bombers held in there with a team that walloped them 52-0 just seven days earlier in the Labour Day Classic in Regina, the offence is still struggling, having not scored a touchdown in nine quarters of football.
“I wouldn’t say we did a good job. We improved in some areas,” said veteran left tackle Glenn January. “Regardless of their record, their defence is fairly good. They’re one of the better pass-rushing teams in the league… I felt like we did a pretty good job in some crucial situations, but you know, it’s obviously not enough. Whenever we get in the red zone, we have to get touchdowns and not field goals.”
On paper, the offence appears effective as quarterback Joey Elliott went 19-of-33 for 241 yards in his sixth career CFL start, while running back Chad Simpson rushed nine times for 74 yards for a very solid 8.2 yards-per-carry average, and added 29 yards receiving.
The Winnipeg defence folded when needed the most, but put up a relatively decent stat line despite allowing backup quarterback Drew Willy and the Riders offence to total nearly 300 yards of offence after starter Darian Durant left the game late in the opening quarter with a hip injury.
Winnipeg collected six sacks (Jason Vega; 3, Kenny Mainor; 2), five tackles for a loss, and a Brandon Stewart interception.
Mainor could have completed the hat trick along with Vega, but chose to take a bewildering penalty by tossing Willy into the turf after driving him back nearly 20 yards on his feet.
“We just can’t have this anymore,” said Burke of his team’s continued issues with committing costly and avoidable penalties. “Maybe we’ve got to sit some guys who don’t have the brains enough handle these situations.”
“You’re sacking the quarterback. ‘I can’t hear the whistle.’ Well, no sh–- Sherlock. It’s so loud you can’t hear the whistle. But you’ve got to be smart enough — you can’t drill the guy into the ground anyway.”
Winnipeg’s season looks lost at this point, sitting at a league-worst 2-8 and deep in the cellar of the CFL East Division.
View the photo gallery below from the Banjo Bowl.
ChrisD.ca video/Darrin Bauming
