Calgary\u2019s cfl schedule opens Monday afternoon against Saskatchewan, giving the Stampeders their first game action since November. It is the first step in a 2026 preseason that begins with Vernon Adams Jr. leading a group of returnees.<\/p>\n
Dave Dickenson and November 15th<\/p>\n
Dave Dickenson said the target is straightforward: \u201cI know November 15th I want to be coming out of that locker room with the guys.\u201d He added, \u201cIn order to look forward, you\u2019ve got to kinda look where we\u2019re at. For us, let\u2019s make sure we handle today.\u201d<\/p>\n
That approach fits Calgary\u2019s year. The Stampeders went 11-7 in 2025, then lost to the BC Lions in last-minute fashion in the Western Semi-Final. Their streak of consecutive playoff appearances was snapped at 19 after two straight sub-.500 seasons, so this preseason opener comes with a clearer edge than a routine tune-up. <\/p>\n
Vernon Adams Jr. Leads Calgary<\/p>\n
Adams heads a returning group that also includes Dedrick Mills, Clarence Hicks, Reggie Begelton, Marquel Lee and Derrick Moncrief. Calgary is also set to host the 113th Grey Cup, which gives the 2026 season an added layer beyond this first preseason look.<\/p>\n
The opener matters because it gives Calgary a first live test after months away from game speed. The Stampeders will use Monday afternoon to start sorting out how the roster fits around Adams and the veterans back in camp, with the focus still on getting the details right now rather than looking too far ahead.<\/p>\n
Saskatchewan, Ottawa, and the Opening Week<\/p>\n
Saskatchewan is the opponent on Monday afternoon, while Ottawa opens its preseason Friday night in Montreal. Ryan Dinwiddie took over as Ottawa\u2019s head coach and general manager in December after compiling a 51-35 record over five seasons in Toronto, where he won two Grey Cups and reached four Eastern Finals.<\/p>\n
Ottawa finished 4-14 last year, and Dru Brown started nine of its 18 games after going 8-6-1 as a starter in 2024. Dinwiddie added C.J. Reavis, A.J. Allen and Ayden Eberhardt in free agency, giving Ottawa its own first look at a reshaped roster while Calgary\u2019s preseason begins one day earlier. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Calgary\u2019s cfl schedule opens Monday afternoon against Saskatchewan, giving the Stampeders their first game action since November. It…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":678297,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[437],"tags":[4625,49,2798,48,521,522,520,23123,31962,46430,24373,10032,82,39],"class_list":["post-678296","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cfl","tag-against","tag-ca","tag-calgary","tag-canada","tag-canadian-football-league","tag-canadianfootballleague","tag-cfl","tag-monday","tag-opens","tag-preseason","tag-saskatchewan","tag-schedule","tag-sports","tag-top-stories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/678296","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=678296"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/678296\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/678297"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=678296"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=678296"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=678296"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}