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Elijah Hills returns for Calgary Stampeders against Alouettes
by 3Down Staff July 17, 2026
The Calgary Stampeders will have defensive lineman Elijah Hills back in the lineup when they host the Montreal Alouettes on Saturday. The team released its official depth chart on Friday morning.
Hills dressed for the team's regular-season opener but has missed Calgary's last four games due to a hamstring injury. He recorded no tackles in that appearance, but batted a pass that resulted in an interception.
The six-foot-three, 283-pound defender finished his collegiate career at the University of Wisconsin in 2024, when he made 26 total tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss, three sacks, one pass knockdown, and one fumble recovery over 12 games.
The native of Rockaway, N.J. attended rookie minicamp with the San Francisco 49ers after going unselected in the 2025 NFL Draft. He signed with the Stampeders late last year and was a standout during the preseason.
Hills will fill a depth role at defensive tackle behind Jaylon Hutchings and Miles Brown.
The Stampeders have also added offensive lineman Tomas Jack-Kurdyla to the active roster from the reserve roster. The 30-year-old native of Montreal was originally a first-round pick by the Edmonton Elks in the 2020 CFL Draft and has since appeared in 54 games, making 39 starts. He joins Bryce Bell as Calgary's extra blockers.
Defensive end Shaun Peterson Jr., who has recorded six defensive tackles and one sack in five games this season, has been returned to the practice roster. Rookie Canadian defensive end Tristan Marois has been placed on the one-game injured list with an ankle issue.
The Calgary Stampeders (2-3) will host the Montreal Alouettes (4-1) at McMahon Stadium on Saturday, July 18 with kickoff scheduled for 4:00 p.m. EDT. The two teams met at Percival Molson Stadium this past week, where the Alouettes won 37-30.
The weather forecast in Calgary calls for a high of 27 degrees and a mix of sun and cloud. The game will be broadcast on TSN and RDS in Canada, CBS Sports Network in the United States, and CFL+ internationally. Radio listeners can tune in on TSN 690 (English) or 99.5 Montreal (French) in Montreal or 770 CHQR in Calgary.
https://3downnation.com/2026/07/17/elijah-hills-returns-for-calgary-stampeders-against-alouettes/
Cole Spieker returns for Montreal Alouettes against Stampeders
by 3Down Staff July 17, 2026
The Montreal Alouettes will have Cole Spieker back in the lineup when the visit the Calgary Stampeders on Saturday. The team released its official depth chart on Friday morning.
The 29-year-old missed the squad's last four games due to an ankle injury. The ailment occurred during Montreal's season-opening win over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, during which Spieker made one catch for 22 yards.
The six-foot-two, 215-pound target is in his fifth year with the Alouettes. He has dressed for 49 regular-season games over that time and caught 152 passes for 1,948 yards and 13 touchdowns.
The native of Brainerd, Minn. will start in place of Alexander Hollins, who has been moved to the one-game injured list.
Hollins is dealing with a hip injury and was limited during the practice week. The veteran receiver has made 11 catches for 215 yards and two touchdowns on the season.
Montreal has made a few other changes to their roster for this week, as Canadian defensive back Arthur Hamlin is returning from a knee injury and American defensive lineman Kylan Guidry has been promoted from the practice roster.
Hamlin has made two defensive tackles, five special teams tackles, and one touchdown over four regular-season games this year and will dress in a depth role at strong-side linebacker behind Najee Murray.
Guidry, a rookie out of Western Kentucky, will be playing just his second career CFL game. He will start at defensive end opposite Isaac Adeyemi-Berglund.
The Alouettes have also placed defensive lineman David Perales (adductor) and defensive back Don Callis (ankle) on the six-game injured list.
Callis started last week's win over Calgary at field-side cornerback. He has been replaced in the starting lineup by Faion Hicks, who made one previous start this year. The 27-year-old has recorded one defensive tackle over two career regular-season games.
The Montreal Alouettes (4-1) will visit the Calgary Stampeders (2-3) at McMahon Stadium on Saturday, July 18 with kickoff scheduled for 4:00 p.m. EDT. The two teams met at Percival Molson Stadium this past week, where the Alouettes won 37-30.
The weather forecast in Calgary calls for a high of 27 degrees and a mix of sun and cloud. The game will be broadcast on TSN and RDS in Canada, CBS Sports Network in the United States, and CFL+ internationally. Radio listeners can tune in on TSN 690 (English) or 99.5 Montreal (French) in Montreal or 770 CHQR in Calgary.
https://3downnation.com/2026/07/17/cole-spieker-returns-for-montreal-alouettes-against-stampeders/
depth charts posted
Ento still out (1GIR) for MTL. Hollins leaving but Spieker returning is a wash, or even an upgrade (Spieker has more chemistry). Scott still being out (will the dude ever be healthy this season?) is hurting them. And no Dequoy has really neutered their ball-hawking.
Begelton is the only notable guy on CGY IR. They are pretty much playing at peak strength besides that.
Should be a good one. POP is 0%. Will CGY ever get Mills going?? Why are so many RBs having such problems getting going this year? (incl our Brady)
Maas says Alexander will have to deal with his hammy for the rest of his career 🙄
Theis is a little bulldog.
22-0 wipeout before half, Alexander is amazing, only his hamstring can slow him down.
calgary fighting back. great game
Quote from: The Zipp on July 18, 2026, 10:46:37 PMcalgary fighting back. great game
Went back to the running game with Mills and it's paying off.
Entertaining game
Huge momentum shift
Obvious observation , but Calgary secondary is porous. Extremely porous.
DA is just fun to watch
best QB
that is a big convert miss
big fumble - wow
It never ceases to amaze me, as to how stupid some players are. You catch a pass, you're at the 12 yard line, first down, just go down and you have 3 shots to win it, nope, struggle to get a measly extra yard and boom the ball comes out and game over. Brutal football security.
Seriously Maltos kickoff goes through the endzone with a 6 point lead and a minute to go? That isn't a mistake, it's pure stupidity.
I'm totally fine with the Sapp hit on Theis that got a UR. Should not have been a flag.
1. He wasn't out
2. Whistle wasn't blown
3. He was straddling the line trying to get more -- you don't know they guy was going to actually turn out when you commit to the hit
4. Sapp kept his helmet out of it
5. Sapp didn't leave his feet -- no spear
6. If he contacts his head with his body, it's not his fault because Theis is like 3 feet tall -- every contact will hit his head
"Should to the head" happens on every running play, pretty much. Not sure why it would be special here.
Wow, one of the rare times I'm agreeing with whiny Dickenson The Greater.
Quote from: Blueforlife on July 18, 2026, 08:09:40 PMMaas says Alexander will have to deal with his hammy for the rest of his career 🙄
If what it takes is an entire year off to heal, kind of like Kelly's leg bones, then why not do it?
Why sacrifice Alexander's long term value for short term wins & cups? Maas & Maciocia may like that, but why would Alexander go for it?
At the rate he's going, he's going to many games this season where he's hopping around like he did in the GC.
Adams received a vicious helmet to helmet shot but because he was across the line of scrimmage it was neither mentioned nor flagged. If he received that shot while sliding or behind the line of scrimmage it would have been an automatic 25 yd. penalty.
As someone said football is a violent game and you have to be crazy to play it, the rules are in place to keep a murderous brawl from breaking out, not to protect the combatants.
A minimum of 2 of the 7 refs should have had the ball carrier on that play, and regardless if he was across the line of scrimmage, a head shot should always be called. Can command centre come in and call that if the refs missed it??
Quote from: dd on July 19, 2026, 03:11:49 AMA minimum of 2 of the 7 refs should have had the ball carrier on that play, and regardless if he was across the line of scrimmage, a head shot should always be called. Can command centre come in and call that if the refs missed it??
You are right, about QBs at least. A head shot on a QB is a penalty anywhere on the field, not just in the pocket. He's the only one who gets special protection.
There were a ton of hits on VAJ that were dirty ethically and marginal penalty-wise. Glad they caught the flipper one, but it shouldn't take command to get that right. If I was CGY after that I would be falling/headshotting on DA's hammy every time he got tackled/hit.
The Theis failed sneak: if you count his 20th effort, he was clearly massively over the line. BUT no one talked about how his knee(s?) appeared to hit the turf while the ball was just short on his 2nd or 3rd effort. That is what I think the ref nearest the camera saw and decided was the spot. The far ref made a spot too, but he could never see the ball advance further because of the mass of bodies.
Since command couldn't rule out a likely scenario that Theis' knee touched, they couldn't overturn the spot, even though the ball did advance after that by around a yard. If we're lucky the league will come out and say just that during the week -- if Maas bothers to ask for a clarification.
Both of these teams were insanely good at times. I don't see how we can possibly keep up with either at this moment, MTL especially. That MTL D just blankets everyone and punishes you on every tackle. And the O seemingly moves & scores at will. The only time they don't score is when they feel they are ahead enough that they don't need to risk it.
So often I'm just gaping, mumbling "we can't do that".
And both QBs took abuse that would have either Dru or Zach out for 2 weeks taking just ONE of those hits, let alone 3-5. How do you compete with that?
And that MTL OL. Against the supposedly unstoppable best-in-league CGY healthy DL?? It's like the the CGY DL didn't even exist. How is the MTL OL doing that?? Why can't we replicate that? They lose players, change players, whatever, they just keep being unbreakable.
Quote from: Tecno on July 19, 2026, 01:39:01 PMThe Theis failed sneak: if you count his 20th effort, he was clearly massively over the line. BUT no one talked about how his knee(s?) appeared to hit the turf while the ball was just short on his 2nd or 3rd effort. That is what I think the ref nearest the camera saw and decided was the spot. The far ref made a spot too, but he could never see the ball advance further because of the mass of bodies.
Since command couldn't rule out a likely scenario that Theis' knee touched, they couldn't overturn the spot, even though the ball did advance after that by around a yard. If we're lucky the league will come out and say just that during the week -- if Maas bothers to ask for a clarification.
Have you seen any dialogue from the league discussing questionable calls, I sure haven't. Every speck of info. has to be dug for and they've dropped the ball on a lot of promotional videos they used to commonly circulate like "plays of the week".
Quote from: dd on July 19, 2026, 03:11:49 AMA minimum of 2 of the 7 refs should have had the ball carrier on that play, and regardless if he was across the line of scrimmage, a head shot should always be called. Can command centre come in and call that if the refs missed it??
Agree, but every player deserves the same protection, there's no excuse for defenders to continue to target the head or use their helmets as weapons. It's usually the DB's and LB's relying on this method to punish receivers and RB's, I don't understand why someone like Brady wouldn't make this an issue and represent the cause for equal protection. It's dumb to allow them to tee off on their brain matter, if every time it happened a player was fined $1000, it would soon end.
Quote from: Throw Long Bannatyne on July 19, 2026, 04:57:10 PMHave you seen any dialogue from the league discussing questionable calls, I sure haven't. Every speck of info. has to be dug for and they've dropped the ball on a lot of promotional videos they used to commonly circulate like "plays of the week".
MOS often talks about questions he sends the league each week. In fact, he mentioned it last week I think. The teams are allowed to ask for clarification on rulings.
I don't think they are published publicly, at least not every time. But they do sometimes leak.
Yes, this should all be transparent and public. But the league does love its secrets.