GDT Tor at Cgy, Thu July 2, 8:00PM

[gobombersgo]

[gobombersgo]

[gobombersgo]

Calgary Stampeders bench William Barnes against Argonauts
by 3Down Staff  July 1, 2026

The Calgary Stampeders have made a change at right tackle ahead of their Thursday night matchup with the Toronto Argonauts, benching William Barnes. The team issued its official depth chart on Wednesday.

Bakyne Coly will make his first career start at right tackle after joining the Stampeders in mid-May. The six-foot-seven, 300-pound blocker played collegiately at Purdue University, where he made 12 starts at right tackle as a senior. He spent the first three games of the season on Calgary's practice roster.

In a corresponding move, the Red and White have demoted Barnes to the practice roster. The 26-year-old native of Apopka, Fla. took over the starting role at right tackle late last season after Joshua Coker and Preston Nichols went down with injuries. Coker is no longer with the team, while Nichols is on the six-game injured list.

Calgary has allowed seven sacks through three games this season, which ranks eighth in the CFL.

The Stampeders will start Benny Sapp III at field-side halfback after moving Jaydon Grant to the one-game injured list. Sapp III joined the team a little over one week ago. He recorded 19 defensive tackles, three special teams tackles, and one forced fumble with the Saskatchewan Roughriders last season and previously played for the Green Bay Packers.

The rest of Calgary's lineup has remained unchanged from Week 4 when they knocked off the B.C. Lions in Kelowna to notch their first win of the season.

The Calgary Stampeders (1-2) will host the Toronto Argonauts (2-1) at McMahon Stadium on Thursday, July 2 with kickoff scheduled for 9:00 p.m. EDT. The Argonauts are coming off a 40-34 upset victory over the Saskatchewan Roughriders, while the Stampeders beat the B.C. Lions in Kelowna by a score of 41-33.

The weather forecast in Calgary calls for a high of 19 degrees and a 40 percent chance of rain. The game will be broadcast on TSN in Canada, CBS Sports Network in the United States, and CFL+ internationally. Radio listeners can tune in on TSN 1050 in Toronto or 770 CHQR in Calgary.

https://3downnation.com/2026/07/01/calgary-stampeders-bench-william-barnes-against-argonauts/

[gobombersgo]

Toronto Argonauts rule out Dakoda Shepley against Stampeders
by 3Down Staff  July 1, 2026

The Toronto Argonauts have ruled out Dakoda Shepley for Thursday night's game against the Calgary Stampeders. The team issued its official depth chart on Wednesday.

Shepley was a non-participant in practice on Tuesday due to a back injury and was formally listed as questionable. He since been placed on the six-game injured list.

The 31-year-old native of Windsor, Ont. signed with the Argonauts this offseason after spending six years in the NFL as a member of the San Francisco 49ers, Seattle Seahawks, Dallas Cowboys, and Indianapolis Colts, dressing for 16 regular-season NFL games. He is one of the CFL's highest-paid blockers.

The Argonauts have allowed six sacks through three games this year, which is tied for fifth league-wide, while the offence ranks first with 8.06 yards per play.

Peter Nicastro has been moved from centre to right guard to replace Shepley. Domenico Piazza will start at centre in Nicastro's place with Gavin Coakes being promoted from the practice roster to fill a backup role.

Piazza was signed in June following his release from the Edmonton Elks. The six-foot-two, 294-pound blocker was selected in the fifth round of the 2025 CFL Draft before returning to school at McGill University. This will be his first start at the professional level.

American defensive lineman Da'Marcus Johnson has returned to the active roster after spending last week on the reserve roster. Canadian defensive back Ethan John has also been activated from the one-game injured list.

American defensive back Alex Teubner did not practice this week and has been moved to the six-game injured list. Canadian receiver Tristan Ready has been placed on the practice roster.

Defensive lineman DeWayne Hendrix has also been moved from the one-game injured list to the reserve list.

The Toronto Argonauts (2-1) will visit the Calgary Stampeders (1-2) at McMahon Stadium on Thursday, July 2 with kickoff scheduled for 9:00 p.m. EDT. The Argonauts are coming off a 40-34 upset victory over the Saskatchewan Roughriders, while the Stampeders beat the B.C. Lions in Kelowna by a score of 41-33.

The weather forecast in Calgary calls for a high of 19 degrees and a 40 percent chance of rain. The game will be broadcast on TSN in Canada, CBS Sports Network in the United States, and CFL+ internationally. Radio listeners can tune in on TSN 1050 in Toronto or 770 CHQR in Calgary.

https://3downnation.com/2026/07/01/toronto-argonauts-rule-out-dakoda-shepley-against-stampeders/

[Throw Long Bannatyne]

Should change the name to McBarren Stadium, less than 1/4 full, 2nd annual Stampede Bowl is a national embarrassment.

[Tecno]

I thought when they created the Stampede Bowl last year they said this was going to be a WPG@CGY thing?!  You know, like the Banjo Bowl is always the 2 same teams.  What the heck happened to that?  It's not even a divisional rival!

[The Zipp]

Should change the name to McBarren Stadium, less than 1/4 full, 2nd annual Stampede Bowl is a national embarrassment.

looks like great weather - no excuses for this poor looking attendance.  calgary needs to do better. 

[Throw Long Bannatyne]

Stamps pass rush looking deadly, hope the Bombers don't play them for awhile.

[Tecno]

looks like great weather - no excuses for this poor looking attendance.  calgary needs to do better. 

For weeks 1-3 we had some say excuses of "season starts too early, people aren't interested until summer".

Now we're in summer.  Kids are out of school.  This week should see big attendance across the league.  I won't hold my breath.

If attendance is bad in these 4 games, and is clearly worse than last year, then I don't know how anyone can defend the commish changes anymore -- because we had polls showing 5% would quit, and maybe 5-10% more "silent quitters" (because the polls were only of uberfans who are more loyal).

The league should be calling every single person who didn't renew their STH and ask "why".  If the answer of a large chunk of them is "55 yard line / other dumb changes" then the commish needs to come out the very next day and say the 55 stays and he's sorry he's such a dolt.

The CFL may now (in 2027) have all the money in the world but basically zero people want to see it at the cost of watching every telecasted stadium look empty like TOR.

[Tecno]

Dickenson The Greater still the biggest gambler in the league.  You're up 8, play to the book.  What a goofball.

And what's up with this season hardly anyone is going for the coffin!  The rules are the same as last season, minus the rouge.  The 15YL penalty didn't change.  Did punters suddenly lose the ability to hit the 5YL from the 50?  Very strange.

[Tecno]

Why is the CGY pass rush finally good?  Very strange.  Kelly is getting no time, and he's taking too long in any event.  And are the CGY DBs really blanketing all those power TOR RECs?

Very weird.  CGY clearly has come in with a plan that TOR didn't expect.  Boy, that's a novel concept <cough> <cough>

[Throw Long Bannatyne]

No fair, Mital is a receiver with a running backs body.

[Tecno]

Yup.  Nield is supposed to be our him. 

I predicted a high-scoring affair going into this game.  Why is it instead a D clinic?

[Tecno]

Maybe CGY will go for it here     

[Tecno]

Let's all remember TOR put up 40 against SSK(!!) last weekend.  We all know CGY D is not better than SSK.  So what is going on here...

And is Hicks really their #1 choice for franchise RB?  How do you go from Carey-level to Hicks?

It seems like DBs are trying a different approach this year -- they use their body and little grabs/tugs to slow down the REC and/or block them from getting over laterally to where the ball is.  And they have gotten good at it without drawing DPI.

It's the reason Demski didn't get the big game-winning deep shot late vs EDM.  Been seeing it a whole lot this season.  Moxey did it to a REC once too.