Photo Credit: Jaclyn McKee
Schedule release day: always an exciting one on the CFL calendar and a nice early holiday present to boot. Fans can now circle their key dates and start planning potential vacations for the 2023 season. When you do the breakdown, the 69th regular season for the BC Lions certainly comes with a few juicy matchups.
With 12 of 18 games coming against the West Division and six home contests starting at 4:00 PM, fans of all ages and those from various regions of the province should be able to get their fix on Lions football in 2023. We now present a game-by-game- breakdown of the 2023 BC Lions schedule.
Pre-Season 1: Saturday, May 27: @ Saskatchewan, 4:00 PM
Breakdown: The Lions will depart Kamloops for a short stayover in Regina for the first pre-season tune-up.
Pre-Season 2: Thursday, June 1, vs. Calgary, 7:30 pm
Breakdown: Home fans will get their first look at a solid semblance of the 2023 squad in our final pre-season tilt against the Stampeders.
Week 1: Thursday, June 8: @ Calgary, 6 PM
Breakdown: The Lions last took part in the CFL’s opening game back in the last Grey Cup championship season of 2011. Hopefully, this serves as a good omen as these two rivals will meet in a rematch of this year’s Western Semi-Final in which the Lions prevailed 30-16.
2022 Season Series: The Lions took two of three regular season meetings with the road team prevailing in each instance. The two nail-biting victories in Calgary ultimately enabled Nathan Rourke and company to earn second place in the West and home field for the eventual playoff clash.
Photo Credit: Jaclyn Mckee
Week 2:Â Saturday, June 17: vs. Edmonton, 4 PM
Breakdown: Is a little De Ja Vu in order? We probably won’t expect another 59-15 thrashing as we saw in the 2022 home opener, but this week two matchup against a likely improved Elks squad serves as an early season opportunity to set a tone in the division. Also, be prepared for another massive event to kick off our home schedule!
2022 Season Series: The Lions swept the three-game series in convincing fashion, outscoring Edmonton 136-43 in the process.
Week 3: Thursday, June 22: @ Winnipeg, 5:30 PM
Breakdown: The storylines this week should be juicy as the squad makes a return to the scene of their heartbreaking Western Final loss. Looking at it through a lens of the present, a short week against a tough Bombers team will be tough to navigate as they look to start the season strong.
2022 Season Series: Winnipeg prevailed in two of three regular season meetings before prevailing 28-20 and punching their ticket to a third straight Grey Cup appearance.
Week 4: Monday, July 3: @ Toronto, 4 PM
Breakdown: A Canada Day weekend tilt at BMO Field marks the only regular season date with the defending Grey Cup champions. The vibe in the 6IX should be energetic that weekend and hopefully, the visiting Lions can feed off of it. Once again, the increased divisional play means the Lions will only face two Eastern teams (Toronto, and Ottawa) once each.
2022 Season Series: The teams split two meetings, with the Lions cruising to a 44-3 win at home in week three and falling 23-20 at BMO in early October.
Week 5: Sunday, July 9: vs. Montreal, 4 PM
Breakdown: A new scheduling initiative in 2023 sees Sunday games as a regular occurrence before September. The Lions will host their first on a Sunday since the 2015 season while this will also be Montreal’s first visit to BC Place since 2019.
2022 Season Series: The lone meeting in 2022 saw Montreal cruise to a 31-10 victory, with newly acquired Lions’ QB Vernon Adams Jr. seeing only limited action behind Antonio Pipkin.
Week 6: Bye Week 1
Week 7: Saturday, July 22: vs. Saskatchewan, 4 PM
Breakdown: It’s always fun when the Roughriders come to town and they will do so twice in 2023. What are the odds Saskatchewan’s offensive coordinator drama is solved by them? (sorry couldn’t resist).
2022 Season Series: Two out of three wins for the Lions with the road team again winning each time. Saskatchewan’s win at BC Place in late August looked to give them some life for a second-half run in the West, but they would ultimately lose seven straight to end their season.
Week 8: Saturday, July 29: @ Edmonton, 5 PM
Breakdown: The middle meeting of this three-game season series with the Elks goes at Commonwealth Stadium to wrap up the month of July. Edmonton will enter 2022 losers of their last 17 home games, dating back to a win over the Lions in October 2019. This meeting will be the Elks’ fourth home clash of 2023.
Week 9: Thursday, August 3: @ Winnipeg, 5:30 PM
Breakdown: A second trip to the Manitoba capital in six weeks should bring about plenty of implications as the Western race should be as hot as ever in 2023. It should be a party as always at IG Field with this Thursday battle serving as an appetizer to provincial long weekends across the land.
Week 10: Saturday, August 12: vs. Calgary, 4 PM
Breakdown: The Stampeders make their first of two regular season visits on a Saturday afternoon in August having enjoyed some recent non-playoff success at BC Place. Dating back to the 2016 season opener, Calgary has won seven consecutive regular season games on the west coast.
Week 11: Sunday, August 20: @ Saskatchewan, 5 PM
Breakdown: A Sunday showdown at Mosaic Stadium will be the lone trip to Regina in 2023. The Lions had failed in all four visits to the newer venue before prevailing in both trips in a memorable 2022 season.
Week 12: Saturday, August 26: vs. Hamilton, 4 PM
Breakdown: What will the quarterback matchup be? That’s the burning question. Rourke vs. Bo Levi? Adams Jr. vs. Schiltz? Anyone’s guess at this point..
2022 Season Series: Rourke and the Lions got a stout defensive effort in the lone regular season meeting, prevailing 17-12 on the strength of four turnovers in the fourth quarter alone.
Week 13: Saturday, September 2: @ Montreal, 4 PM
Breakdown: It is the first Labour Day weekend game for the Lions since 2015 when they also visited Montreal. The Lions have won five of their last seven visits to Percival Molson Stadium.
Week 14: Bye Week 2
Week 15: Saturday, September 16: vs. Ottawa, 4 PM
Breakdown: Rick Campbell looks to remain undefeated against his former squad (4-0 dating back to 2021) as these teams meet for the first and only time in the 2023 regular season. This is the start of a six-game stretch to the end of the campaign where the Lions will play four times at home.
2022 Season Series: The Lions won both meetings, surviving a pair of Nathan Rourke interceptions in Ottawa and getting a solid performance from Vernon Adams Jr. in a September home victory.
Week 16: Friday, September 22: @ Edmonton, 6:30 PM
Breakdown: Meeting number three with the Elks is a Friday night tilt with potential playoff implications taking shape. 2019 was the last time the Lions visited Edmonton twice.
Week 17: Friday, September 29: vs. Saskatchewan, 7:30 pm
Breakdown: It will be our third annual Orange Shirt Day Game where we honour Canada’s National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. The Friday clash should also go a long way in determining both teams’ playoff fate.
Week 18: Friday, October 6: vs. Winnipeg, 7 PM
Breakdown: The only home back-t0-back in 2023 ends with a visit from the reigning Western Division champions. With the Bombers making some early work in retaining a couple of key pending free agents this one should be a heavyweight battle to highlight a key stretch drive.
Week 19: Friday, October 13: at Hamilton, 4 PM
Breakdown: The Lions did not visit Tim Hortons Field in 2022 and a potential juicy storyline awaits this one as Nathan Rourke potentially starts in the same venue he played high school football at. Steel Town plays host to the 110th Grey Cup on November 19 and the local buzz should be heating up with the Ticats once again having play and host aspirations.
Week 20: Friday, October 20: vs. Calgary, 7 PM
Breakdown: It should be a fun scenario to wrap up the regular season against the rival Stampeders. Home playoff game on the line? Potentially. The Lions will then likely have to sit and wait for the final standings one week later….
Week 21: Bye Week 3
The Road To Hamilton…..
The playoff chase involves division semi-final and finals being played on Saturdays, November 4 and 11, before the 110th Grey Cup on Sunday, November 19 at Hamilton’s Tim Hortons Field. Buckle up!
Matt Baker: mbaker@bclions.com
