First time for everything! I had the pleasure of calling the BC Lions vs. Calgary Stampeders game with Gord Miller on TSN on Friday night. You know, its always good to get "Out of the Cage", so to speak, and take in the sights and sounds at the ballpark. What caught my eye on the night was the amount of firsts that took place. Ill be honest with yall, at times during that game, it probably sounded like it was my first crack at doing colour commentary. Ha! I made a few mistakes but had fun once again trying to help you enjoy the game. Here are some of the firsts I noticed: 1. Lions quarterback Kevin Glenn wins for the first time on the road in McMahon Stadium against the Stampeders. You better believe that when an athlete has not experienced success against a particular team or in a certain venue or against a rival, they know when something like that is going on. For the first six seasons of my my career, I could never get a "W" while playing against the Toronto Argonauts at Exhibition Stadium! Thank goodness that place shut down and the Argos moved into the SkyDome! In fact, I played so consistently poor at Exhibition, Leo Cahill once said, "Dunigan could throw the football at the ground and miss". Thats classic! Hence, the story I told on national television, for the first time, about me once eating chocolate covered espresso beans with my offensive linemen before a game at Exhibition, trying to mix things up a bit in an attempt to change my luck at that horrible stadium. Ha! For those of you who didnt hear me Friday night, things did not go well in the first half of this game. I was chunking, whizzing, riffling balls all over the place. Missing receivers not by a little, but by five, six, seven yards. Shooting it way over their heads, into the stands, it was not pretty! If there was ever anyone who did not need extra hype, energy or adrenaline before a game, it was me. I can assure you that was the first and last time for this guy, as the lesson was learned! 2. Stampeders running back Martell Mallett rushes the football for the first time in 1,429 days. The last time Mallett (aka. Cognac) carried the ball was for the Philadelphia Eagles during an NFL preseason game against the New York Jets on Sep. 2, 2010. With 116 rushing yards on 14 carries, it was also Malletts first 100-yard game since Sep. 25, 2009. On that night, Mallett was playing for the visiting Lions at McMahon Stadium. Different jersey, same dynamic performance! 3. Lions receiver Ernest Jackson earns his first touchdown catch of the season, blowing by Calgarys Brandon Smith and taking it 65 yards for the game winner. 4. On the defensive side of the ball, Lions LB Solomon Elimimian racked up 10 tackles, making it the first time hes had 10+ tackles in back-to-back games. Last week, Elimimian tied a career-high with 12 tackles vs. Winnipeg. 5. Lions first-year cornerback Ronnie Yell from San Jose State gets his first interception of his CFL career and its a 34-yard pick six! 6. On that very play, Stampeders quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell throws his first pick of the 2014 season! For those keeping track, that was also Mitchells first interception after going 142 pass attempts without one since Sep. 13, 2013 vs. Hamilton! 7. Keon Raymond, strong side linebacker for the Stampeders, gets his first pick of the year and takes it 63 yards for the score. It was his first pick six since Oct. 20, 2012, when he took one back 100 yards vs. Hamilton. 8. Bo Levi Mitchell loses for the first time as a starter in his young CFL career. 9. Stampeders lose for the first time this season. 10. Shane Bergman, left guard for the Stampeders, made his first-ever career start and acquitted himself quite well. This considering he was up against two of the best defensive lineman in the CFL, Eric Taylor and Khalif Mitchell. Those were some of the firsts that played out on a beautiful Friday night in Calgary, Alberta. If you missed it, thats too bad, because these firsts will never happen again! Ready Break!!! Derek Holland Cubs Jersey . The rookie is rewarding their faith with a stellar first season. MacKinnon had a goal and two assists, Jamie McGinn had two goals and an assist, and Colorado beat the Buffalo Sabres 7-1 on Saturday. Bob Dernier Jersey .Y. - Islanders forward Anders Lee has been fined $2,286 by the NHL for elbowing St. https://www.cheapcubs.com/1660t-brandon-...ersey-cubs.html. This week they discuss Russias mens hockey team, the ineptitude of the IOC handling the Nicklas Backstrom situation, John Tortorellas many apologies, and Canadas strong showing in curling. Tony Kemp Cubs Jersey . Chan captured two silver medals at last months Sochi Winter Games — mens singles and the inaugural team event. But he doesnt have the urge to resume training to defend his world title when the event is held in Saitama, Japan, later this month. Rowan Wick Cubs Jersey . -- D. J. Williams finally has his packing strategy down.MINSK, Belarus - Thats more of what everyone expected from Team Canada. Not just the three goals in seven minutes in the third period, but a better effort in a 4-1 victory over Slovakia on Saturday at the world hockey championship than Canada showed in a stunning shootout loss to France. "Our team was much better tonight than it was last night for longer periods of time," coach Dave Tippett said. "We were harder on the forecheck, harder at the net. ... We put a lot of pressure on that veteran group today to make sure this gets done tonight and thats why its good to see the guys do it." That veteran group was led by Joel Ward, who scored twice, and Cody Hodgson and Kevin Bieksa, who each scored once in a game that was tied 1-1 until early in the third period. Those players arent seasoned internationally, but theyve been part of plenty of NHL games and came up big when Canada was in danger of losing two straight to start this tournament for the first time since pro players started going in 1977. A lack of familiarity between teammates contributed to the loss in the opener and there was some disjointed play early on against Slovakia. But Hodgson doesnt think that should be an excuse or that the expectations should be lowered for this Team Canada. "Its not something that were used to, losing, especially early on," he said. "Were Canadian hockey players and thats what we were born to do. It shouldnt take too long to get accustomed to each other." It will take some more time before things are perfect on that front, but its a process that will continue with Mondays game against the Czech Republic and beyond. Tippett sees improvement shift-by-shift. "The players, youre starting to find rhythms, find roles," he said. "They know when theyre going out there, they know situations that they play in. So they get more comfortable, they get more comfortable with the team game." One way to make Canadas team game work is to simply play five-on-five. Through two games, this team hasnt given up a goal at even strength, but after bad penalties against France, another parade to the penalty box led to Karol Slobodas power-play goal at 12:24 of the second period. Canadda took three penalties in the second period, which was again problematic.dddddddddddd "Its definitely a different game," Ward said. "It took us adjusting for sure. Its a different style. Were not used to the wide rink." What Canadian hockey players are used to doing on the international stage is putting up goals in bunches. Ward tied the score at 1 at the 17:24 mark of the second by tipping Jason Garrisons shot past Czech goaltender Jan Laco, and his first goal in a Team Canada jersey provided a spark. Hodgson scored what turned out to be the game-winner 7:07 into the third period, taking a pass from Nazem Kadri and beating Laco with a perfect shot from between the faceoff circles. Bieksa piled on with a goal that tipped up and over Laco and in at 17:56, then Ward put the icing on at 18:49. "I think we started to get a few bounces," Tippett said. "We had some great chances early, didnt capitalize. Its nice to see things even out in the end. It gives players confidence. Everybody worked hard tonight. Its good to see players get rewarded, even though it was late." It took until the third period before this Team Canada could breathe easy, but once Laco started wearing down and goaltender Ben Scrivens stayed strong in making 23 saves on 24 shots, the floodgates opened to make it look like more of a lopsided game than it really was. "I dont think were going to blow teams out," Scrivens said. "This was a tighter game than the score showed, but we stuck with it and thats what were going to have to do all tournament, I think." By the end, Canada was having fun after a night in which it dealt with plenty of jeers from a mostly pro-Slovak crowd at Chizhovka-Arena. "Any time youre winning, its always a good time," Ward said. "Regardless if youre up by one or two or four, youre excited to be winning." NOTES — Scrivens started the second game of the tournament as planned after James Reimer played against France based on seniority. ... Sean Monahan played more in the first two periods than he did the entire game against France as he split time with Mark Scheifele as the fourth-line centre. Follow @SWhyno on Twitter ' ' '