MONTREAL -- With veteran Henry Burris at quarterback, maybe the Ottawa Redblacks wont be quite the pushovers most expansion clubs have been. Burris threw for 247 yards in one half of a game -- on pace for a nearly 500-yard outing -- as the Redblacks downed the woeful Montreal Alouettes 26-10 in CFL pre-season play Friday night at Percival Molson Stadium. Former Hamilton Tiger-Cat Chevon Walker ran in two touchdowns and caught a five-yard pass for another to lead the Redblacks, who will be on a bye when the regular season opens next weekend and wont make their debut until July 3 in Winnipeg. "We knew we had to play well," said Burris, who signed as a free agent with Ottawa. "The fact that we dont play next week, we had to have a good feeling coming out of this game because now we have a few days off. "We know we made an improvement from last week (a 21-17 loss at Saskatchewan) and we wanted to carry the momentum of playing good football into the Winnipeg game in a couple of weeks." Brett Maher added a fourth-quarter field goal for Ottawa when Thomas DeMarco was in at quarterback. The Ottawa defence held Montreal without a touchdown, although some of that had to do with Troy Smiths struggles to find his receivers. Delbert Alvarado had a pair of field goals and Sean Whyte had another for Montreal, which went 0-2 in the pre-season under new coach Tom Higgins, and looked shaky on both sides of the ball heading into their season opener June 28 in Calgary. "It was definitely a pre-season game," said Smith, the 2007 Heisman Trophy winner who has the tall order of replacing future Hall of Famer Anthony Calvillo as the Alouettes starting quarterback. "You understand things arent going to be as good as you want them to be all the time. "We did some positive things, we just werent able to capitalize on any drives." The less-than sellout crowd of 18,141 got their first look at former NFL star Chad (Ochocinco) Johnson, who is on a comeback after last having played in 2011. He made a 13-yard catch on the Alouettes first play from scrimmage but that was all. "Hopefully the timing with the guys will get better," said Smith. "Youve got to give Ottawa some credit. They played defence and came out with the win. Its very premature. Were embarking on something great. I can feel it in my bones. But you have to go through trials and tribulations." A lot of Ottawa players made it difficult for coach Rick Campbell to make his final cuts on Saturday, when all nine CFL teams have to trim rosters to 46 players. Burris had six players make at least two catches, while the defence held Montreal to 290 yards in net offence. "When the decisions are easy, its not good," said Campbell. "We had some guys make some big plays, but it is a pre-season game. Well watch film and evaluate it. "Were not going to pat ourselves on the back too much. Well get back to work and try to get better." Burris couldnt get a first down on Ottawas first three possessions, but adjustments were made. Then he couldnt be stopped the rest of the first half. He completed 17 of 22 passes, all against Montreals first-string defence. The Redblacks led 22-7 at the intermission. Smith completed nine of 17 for 122 yards in the opening 30 minutes and gave way to the equally ineffective Tanner Marsh early in the second half. Alex Brink also saw action. The Alouettes got on the board first with Alvarados punt single, but then Burris threw 28 yards to Dobson Collins to set up Walkers three-yard TD 12:16 into the game. Montreal answered with a field goal, but Kierrie Johnsons 36-yard catch to the Montreal one set up Walkers second TD of the night 44 seconds into the second quarter. Just before the intermission, Burris led an eight-play 85-yard drive capped by Walkers five-yard TD catch. With second and third stringers on in the second half, neither team was able to move the ball very far and spectators were streaming out by the end of the third quarter. Unusually for the pre-season game, there were relatively few penalties called and there were no fumbles or interceptions. Last week, Montreal blew a lead in a 28-23 setback at Hamilton. Their bright spots were Alvarados powerful kicking and some long returns by Larry Taylor, who returned to Montreal from Calgary in the off-season. Notes: The Alouettes were missing running backs Brandon Whitaker (sore leg) and Tyrell Sutton (hamstring). Their replacement Brandon Rutley had a quiet game 29 yards on nine carries. Linebacker Kyries Hebert didnt dress, but he has returned to practice after suffering a concussion June 7. Hunter Renfroe Jersey .I dont think it comes to mind in this business, in this game, the Philadelphia Flyers forward said. You dont try to lose games. Dave Winfield Jersey . “Im not sure well get Melky Cabrera at all,” said Gibbons. The 29-year-old left fielder struggled all season with knee and hamstring problems. Cabrera was first on the disabled list from June 27-July 20 with tendinitis in his left knee. http://www.padresrookiestore.com/Padres-Christian-Villanueva-Kids-Jersey/. Pillar is batting .305 with 17 extra-base hits, 19 RBI and five stolen bases in 34 games for Buffalo this season. The right-handed hitter had an International League high, 18-game hitting streak this season and currently owns an IL high 26-game on base streak. Trevor Hoffman Jersey . Which is to say, the top of this years draft class is not as dynamic or exciting as the 2013 class of Nate MacKinnon, Sasha Barkov, Jonathan Drouin and Seth Jones and its not as strikingly promising as the highly-anticipated 2015 slate of Connor McDavid, Jack Eichel and Noah Hanifin. Brad Hand Jersey . Durant finished with 24 points and 13 rebounds, Jackson matched his career high with 23 points on 10-of-14 shooting and Lamb scored 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting, lifting the Thunder to a 94-88 win over San Antonio and snapping the Spurs 11-game winning streak.Sam Gagner had heard his name in trade talk for quite some time, but even he couldnt have expected this. Gagner was traded twice Sunday, first from the Edmonton Oilers to Tampa Bay and then from the Lightning to the Arizona Coyotes. Edmonton got Teddy Purcell, the Lightning got a sixth-round pick and salary-cap space and the 24-year-old centre got to experience a "roller-coaster of emotions." "I was talking to my agent, and he had said when Tampa traded for me that there might be something else going on," Gagner said. "So it was something I was prepared for. I wasnt really expecting to be traded (again) today. But its one of those things that happens in sports, and I guess youve got to be ready for it at all times." Trading Gagner, who has two years left on his contract at a cap hit of $4.8 million, now was important to Edmonton because his no-trade clause was set to kick in July 1. Coyotes general manager Don Maloney said he got a call from Oilers counterpart Craig MacTavish early Sunday, but by the time he called back to discuss Gagner there was already a verbal agreement with Steve Yzerman on a trade to Tampa Bay. By sending Purcell, a 28-year-old winger, to the Oilers, the Lightning shed themselves of his $4.5 million cap hit over the next two seasons. The St. Johns, N.L., native has 228 points in 401 regular-season games and 18 in 22 playoff games. The Lightning were prepared to buy out Gagners contract, but that plan was put on hold when Maloney expressed interest in the London, Ont., native whom the Coyotes coveted for some time but saw his salary as a bit too rich for their blood. Still, they wanted to get something done. "(The Lightning) were trying to free up some cap space to do some other things, which obviously they did when they traded Teddy Purcell," Maloney said on a conference call late Sunday night. "Basically we hung up the phone, I said (to Yzerman), Im going to have a beer, you go have a glass of wine and if you can come up with an idea, call me back." Maloney and his staff came up with the idea of putting gritty winger B.J. Crombeen and his $1.15-million cap hit in the trade, and it got done once Tampa Bay agreed to retain one-third of Gagners salary and cap hit, which would have been the price had he been bought out. The Coyotes could have waited for Tuesdays start of the free-agent signing period to take a run at Gagner, but that wasnt a risk Maloney was willing to take. "That concerned me," he said. "As were looking and exploring how we help our centre ice and whats happening right now, it scared me to death." So the Coyotes paid a small price in the form of a sixth-rounder in next years draft to make it happen and not worry about paying a free-agent premium or losing Gagner to another team. "It came together in a hurry," Maloney said. "I think theres three of us that feel pretty good about our day so far." None of the three general managers involved in Gagners moves Sunday are finished. MacTavish shipping Gagner out of Edmonton, though, was no small step forward in his retooling effort. Gagner, the sixth overall pick in 2007, seemed to be just outside the Oilers core, which includes Taylor Hall, Ryan Nugent-Hopkiins and Jordan Eberle.dddddddddddd. He has 295 points in 481 games, all with the Oilers, including 10 goals and 27 assists last season. That kind of production isnt something Gagner is proud of and is hoping for a bounce-back season. The setting for that will now be the Arizona desert. Edmonton moving on from Gagner wasnt terribly surprising to him, given the franchises playoff drought that pre-dates his entering the league. "You have to expect things to happen when the team hasnt done well," Gagner said on a conference call. "Theres going to be change when things dont go well. I expected that at some point I might be part of it." Drafting big German centre Leon Draisaitl third overall Friday night might have been enough to convince MacTavish it was time to move Gagner. "I think (Draisaitl) helps us fill a need, gives us an opportunity to have a strong centreman with some size that can play ahead of or behind the Nuge, whatever way it works, and well give him that opportunity," director of amateur scouting Stu MacGregor said Saturday in Philadelphia. In Arizona, Gagner will get the opportunity to replace Mike Ribeiro, who was bought out of the final four seasons of his contract for what Maloney called "behavioural issues." Gagner should get power-play time and a chance to provide the hard-working, well-coached Coyotes with an offensive spark. "We got him for his offensive instincts and creativity," Maloney said. "Players can learn to play better defence. Its very difficult to learn to be more intelligent and more creative." At 24, Gagner could still have room to grow. Maloney hopes he can become more than just a 40-to-50-point player along the way. Thats what Gagner was with the Oilers, who did not make the playoffs in any of his seven NHL seasons. He would have liked things to work out in Edmonton but understood something had to give when they didnt. "We didnt have much success as a team and theres going to be a lot of changes that comes from that," he said. "It doesnt work out everywhere all the time." It wasnt going to work out in Tampa, where the Lightning were manoeuvring for free agency with a series of moves Sunday. In addition to sending Purcell to Edmonton and Gagner and Crombeen to Arizona, they traded forward Nate Thompson and his $1.6-million cap hit to the Anaheim Ducks for fourth- and seventh-round picks in next years draft. All told and including retaining a portion of Gagners salary, Tampa Bay cleared $5.65 million in cap space. Its believed that Yzerman is looking for a right-handed-shooting defenceman and could also be targeting a winger to play alongside Steven Stamkos. That will have to wait until Tuesday when teams are able to sign free agents. By the time Sunday was over, three teams got to be satisfied with their respective hauls. "Obviously Edmonton got what they needed, what they wanted and a real talented player in Teddy Purcell," Maloney said. "Tampa received what they needed to free up a lot of cap space, they get a draft asset and we got what we wanted, and were searching for is a young, skilled centre-iceman in Sam Gagner and really a guy weve coveted for a while in B.J. Crombeen." Cheap Red Sox Jerseys Cheap Orioles Jerseys Cheap Mets Jerseys Cheap Phillies Jerseys Cheap Nationals Jerseys Cheap Cubs Jerseys Cheap Reds Jerseys Cheap Brewers Jerseys Cheap Pirates Jerseys Cheap Cardinals Jerseys Cheap Diamondbacks Jerseys Cheap Rockies Jerseys Cheap Dodgers Jerseys Cheap Padres Jerseys Cheap Giants Jerseys ' ' '