CFL postseason kicks off this weekend

The GIST: After a 21-week regular season, the quest for the Grey Cup starts with this weekend’s two-game first-round slate. Start hydrating because the Canadian gridiron is already burnin’ up.

How it works: Six of the league’s nine teams — three from the East Division and three from the West — advance to the playoffs. The top team in each division earns a bye to the division finals, while the second- and third-place teams face off in the semifinals (aka the first round), which kicks off tomorrow.

The top contenders: The beast-of-the-East, defending champ Montréal Alouettes and the best-in-the-West Winnipeg Blue Bombers secured the top seeds in their divisions. The Als are looking to run it back while the Bombers have been a perennial postseason powerhouse, narrowly missing out on the 2023 title after Montréal’s dramatic game-winning touchdown last year.

• The added spice of a championship rematch is tantalizing, but the No. 2 Toronto Argonauts — headed by disgraced quarterback (QB) Chad Kelly (who was suspended for the first half of the season after a sexual assault allegation) — and the QB Vernon Adams Jr.–led No. 3 B.C. Lions could rain on the repeat parade. Hut, hut, here we go.