Defending Grey Cup champion Montreal Alouettes.

BY WEB STAFF
sportsnet.ca

The Canadian Football League released its 2010 schedule on Monday which will kick off with a Grey Cup rematch and features the first regular season CFL game ever played in Atlantic Canada.

The 2010 schedule is capped by the 98th Grey Cup Game in Edmonton on Nov. 28.

The season will begin with a rematch of the 97th Grey Cup game when the Saskatchewan Roughriders host the Montreal Alouettes on Canada Day, Jul. 1, followed by the Toronto Argonauts visiting the Calgary Stampeders later that evening. The Winnipeg Blue Bombers will host the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Jul. 2 and the B.C. Lions will visit the Edmonton Eskimos on Jul. 4.

The Atlantic Canada game, labeled the CFL Touchdown Atlantic, will be played in Moncton on Sep. 26 between the Eskimos and Argos.

Other highlights include:

-- CFL Retro goes seventies: This year the CFL and its teams are celebrating the 1970s with retro-themed jerseys during Week 6 and 7.

-- Labour Day Classic Weekend match-ups featuring the Lions at Montreal, the Bombers in Regina, the Argos visiting Hamilton and the Eskimos travelling to Calgary.

-- Thanksgiving Weekend games that include the Eskimos visiting Hamilton, the Argos in Regina, Calgary in Montreal and B.C. at Winnipeg.

-- A final weekend that takes on added significance after the battle for playoff spots went down to the very last game of 2009, this year has the Stamps visiting Winnipeg, the Lions in Hamilton, the Eskimos in Saskatchewan and the Argos travelling to Montreal.

The CFL Playoffs feature the Eastern and Western Semi-Finals on Nov. 14 and the Eastern and Western Finals on Nov. 21.

The are plenty of story lines already in place for 2010, including the Alouettes' bid to repeat as Grey Cup champs, the Riders' attempt to bounce back from a stunning last-second defeat in last year's Grey Cup in Calgary, the Stamps and Lions looking to return to the top in the West, the Eskimos hoping to play in the Grey Cup in their own backyard, the Argos and Bombers featuring retooled front offices and new head coaches, and the Tiger-Cats, looking to continue their resurgence in the East.