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It’s party time at McMahon Stadium!
The Calgary Stampeders are celebrating their 80th birthday at the home opener, presented by Tim Hortons, on Saturday night. Kickoff is 5 p.m. MT against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.
Members of the Red and White have gotten into the birthday party celebrations all week with newly-added receiver Dominique Rhymes joining Stamps TV host Natasha Staniszewski in baking the club an 80th birthday cake, and a group of players breaking into a rendition of “Happy Birthday” after practice.
A number of Stamps alumni will take part in the festivities including representatives from Calgary’s various Grey Cup-championships teams over the years. The late, great Normie Kwong, a member of the 1948 championship team, will be represented by his family while Doug Flutie, Mark McLoughlin, Marcus Crandell, Nik Lewis, Jeremaine Copeland, Jon Cornish and Alex Singleton from subsequent Grey Cup-winning teams will also be in attendance.
Stampeders team president Jay McNeil spoke about the importance of having all these Stamps legends present to celebrate the club’s 80-year history.
“It’s going to be incredibly exciting for a couple of reasons,” he explained. “A lot of them are former teammates of mine. I got to see Jeremaine Copeland and Nik Lewis last night; I’m going to see Doug tomorrow morning and Mark and Marcus coming in later on. For me, it’s very special and there is a personal touch to it.
“For the organization and for our fans it’s really about our 80th year, let’s celebrate our history and our Grey Cups and celebrate together. That tradition that our Stampeders are and our expectations that we want to win Grey Cups. It’s going to be a lot of fun.”
McNeil spoke about the excitement he has as the team heads into Week 1 and the home opener.
“With so much change it’s hard to really grasp what the team is going to look like,” he said. “Watching them during both preseason games and during practice, the veterans we’ve brought in have done a great job being leaders to our young guys and the young guys have done a great job buying into what we are trying to accomplish as a team.
“I’m really excited about where we are going, and I can’t wait to kick off the season.”
Flutie, McLoughlin, Crandell and Singleton will be signing autographs in the new and improved East Fan Zone located outside Gate 2 prior to kickoff. The Tim Hortons Beverage Truck will be on site at the Fan Zone from 3 p.m. until supplies last. The truck will be handing out free coffee and other hot beverages to fans. Fans will also have a chance to win one of 80 boxes of birthday cake Timbits.
The East Fan Zone opens two hours before kickoff at 3 p.m. and will feature a $5 BBQ menu, a beer garden, face painting, DJ trailer, bouncy house, birthday cake station, and more!
2008 Grey Cup champions Nik Lewis and Jeremaine Copeland will be hanging out in the Coors Light Corral to take in the first regular season contest with the fans. Join them and buy your tickets at the link below.
Join us in the East Fan Zone Tailgate Party – your new game day hangout open 2 hours before kickoff!
$5 🍺
$5 🌭Plus, what’s a birthday party without cake? First 1000 fans to the East Fan Zone get a piece for FREE! 🎂
🎟️ Get your game tickets: https://t.co/zLJKwQYRuP… pic.twitter.com/WbNzndLffp
— Calgary Stampeders (@calstampeders) June 4, 2025