CALGARY - The CFLs marquee player gave the Calgary Stampeders a real scare in their 29-8 win over the Montreal Alouettes to open the season Saturday. Jon Cornish lay face down on the field in the fourth quarter after the Stampeders running back took a high, hard hit on the run from Alouettes linebacker Kyries Hebert. It looked grim for the CFLs leading rusher and most outstanding player in 2013 when an ambulance was summoned onto the field. But an immediate trip to the hospital wasnt required as the 29-year-old from New Westminster, B.C., got up and walked to the clubhouse accompanied by medical staff. "I was knocked out," Cornish said following the game. "Im going to have to go through concussion protocol 100 per cent. "Youd expect me to feel a little bit worse, but Im pretty good. I can remember what happened before and immediately after." What happened a few minutes before that play was Cornish running for an 18-yard touchdown off a direct snap to pad Calgarys lead to 26-1. The Stampeders posted the CFLs best record last season at 14-4 and were quick out of the gates to start 2014. An opening-day starter for the first time in his CFL career, quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell was efficient throwing for 313 yards, a pair of touchdowns and zero interceptions. The Texan completed 16 of 25 passes. He threw out of Calgarys end zone to Maurice Price for a 102-touchdown pass in the opening quarter and tossed to Anthony Parker for another major in the fourth. Rene Paredes kicked a pair of field goals and punter Rob Maver contributed two punt singles in front of announced attendance of 26,135 at McMahon Stadium. Cornish had 67 yards on 14 carries before leaving the game. "I thought we played very physical on both sides of the football and special teams, we played fast," Stampeder coach and general manager John Hufnagel said. "I think we took a first right step going in the direction we want to go. A lot of work to be done though." Montreal, 8-10 last season, have large wrinkles to iron out on both sides of the football. Troy Smiths season debut for the Alouettes marked the first time since 1999 a quarterback other than Anthony Calvillo was Montreals opening-day starter. The CFLs all-time passing leader retired in January after 16 seasons with the Alouettes. Smith, a former Heisman Trophy winner with Ohio State, completed 17 of 40 passes for 127 yards. He was sacked four times and intercepted once. Sean Whytes punt single was Montreals only point until fullback Steven Lumbala dove for a one-yard major on the final play of the game. A gaffe by Montreals secondary left Price open for his touchdown as the Als had two defenders on Calgary receiver Jeff Fuller. "I dont feel good at all," Smith said. "Theres a whole different feel when you leave the field after a weeks work of preparation and nothing works. "You definitely have to look yourself in the mirror and you have to understand that things arent going to go the exact ideal way that you want them to all the time. "Youve got to go back to the drawing board and accept the Calgary Stampeders played a great game today. They game-planned and they paid also, and they made plays." Former NFL star receiver Chad Johnson had two catches for 20 yards in his CFL debut. "Ive got a long way to go, man," Johnson said. "With this being my first time experiencing a real live game with the bullets flying, the level of competition is really not that far off from the NFL and the speed of the game is equivalent." Hebert was slapped with a major foul and ejected for his hit on Cornish. Calgary parlayed Montreals 25-yard penalty into another touchdown as Mitchell threw to Parker in the end zone. Cornish says hes yet to be diagnosed with a concussion in his career. The leagues top rusher the past two seasons said he bore Hebert no ill-will. "I dont really blame him," Cornish said. "I got a pretty good cut block on him earlier in the game, so thats how it goes sometimes." Hufnagel had said it was a "photo finish" between Mitchell and Drew Tate in choosing a first-day starting quarterback. Mitchell cleaned up his game considerably Saturday after a pre-season loss to the Lions a week earlier, when he completed half his pass attempts and was intercepted twice. The quarterback checked off the boxes of throwing touchdowns, moving the offence and not allowing any interceptions Saturday. "Im still not going to check the box of going out and doing exactly what I wanted to do and thats just making sure were executing on everything we can," Mitchell said. "A couple plays early on I can myself clean up. "I felt like there was a quarter where we didnt move the ball very well. I felt like I played good, but its easy when your receivers are making those kind of plays and your O-line is giving you time." Paredes, winner of the CFLs special-teams player award last season, booted field goals from 25 and 38 yards in the game. Maver kicked punt singles of 78 and 88 yards. Whyte was wide on a 39-yard attempt midway through the first quarter. Calgarys defence held the Als under 100 offensive yards in the first half when Charleston Hughes, Corey Mace and DeQuin Evans each recorded sacks and Hughes knocked down a pass. Juwan Simpson also sacked Smith later in the game. Cornerback Fred Bennett would have collected two interceptions in the half had his second not been negated by Deron Mayos horse-collar tackle on Smith. The Stampeders head immediately into their bye week. Their next game is in Toronto against the Argonauts on July 12. The Als host the B.C. Lions on Friday. With the Blue Bombers moving to the West Division, Montreal wont face an East Division rival until Aug. 1. Mohamed Salah Liverpool Jersey . The 25-year-old native of Milford, Conn., has 18 points in 41 games this season. The five-foot-eight 166-pound centre also has 28 points (10-18) in 15 games with AHL Oklahoma City. Jordan Henderson Jersey . - Henrik Samuelsson and Curtis Lazar each had two goals and two assists as the Edmonton Oil Kings secured top spot in the Eastern Conference by defeating the host Red Deer Rebels 7-4 on Saturday in Western Hockey League action. http://www.liverpoolgear.us/Customized/ . -- Michigan coach John Beilein is willing to give Nik Stauskas a little leeway when it comes to shot selection. Sadio Mane Liverpool Jersey . Ferrer will play Mikhail Youzhny on Sunday after he defeated Dmitry Tursunov 6-2, 6-4 in an all-Russian semifinal. "Youzhny is a good player," Ferrer said. Loris Karius Jersey . The 24-year-old Pruneau played his CIS football with the Montreal Carabins. The six-foot, 200-pound Montreal native had 41 tackles, 3.MONTREAL - Rene Bourque had just nine goals and 16 points in 63 regular season games, but the Canadiens forward has become a key cog in Montreals offence during the playoffs. A trade bait name brought up over and over again on local radio, web message boards and social media all season, Bourque netted his first career playoff hat trick in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Final Tuesday, giving him eight goals and 11 points in 16 playoffs games and helping his team stave off elimination with a 7-4 victory over the New York Rangers. A while his sudden emergence as a scoring threat in the playoffs has surprised many, its nothing new to his teammates. Despite his regular season struggles, they never doubted the 62, 217-pound power forward would shine through when it mattered most. "Ive said it before and Ill say it again, hes got world class speed and a world class shot and its showing right now in the playoffs," said forward Max Pacioretty, who also chipped in Tuesday night with a goal and an assist. "Hes a bigger body and he plays a simple game and that suits him well in the playoffs. Its a great time for him to step up and he was huge tonight, he helped out a lot." After the Canadiens blew a 4-1 lead in the second period on Tuesday night, Bourque halted the Rangers comeback scoring his second goal of the game at 15:10 of the second period to make the score 5-4 and give Montreal a lead they wouldnt relinquish. Bourque then added another goal at 6:33 of the third period to complete the hat trick and help the Canadiens avoid elimination for the third time in these Stanley Cup playoffs. Montreal will try to repeat the feat for a fourth time in Game 6 in New York on Thursday and force a Game 7 back in Montreal on Saturday. "Even going back to last year, he just loves this time of year," said forward Brendan Gallagher. "Hes leading by example again. For him to go out there and score not only three goals but very timely goals was big. Anytime you give up the lead like that and can come right back and score thats big. Thats what clutch guys do at this time of year, they score timely goals.&" Since being acquired from Calgary two years ago in a trade that saw popular scorer Michael Cammalleri go the other way, many have doubted Bourques role on this team.dddddddddddd But not Gallagher and his teammates. They saw a hard-working character player that could come up big when it mattered most. "You just gotta understand the character he has," Gallagher explained. "Hes big. Hes a guy that we rely on. He showed up and thats what we expect from him. Hes a competitor. He loves the atmosphere and he loves the opportunity we have right now and thats kind of expected from him." Michel Therrien was also thrilled with Bourques performance. "He played a great game; he was a force out there," the Canadiens head coach said. "On the forecheck, he took the man. He was moving his feet. He was going hard to the map mat. Hes a very good scorer, so definitely that was a great performance by him." The always quite and humble Bourque wasnt about to take all the credit though. "Everybody was ready for this game," he said after the game. "We knew the situation. We got a big power-play goal early and a few others. "It was just a see-saw battle back and forth. (Dale) Weise made a great play to me. I called for the puck and somehow it got through. It was nice to get in there." The pucks have gotten through for Bourque just one less time than they did in the regular season and the Canadiens are hoping his clutch run continues as they try to come back from what is now a one-game deficit. James Murphy is a freelance reporter who also writes for NHL.com, the Boston Herald and XNsports.com. He covered the Boston Bruins/NHL for last 11 seasons writing for ESPNBoston.com, ESPN.com, NHL.com, NESN.com, the Boston Metro, Insidehockey.com and Le Hockey Magazine. Murphy also currently hosts the radio show "Murphys Hockey Law" heard Saturdays 9-11 AM ET on Sirius/XM NHL Network Radio and 4-6 PM ET on Websportsmedia.com. In addition to that, he is a regular guest TSN 690 in Montreal and Sirius/XM NHL Network Radio as well as a hockey analyst on CTV Montreal. 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