Depending on where you are, the clocks go back one hour at 2 am local time on Sunday. Or maybe they won’t. We’re all going to have to adjust to what provinces are doing now. Meanwhile, New Music Friday has some new releases to help you make it through whatever your clock is doing this weekend. Look at all the big names with albums this week.

Singles

1. Bryan Adams, Lake Ontario (Bad)

Adams has been very political and patriotic of late and hasn’t got any time for any MAGA garbage. Following up the song 51st State is a song that rails at Trump’s mad decision to rename Lake Ontario “Lake America.” Love him for that, but while the lyrics are powerful and important, listen to the music. This is vintage-sounding Adams, something that he might have released as a single in 1984. It’s quite excellent.

2. High, In Color (Big Loud Rock)

There are a lot of rock bands in Nashville, including In Color, a band that seems posed to make a late-year breakout. Take a listen to this single and ponder if they’re going to be a band we’ll be talking about in 2027.

3. Field Guide, Dance Floor (Guest Room/Symphonic)

Field Guide is actually Dylan MacDonald, an indie rocker from Winnipeg who is ready to release his fourth album, Sometimes a Day Can Last All Night. Watch for it March 12. Yes, we’re already looking that far ahead.

4. k-os, OK Corral (Spiritual Tech Records)

Nice to see the return of k-os, innit? He hasn’t released a full-length album in more than a decade, but BLackneck is on the way, thanks to financing by Drake. It’s a seven-track album that was recorded across BC and rural Ontario and promises ” country energy, hip-hop rhythm, and a full string orchestra.” Bob Rock produces one track, too.

5. Ozzy Osbourne, Mr. Crowley (Republic)

The concert film for Back to the Beginning, the final show by Ozzy and Black Sabbath, is now in theatres. Come December 11, the entire soundtrack will be available. This is a taste.

6. TALK, Goodbye Forever (ArtHaus Media Inc.)

It’s been a busy week for Ottawa’s TALK. Not only is he a finalist to be Canada’s representative at Eurovision 2026, but he has a new single. He says “Goodbye Forever is a dramatic, over-the-top, operatic inspired self-loathing song and the highest note I’ve ever sung.” If you’ve been following his story of Ozzy Moon, this is his final confession.

Albums

1. The Church, Lacuna (Cooking Vinyl)

The Church have been psych legends in Australia since the early 80s. They are now up to their 28th(!!!) album, and one that features 17 songs. Here’s one.

2. Clinic, Wild in the Streets (Domino)

Liverpool’s Clinic has, in my opinion, been criminally underrated through nine albums they’ve released since 1993. This is their tenth, which they say involves “a mixture of dub reggae, early rock ‘n’ roll and exotica.” Curious, aren’t you?

3. DIIV, ZIRP! (Fantasy/Concord)

Although this band’s name looks like some scrambled Roman numerals, itt’s pronounced “Dive” (That’s how they originally spelled it, but then they found out that there was an industrial band in Belgium who had dibs on it.) They came out of Brooklyn about 15 years ago and are now up to five albums.

4. Editors, Surface, Echo & Sound (PIAS)

Coming out of Birmingham in 2002, they’ve just released their eighth album of solid British indie rock that almost seems to have some darkness around the edges even when the songs are written in a major key. There are fewer electronics on this record and fans are calling it a return to the band’s roots.

5. Ministry, Hate to Go–Take Out or Delivery (Cleopatra)

Uncle Al Jourgensen says that this will be the final Ministry record. And after a final show exactly one year from today–October 30, 2027 in Los Angeles–he’s going to retire. Nice to see that bassist Paul Barker is back for this final go-round. He’s been absent since 2003. Donald Trump will not like this record.

6. Nickelback, Everything Under the Sun (Virgin Music Group)

Every review I’ve seen about Nickelback’s eleventh album have said the same thing: This is classic Nickelback. They’ve doubled down on everything that has made them who they are. Fans are gonna lose their mind over this one.

7. Queens of the Stone Age, Perfecth (Matador)

We’ve been talking about this album for months. There have been shows, teasers, and funny videos. Now it’s time to dig into the whole album, which is their ninth album. Nothing like a little desert rock as we head into winter. And you might find this one a little darker than usual, thanks to Josh Homme’s recent brush with cancer.

8. Radio Free Alice, What’s In Between (Atlantic)

Back to Australia. Radio Free Alice is a New Wave/post-punk sort named after a record store in Sydney, which, in turn was named after a socialist movement in Italy of the 1970s. This is their major label debut.

9. Yello, Time Lab (Polydor)

You mean the Swiss electronic duo behind the song Oh Yeah? Oh, yeah. This is their 15th album and it sounds like 1986.

 

© 2026 Corus Radio, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

The universe loves bass. And yes, I do mean out there in the infinite vastness of space. Even though sound can’t travel through a vacuum, pressure waves can travel through the thin wisps of gas in interstellar and intergalactic space.

The biggest bass machine is a black hole somewhere in the centre of the Perseus Cluster of galaxies, 250 million light-years away. It’s pounding out a continuous B-flat thump 57 octaves below middle C.  (I swear that’s only slightly lower than the kid with the Honda Civic down the block who still has things cranked when he’s coming home at four on a Sunday morning. But I digress…)

If you want to get really nerdy about it, it takes 10 million years for one note to oscillate just once. We can’t hear that, of course, but we can pitch-shift it up using a process called “sonification,” which translates astronomical data into sound. By shifting the pitch up about 288 quadrillion times, we get this.

Back here on Earth, we know that for any song to rock, there’s gotta be bass: those notes that start at about 250 Hz and go down until the sound waves are so long that the human ear can’t detect them.

Sometimes, we don’t hear the bass in a song as much as we feel it, as large volumes of air hit our bodies. It hits the chest first, making our lungs vibrate inside our rib cages… then our heads, as our eardrums try to process it. We might even get a little bit dizzy. Tthen our stomachs start to move in sympathy with the low notes. Bass is what gives rock depth, heaviness, and power. Without it, songs would sound tinny and be perceived with far less of a physical sensation. And this is why rock needs bass players.

But bassists don’t always get the recognition they deserve. The attention goes to the singer, the flashy guitarist, or the flamboyant drummer. But without a bass player, you just can’t rock or groove.

Let’s go through some of the most important and creative bass players in the history of alt-rock.

Songs heard on this show;

• Joy Division, Transmission
• The Cure, Lullaby
• Red Hot Chili Peppers, Higher Ground
• Power Station, Get It On
• Stone Roses, She Bangs the drums
• REM, Orange Crush
• Faith No More, We Care a Lot
• Sonic Youth, Kool Thing
• Pixies, Gigantic

Here’s Eric Wilhite’s playlist for the show.
The Ongoing History of New Music can be heard on these stations:

• 102.1 The Edge/Toronto – Sunday night at 7pm
• Q107/Toronto – Sunday night at 9pm
• Live 88-5/Ottawa – Saturdays at 9am and Sundays at 6pm
• 107.5 Dave-FM/Kitchener – Sunday nights at 11pm
• FM96/London – Sunday nights at 8pm
• Power 97/Winnipeg – Sunday nights at 10am and 10pm
• 107-3 The Edge/Calgary – Sundays at 10am and 10pm
• Sonic 102.9/Edmonton – Sunday at 8am and 8pm
• The Zone/Victoria – Sunday at 9am and 9pm
• The Fox/Vancouver – Sundays at 10am and 10pm
• The Goat Network/Interior BC
• WAPS/WKTL The Summit/Arkon, Canton, Cleveland, Youngstown – Mon-Fri at 9pm

© 2026 Corus Radio, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

If you’re any kind of musical artist, you need a logo. It’s part of your visual identity. But who was the first band to design their own logo?

This is something with a fuzzy history because musical artists have always used stylized fonts and looks for their names, going all the way back to at least the 1920s. But we do have to look at The Beatles. The logo with the “dropped-T” was designed by Ivor Arbiter in April 1963. He ran a drum shop called Drum City in Liverpool and sketched out the logo when Ringo came in to buy a new kit. A local sign painter named Eddie Stokes hand-drew the first logo on Ringo’s bass drum.

The first time anyone saw this new design was in May 1963. And because of what The Beatles became, they established the need for every band to have a logo.

© 2026 Corus Radio, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

The good news for the Winnipeg Jets was that they found a way to score on last year’s Vezina Trophy-winning goaltender four times Thursday night.

The bad news was that their opposition found the net six times.

A four-goal second-period surge by the Tampa Bay Lightning helped them defeat the Winnipeg Jets 6-4, sending Winnipeg to their seventh straight loss and a 4-6-3 record overall.

Jets head coach Scott Arniel shook up the team’s top forward lines, splitting up Kyle Connor and Mark Scheifele. It led to the Jets hitting the four-goal mark for just the second time this season.

But the defensive side of the puck was the problem on this night as the Jets gave up three goals in around three minutes for the second straight game.

“It’s pretty frustrating,” said Arniel. “Again, a three-minute span in the second period we gave up the three goals. And that’s, you’re a pro hockey player, that’s professionalism. You have a job to do, and staying focused and doing it.

“We can’t have those brain cramps. We can’t have those situations where you miss an assignment.”

The Jets trailed 5-1 after two periods but scored three times in the final frame to make it interesting before an empty-netter sealed their fate.

“We just weren’t sharp in all areas,” said Connor. “Power play, PK (penalty kill), 5-on-5, it was just a little flat. We needed a little bit of jam, and I think that’s kinda what led to success in the third.

“We are well aware that we haven’t played our best lately. We got to get out of this funk and maybe that third was kinda the recipe for success here. Hopefully we can kinda replicate that going forward.”

The Jets’ power play was 0-for-2 on the night and they’re now 0-for-16 on the man advantage over their last six games.

They’ve now given up the first goal in all of their last five straight contests.

“Just wasn’t good to start,” said Jets defenceman Neal Pionk. “Had a good effort in the third, but it’s too late. Kinda like Arny says all the time, we got to play a full 60 (minutes).”

Pionk had two goals in the loss, while Connor and Dylan Samberg had the other Jets markers. Scheifele recorded three assists after going four straight games without a point.

Dawson Mercer had an assist for his first point with the Jets, while Nico Daws replaced Stuart Skinner in goal for the third period and stopped all nine shots he faced.

After scoring just five goals in their last four games, Arniel shuffled his top two forward lines, moving Connor down to the second line, while transferring Gabriel Vilardi up to the top unit to separate Connor and Scheifele for the first time this season.

“I talked to both of them yesterday about it,” Arniel said. “And they were both strongly in favour of it.

“We need more than just one line scoring and they recognize it. I like the leadership in that perspective. Just now we need to come out with a win by doing it.”

The Lightning are now 6-0 on home ice this season.

Just over two minutes in, the Lightning struck first as Brayden Point got loose in the slot and ripped a shot past the blocker of Jets goaltender Stuart Skinner.

But before the period was out, the Jets responded as Pionk, playing in his 600th NHL game, one-timed a shot from the point and ripped it past Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy to tie the score.

With the game still tied just before the midway point of the game in the second period, the Lightning took over with a Manitoban beginning the Lightning surge. Strathclair’s Conor Geekie converted a pass from Dominic James on a partial two-on-one for the Tampa lead.

And then in the period’s final five minutes, the Lightning struck three times — Anthony Cirelli on the powerplay, John Carlson on a one-timer off a Pontus Holmberg pass, and Brandon Hagel capitalizing on a Jets turnover in their own zone.

Skinner was pulled at the second intermission after allowing five goals on 21 shots, meaning Daws made his debut in the third period after being traded from the New Jersey Devils last week.

And the Jets ended up making a game out of it with Samberg, Pionk, and Connor all scoring goals in the final frame, cutting the lead to one. But with Daws pulled, Holmberg scored on the empty net, giving him four points on the night.

Cirelli and Hagel both had three points while, for the Jets, Cole Perfetti added a pair.

The Jets are right back at it Friday night when they visit the Florida Panthers, looking for revenge after Tuesday’s 5-1 loss, with puck drop just after 6 p.m.

© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

The Canada-European Union summit got underway in Montreal Thursday without Quebec Premier Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, as his decision to stay away continued to draw criticism amid a dispute with Ottawa over Quebec’s role at the international gathering.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen was among the high-profile European leaders in Montreal for the two-day summit, delivering remarks in English as meetings began Thursday.

St-Pierre Plamondon chose not to attend after saying he would not accept being reduced to the role of a “spectator” without the opportunity to speak or negotiate on Quebec’s behalf.

Instead, the premier sent Quebec’s chief diplomat, Pascal Paradis, to represent the province. Paradis defended the premier’s decision Thursday, saying Quebec’s request to speak at the summit was normal and legitimate.

Industry Minister Mélanie Joly said the door remained open for St-Pierre Plamondon to attend.

“If he changes his mind and still wants to come, I’ll be happy to welcome him with open arms,” she said.

The premier had been invited to dinner at the head table alongside von der Leyen and European Council President Antonio Costa, but demanded an official opportunity to speak.

St-Pierre Plamondon said Wednesday he would not accept Quebec “falling into line” and being marginalized on the international stage.

“As premier, I will always refuse to see Quebec reduced to the role of spectator when it comes to representing and protecting the economic and political interests of Quebecers,” he wrote.

He also sent a letter to European representatives arguing that the federal government had decided to exclude Quebec from discussions at the summit and questioning whether Quebec would apply any new agreements that are signed.

Former federal foreign affairs adviser Louis Hamann described the dispute as embarrassing for those involved.

“It certainly looks over the last few days that we’ve been living through a bad Halloween horror movie,” Hamann said.

He said the disagreement was putting European officials in the middle of a domestic dispute.

“The Europeans, I mean, imagine being in their shoes. I mean they show up here, they land in Montreal, and they’re essentially walking into a family fight,” he said.

Hamann also warned St-Pierre Plamondon’s letter could have longer-lasting consequences. “That letter was pretty spicy,” he said.

“These words are not going to be forgotten easily. They’re not going to be forgotten in Ottawa, and they’re not gonna be forgotten in Brussels either.”

Prime Minister Mark Carney pushed back against the premier’s assertion that Quebec had been excluded, saying there had been four meetings with Quebec officials to discuss the summit.

Carney said he hoped to continue practising what he called co-operative federalism with St-Pierre Plamondon.

“I’ve found that that’s worked in all the other cases, so I’ll continue to practice that and be available to work with Monsieur St-Pierre Plamondon for the interests of Quebec,” Carney said.

Paradis, meanwhile, said he would be at the table to represent Quebec’s interests in discussions with the federal government and European Union.

The premier had previously said he wrote directly to EU representatives to argue that agreements involving Europe and Quebec must go through the Quebec government, particularly when a summit is being held in the province.

He also invited European representatives to hold a bilateral discussion “in a better context” that would allow Quebec to participate rather than be excluded.

Quebec Liberal Party Leader Charles Milliard has criticized the premier for staying away, arguing a letter to European representatives is no substitute for attending the summit.

“A letter does not replace a presence at the table,” Milliard said Wednesday. “The prime minister says he wants to meet with European leaders, but refuses to take part in the Canada-EU summit being held on our soil.”

Milliard accused St-Pierre Plamondon of passing up an opportunity to defend Quebec’s interests.

“Diplomacy requires building relationships and seizing opportunities to defend our interests. Not sulking because we don’t have a microphone,” he said. “Our partners will be at the table. The premier of Quebec, for his part, will leave his chair empty.”

Milliard added: “I’ll say it again: being absent means being the loser. What a lack of leadership.”

Hamann also questioned what the dispute could mean for St-Pierre Plamondon’s relationship with the federal government in the weeks and months ahead.

“If he is to react that way, in this case, imagine how he’ll react with all the other things that are coming down the pike,” he said.

The Canada-EU summit continues Friday.

–with files from The Canadian Press

 

© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

Three landslides in Summerland’s Garnet Valley sent rocks, water and debris onto property belonging to the Campbell family this week, highlighting the ongoing risks posed by slopes burned in this summer’s Bald Range wildfire.

The slides were triggered by heavy rain on Tuesday, with debris spilling into a field on the family’s property.

“It was a wall of rocks and water coming down into the field there,” said Marty Campbell of Campbell Creek Farm.

The family says the incident is a reminder that the danger did not end when the wildfire was contained.

The Bald Range fire burned vegetation from surrounding slopes, leaving the ground more vulnerable to erosion and increasing concerns about landslides during periods of heavy rainfall.

For Shawn Campbell, the possibility of another slide is a major concern.

“If that mountain behind us gives out and slides right into our houses, that would probably be our biggest fear right now,” he said.

The Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen (RDOS) is monitoring the potential impacts of heavy rainfall, while geotechnical assessments are underway in affected areas.

Erick Thompson, an information officer with the RDOS Emergency Operations Centre, said the regional district is working directly with residents who could be affected.

“The RDOS is certainly looking at the potential for impacts to property because of heavy rainfall events,” Thompson said.

“Sand and sandbags are also being made available directly to residents,” he added.

The landslides come as the B.C. Ministry of Forests releases a report outlining elevated hazards following this summer’s wildfire season.

The report indicates that the likelihood of additional slides varies depending on the terrain, with risks ranked from low to high.

Highway 97 is also identified as an area of concern. The report rates the probability of spatial impact to the highway and private properties on slopes above it as high.

The Ministry of Transportation directed Global News to the Ministry of Forests for comment. With a new provincial government not yet sworn in, communications remain limited while the government operates in caretaker mode.

The risks are not limited to Summerland.

The Central Okanagan Regional District has also warned of elevated hazards associated with the Quilchena fire south of La Casa, including concerns around the Westside Road area.

For residents who endured this summer’s wildfire season, the possibility of landslides and flooding adds another layer of uncertainty.

At Campbell Creek Farm, the fire had burned right up to the family’s doorstep. They stayed to defend their property and managed to save their livestock.

Now, after making it through the wildfire, they are facing another threat.

“The fire burned right to our doorstep. We were able to stay and fight it and save all our cattle and our horses and the chicken, and we thought we were through it,” Shawn Campbell said.

“And now it’s flood watch.”

For the Campbell family, Tuesday’s landslides are a stark reminder that the consequences of a wildfire can continue long after the flames are gone.

© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

Businesses just over the U.S. border in Whatcom County say the loss of Canadian shoppers continues to hit them hard.

“There’s been a little bit of ups and downs, but right now we’re actually at a little bit more than 20 per cent of a loss of business,” Echo Mae, owner of the Northwest Yarns in Bellingham, told Global News.

“And yeah, that’s directly attributable to Canadians not coming down here.”

The loss of business has meant difficult decisions, including cutting staff hours and shifting away from luxury products.

“A lasting impact, and if this continues, would be that we’d have to shut down the business, and we desperately don’t want to do that,” Mae said.

The drop in business is not unique to Northwest Yarns.

A new report from Western Washington University estimates Whatcom County lost around U.S. $64 million in Canadian spending between 2024 and 2025.

In early 2025, the Donald Trump administration began levying steep trade tariffs against Canada and made threats of taking over the nation — prompting a backlash that included scaling back cross-border travel and spending on American goods.

“The main takeaway from some of our research has been that Canadians who are still crossing the border are doing so less for economic reasons like shopping and purchasing gas, and more to visit family or friends or to recreate,” said Laurie Trautman, the director of the Border Policy Research Institute at the university.

The report shows Canadian shopping visits have dropped 71 per cent compared to 2019 — largely driven by the strained political and economic climate between the two countries and a weak Canadian dollar.

“Business were no longer treating this lack of Canadian visitors as a temporary situation that they sort of had to wait out,” Trautman said.

“They see this as a more medium to potentially longer-term scenario.”

While the loss of Canadian shoppers is significant, the Bellingham Regional Chamber of Commerce says the relationship between Canada and the U.S. goes far beyond retail.

“We’re here and ready to welcome all of you back when you’re ready to be back,” president and CEO Guy Occhiogrosso said.

Mae said that the familiar Canadian shoppers can’t come back soon enough.

“Oh gosh, we miss them so much,” she said. “We miss all of you so much.”

© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

Alberta’s United Conservative government is making changes to standardize school report cards.

Minister of Education Demetrios Nicolaides has introduced legislation which, if passed, will grant him authority to set guidelines for those report cards.

Nicolaides said Thursday it’s a provincial responsibility and cited confusion he’s heard from parents about the grading scales used in many elementary schools.

“I do hear a lot of questions from parents around the one to four grading system that a lot of school divisions use in elementary, and some continued confusion over what they mean,” he said.

When asked if Albertans can expect a provincewide letter grading system, Nicolaides said they haven’t made any final decisions.

The goal, should Bill 35 pass, will be to have the new rules in place by the fall of 2027 in public, separate, and Francophone schools, although Nicolaides said the province won’t dictate a single format or reporting platform.

NDP critic Rakhi Pancholi said the bill is another example of Premier Danielle Smith’s government interfering with the responsibilities of local school boards rather than helping improve the system.

She said standardizing report cards is not an urgent public concern.

“It astounds me that this government continues to be so clueless about the priorities of Albertans,” she said, pointing to crowded classrooms and children who don’t have necessary classroom supports.

If passed, the bill — named the Education and Childcare (Securing Parental Involvement) Statutes Amendment Act, 2026 —will also require all school authorities to publicly report details about how teachers are spending their days when students aren’t in class.

Nicolaides said the aim is transparency. He said he’s hearing concerns from parents that teacher professional development days are frequent.

The bill also proposes compelling school boards to create a process for dealing with unresolved parent concerns.

On top of Thursday’s legislation, the provincial government said it is in the process of developing its own online complaint portal to field parents’ concerns about schools.

Nicolaides said the portal will not give the government the ability to directly intervene in how a school division resolves a dispute. He said it’s a data collection exercise to identify broader issues across the province.

Pancholi likened the portal to a “big overarching eye” meant to gather ammunition to target teachers rather than resolve issues.

She said kids, schools, and school boards are different around the province, and already have elected school boards to make sure that what’s happening in classrooms reflects local interests.

“This is a government that loves to set provincial policy based on anecdotes that somebody’s heard,” she said.

In a statement, the Alberta Teachers’ Association said clear communication with families is already part of their work.

“What problem is this legislation trying to solve, and why doesn’t it apply equally to independent schools?” the association asked.

It called the online tool to gather complaints about schools redundant, and a new reporting requirement for professional development days “concerning” because it suggests teachers aren’t using that time responsibly.

The association added that every new government initiative demands teachers’ time and attention which could instead be directed toward student learning and support.

There are other proposals in the bill that impact licensed child-care operators, also part of Nicolaides’ portfolio.

Pancholi said the NDP was pleased to see the government taking action in the bill to ensure parents are notified about serious incidents in child-care facilities.

The bill comes after an Edmonton child-care operator took two months to inform parents about sexual assault allegations last year involving a worker. The incident sparked calls for reform from parents.

Currently, providers don’t need to inform parents — only to post a notice — when these incidents are flagged by a licensing officer, and a safety plan is not legally required.

Nicolaides’ legislation would change that and, if needed, give the authority to the government to post notices publicly.

Still, Nicolaides acknowledged they may be limited in sharing information if there are active criminal investigations.

© 2026 The Canadian Press

A jury has found a man guilty of first-degree murder for a second time in the shooting death of a Vancouver senior.

In January 2019, 69-year-old Zenen Cepeda Silva was gunned down while he was sitting on a porch on Fraser Street in Vancouver with his wife.

Alvaro Julio Roche Garcia was arrested shortly after.

Silva’s wife suffered a stroke before the first trial and never took the stand. The jury did hear audio recording of her testimony in a preliminary inquiry that her husband’s dying words were “look how Alvaro has killed me.”

B.C.’s highest court found the trial judge made an error by allowing the jury to consider this alleged declaration as fact when the testimony was never cross-examined. That, and a couple other issues, resulted in the conviction being was struck down in 2024 and a new trial was ordered.

 

Now, after five weeks of trial, the new jury has found Roche-Garcia is guilty of first-degree murder, but a motive in the case was never made clear.

 

In this trial, Crown counsel Daniel Port said the couple knew the accused for about 15 years during their time living in Albuquerque, New Mexico and Vancouver.

Garcia told the court he had no reason to shoot and kill Silva.

His lawyer argued there was a lack of hard evidence linking Garcia to the crime.

A sentencing hearing is now set to be held next month.

© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

A historic first for Trey Vaval.

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers’ electrifying kick returner was named the CFL’s top special-teams player for a second straight season Thursday.

Vaval became the first player in league history to capture the honour in two straight years.

The 26-year-old from Blue Springs, Mo., led the league with 2,868 total kick return yards, averaging 13.8 yards per punt return and 24.2 yards per kickoff return.

He had two touchdowns — an 88-yard kickoff return and a 129-yard missed field goal return.

Vaval was also the CFL’s top rookie in 2025.

Vaval earned 133 votes from the Football Reporters of Canada, ahead of Edmonton kicker Vincent Blanchard (94) and Calgary returner Tyreik McAllister (77).

© 2026 The Canadian Press