Members of the Calgary Blizzard are ready for the biggest match of their lives. Blizzard qualified for the Canadian Championship last season after they beat St. Albert to win the Alberta Premier League Championship. Next week they travel to Montreal to take on their MLS squad in the opening match of the 2026 Telus Canadian Championship, which features 15 teams from coast to coast competing for the Voyageur Cup. The lineup includes clubs from Major League Soccer, the Canadian Premier League and Premier Soccer Leagues Canada, so the quality of competition is pretty stiff for the Blizzard. Or -- as head coach Ramon Mifflin says -- not bad for a bunch of university students. “These guys are (eventually) going to be accountants, engineers and businessmen,” Mifflin said. “They get to play in this game, which is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and they want to have some fun with it.” Fit and ready The Blizzard have been preparing for this game for a month, playing friendlies against Cavalry FC (who are also in the tournament) and Mount Royal University. Co-captain Moe El Gandour has been playing soccer his whole life and admits he’ll feel some nerves at the start of the game but thinks he’ll be able to settle down. “I tend to let the excitement take over and being able to play this game for a long time you’re in a lot of big moments and a lot of big matches over the lifetime of playing football.” “But I think it’s just enjoy the moment and enjoy every moment of the process and when you step on the field take a big deep breath and just have a go.” Underdogs They’re no doubt the Blizzard will go into this match as huge underdogs. Mifflin says they’ll have to embrace that role. “It’s a David vs Goliath proposition,” said Mifflin. “Nobody expects us to make any noise in this game so we’re huge underdogs but the game has to be played and we’ve prepared the best that we can,” Ready for the challenge Marco Plenzkik is the Blizzard’s other captain and says they have belief because in sports anything can happen. “It’s always 11 (players) vs. 11 (players) so you never know,” said Plenzkik. “Obviously (our focus is on) being humble and being level, grounded and just fully maintaining that concentration as we approach that game and focusing on how we can start the game well and carry through the whole 90 minutes.” El Gandour said that even though it’s against all odds, he’s still confident he and his teammates can get the job done. “You see it in the highest levels of football. On any given day any team can beat any team.” The game between Blizzard and Montreal will be played on Wednesday. There’s a watch party at The Banquet in the University District Wednesday. Kickoff is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Cavalry FC take on Pacific FC on May 9.
