Stingers open pro basketball season Saturday on national TV

Nick Hornsby, Edmonton Stingers

The national basketball spotlight will be shining Saturday afternoon on Edmonton.

That’s when the Edmonton Stingers will be hosting the Winnipeg Sea Bears to begin the Canadian Elite Basketball League’s 2026 regular season slate, with the game broadcast on national television and on a clutch of streaming platforms.

The Western Division clash starts at 1:30 p.m. at the Edmonton Expo Centre.

And it will feature the return of former Stingers guard Xavier Moon, who signed with the Sea Bears in the offseason to mark his return to the CEBL after four seasons playing pro in the United States, including time with the NBA’s Los Angeles Clippers.

Moon starred in Edmonton when the Stingers won back-to-back league championships in 2020 and ’21. The 10-team circuit began play in 2019, with the Stingers among the original six teams.

“It’s a testament to the growth of the league as well that somebody that has NBA experience would want to come back and invest and be a part of it,” Jordan Baker, the team’s head coach and general manager, said on the CEBL’s website.

“We’re only in Year 8, which seems like a lifetime for people that have been here from the beginning, but in relative terms, it’s still a very young league, and continuing to grow and people that get on board early and are able to help push things forward, they’re going to reap the rewards of that for sure.”

Saturday’s game will be broadcast live on CBC TV, CBC Gem, cbcsports.ca, the CBC Sports YouTube channel and CEBL+.

The Stingers are coming into 2026 with two key additions to the roster: forwards Dain Dainja and Isaac Jack.

The 23-year-old Dainja, who stands six-foot-nine and 255 lb., averaged 14.3 points and six rebounds while playing 22.5 minutes per game this past season for the Sioux Falls Skyforce in the NBA G League.

Jack, a six-foot-11, 250-lb. Canadian from Port Alberni, B.C., joins the Stingers out of U.S. college ball. The 23-year-old started in all 33 games last season as a senior for the NCAA Division 1 University of the Pacific Tigers, for whom he average 9.1 points and 5.3 rebounds per game.

They join a roster led by returning players three-year veteran Nick Hornsby, Mason Bourcier, Mike Nuga and Aaron Rhooms.

Edmonton finished third in a strong Western Conference last season, falling in the post-season play-in round to the Calgary Surge, who eventually advanced to the CEBL title game only to fall to the Niagara River Lions.