Touchdown Atlantic returns as Argos, Riders write new East Coast CFL chapter

Touchdown Atlantic, the Canadian Football League's trip to the East Coast, returns Saturday as the Toronto Argonauts face the Saskatchewan Roughriders in Wolfville, Nova Scotia.

Saturday’s game (TSN, 2 pm ET/ 3 pm AT) at Acadia University marks the first time the event has been held on the East Coast in three years.

While today it’s referred to as the "Touchdown Atlantic Series,” the idea of playing neutral site games is a concept that’s not new to the CFL or restricted to Canada’s East Coast.

The idea has roots dating back to 1986 when Saint John, New Brunswick, hosted an exhibition game between the Montreal Alouettes and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. The following year saw the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and the Alouettes make the trip to the Picture Province.

Quebec, the provincial host of the Alouettes, also got in on the non-traditional site craze in 2003 when the Als hosted the then Ottawa Renegades at the The Pavillon de l'éducation physique et des sports de l'Université Laval, affectionally known as PEPS.

The year 2005 saw the first installment of the "modern-day" Touchdown Atlantic Series. It was played at Saint Mary's University's Huskies Stadium in Halifax, N.S., when the Tiger-Cats and Argonauts, again, made the trip out east for a preseason game.

A second game was slated to be played in 2006 between the Renegades and the Alouettes, but the Renegades franchise was suspended only to be revitalized as the Redblacks in 2014.

That particular trip out east was different for the league and the motivations were deeper than just putting on a football game as the league considered expansion.

While the game ended in a 16-16 tie, the visit was to test the waters for the potential plotting of a 10th CFL team, later pitched as the