Redblacks play Als in June 25 opener

The Ottawa Redblacks will have to get up to speed quickly for their second season.

The Canadian Football League released its 2015 schedule on Friday, and it will begin with the Redblacks travelling to Hamilton to face the Tiger-Cats in a preseason contest on June 8, barely more than a week after the start of training camp.

Their final preseason contest will be five days later, on June 13 against the Montreal Alouettes. Because TD Place stadium will be in use for the FIFA Women’s World Cup of soccer at that time, the CFL contest will be held at Quebec City’s PEPS stadium, home of the Université Laval Rouge et Or, confirmed Jeff Hunt, president of sports for Redblacks owner Ottawa Sports & Entertainment Group.

The Redblacks will then have 12 more days to prepare for the regular-season opener at Montreal against the Alouettes on Thursday, June 25. Their first home game, against the B.C. Lions, is scheduled for Saturday, July 4, at 6 p.m.

The Redblacks’ regular season ends Nov. 7 (4 p.m.) at home against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.

This year’s Grey Cup game will be played Nov. 29 at Winnipeg ’s Investors Group Field.

The Redblacks also announced the retirement of long-snapper Kevin Scott, an Ottawa native, and the signings of two Americans: quarterback Brock Jensen and linebacker Evan Frierson.

Jensen, 24, won three NCAA Division II national titles with North Dakota State and had two stints on the roster of the NFL’s Miami Dolphins. Also 24, Frierson played U.S. college football at Illinois and Illinois State.

Scott, 30, played two seasons with the Saskatchewan Roughriders and three with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats before signing with the Redblacks as a free agent in February 2014.