A year ago Kris Newman walked into the Canadian Madden Final a relatively unknown player from the greater Toronto area. By the end of the day, he walked away as the 4th Canadian Champion of Madden and with a plane ticket to Hawaii, where he won the international bracket of the tournament(See Video of Canadian Finals).

Enter 2007. The Madden field is one year more mature, regional qualifiers will be bringing in the top three finishers at each event, all making Toronto the hotspot for Madden in North America this weekend.

While 2006 semifinalist and 2005 runner-up Matt Karam will not be returning to play in this year's Madden Challenge other top players will be in the mix. 2006 runner-up Mohammed Abdullah will be returning after dominating the field at the Sherway Gates regional qualifier. Top 8 finisher Don Burns also looks to return after falling in the quarterfinal to eventual runner-up Mohammad Abdullah by the score of 21-17.

In the 2006 tournament, Burns scored 35 points on kick returns for touchdowns. Needless to say, his stickwork is sensational and will be a tough out for even the best Madden players at the competition. One change from a year ago, Burns plans to play as the Chicago Bears and not as the Cincinnati Bengals as he did a year ago.

Also returning will be one of the many young phenoms from the 2006 event, Sean Graham. At the age of 14 became the youngest regional qualifier champion ever. Graham will return this year and will utilize Michael Vick and the Atlanta Falcons.

Another tough competitor will be Gurp Badasha, three time winner of the Vancouver qualifier. See page 2 for a full interview with Gurp.