On Tuesday the Edmonton Elks announced that Ed Hervey will become the new Vice President of Football Operations and General Manager of the Edmonton Elks. Hervey and Elks President and CEO Chris Morris will address the media Wednesday morning at Commonwealth Stadium. Hervey played the entirety of his eight-year CFL career (1999-2006) and was on the team with Elks President and CEO Chris Morris when Edmonton won two Grey Cups (2003 and 2005). Hervey built an Edmonton team that went 14-4 in 2015 and captured the Grey Cup with a 26-20 win over the Ottawa Redblacks.
Hervey will now begin the process of hiring a head coach and assembling his football operations staff in preparation for the 2025 season, the team said.
Yesterday the Edmonton Elks announced that Chris Morris, 3 time Grey Cup champ with the Eskimos will be the new president and CEO. Morris was an offensive lineman with Edmonton from 1992 to 2005 and has spent the last 12 years as head coach of the UofA’s Golden Bears football team. The Elks have struggled in recent years and haven’t made the playoffs since 2019 so Morris has quite the challenge before him beginning with hiring new support staff who will work together to change the recent trend.
Crazy finished are not uncommon in the CFL, but head coach Jarious Jackson said “that’s one of the craziest finishes I’ve seen”. The Elks down 20-9 entering the fourth quarter of the contest. With less than a minute left in the game the Elks moved the ball 90 yards in two plays to take the lead. Then Toronto tied the game with a field goal, and it was unto overtime.
With the game on the line and a third down on the Toronto 34-yard line, head coach Jackson chose the record setting foot of Jake Julien to finish off the game, and he did with what is known in the CFL as a rouge.
Although the Elks has a losing record for the season, it was an impressive win to close out the season. No doubt there will be many changes in the off season, and hopefully the last win performance by many will secure them a long look for next season.
Commonwealth Stadium which was originally built for the 1978 Commonwealth Games and has hosted countless football games, international athletics competitions, concerts, the Heritage Classic hockey game, numerous other events and drawn millions of people to the facility over the past 46 years. Although the stadium has been upgraded many times since first opening a major renovation is needed to ensure its viability as a stadium for future generations. The same day renderings of a renovated Commonwealth Stadium were shown on the City's website, Larry Thompson, new owner of the Edmonton Elks said he has started talking to the city about what needs to be done to upgrade the team's longtime home.
The city-owned and operated facility does get regular maintenance but major upgrades are required to modernize the space, enhance peoples' overall experience so Commonwealth Stadium can continue to host events and entertainment well into the future.
Now the BIG question that needs to be asked and answered is who would for what will surely be an extensive and expensive facelift for Commonwealth Stadium?
It was a great news weekend for Edmonton Elks & Oilers fans.
For the first time in years the Edmonton Elks won the Labor Day classic over the Calgary Stampeders and hopefully will repeat that Saturday evening.
Then Edmonton Oilers fans got the news they were waiting for. Leon Draisaital has signed an eight year contract extension with the Oilers and In an interview earlier today Draisaital said he'd like to be an Edmonton Oiler for all of his NHL career.
After a 0-5 start to this season in which they lost four straight games by exactly three points, including the last three on game-winning field goals as time expired. Coming close doesn't add points to the stats so Elks’ president and CEO Rick LeLacheur made the difficult decision and move during this stage of the season to bring the Chris Jones era with the Elks to an end.
The season is still salvageable so Geroy Simon will take over as interim general manager, while offensive co-ordinator and quarterbacks coach Jarious Jackson will become the team’s interim head coach and offensive play-caller.
With all the excitement and anticipation surrounding the Oilers playing the Florida Panthers in the Stanley Cup most of the focus has been on the OIlers but the Edmonton Elks are anoher team to keep your eyes on. The season opens Saturday 5:00 PM. against their arch nemesis the Saskatchewan Roughriders. No doubt that eyes are on the new look Elks team but even more the eyes may be on the Elks head coach and general manager, Chris Jones. This is the 3rd year of his 4 year contract and the last two seasons 4-14 records have the fans and management looking for an improvement.
Let's add our voice to theEdmonton sports scene with a resounding GO ELKS GO!
The last game of the exhibition season is against the Saskatchewang Roughriders this weekend and then the same RoughRiders come here to get the Edmonton Elks 2024 CFL season. Prior to the beginning of the season Edmonton Public Transit says LRT construction will mean some slight modifications to the Edmonton ElksPark & Ride free transit offering. The program gives free transit rides to anyone with a game-day Elks ticket from two hours before every home game to two hours after.
Both the the Valley Line LRT and the Park & Ride lot at Lewis Farms (1021 Webber Greens Dr.will have limited parking because of Valley Line West LRT construction. For further details click the link below.
Click here to get more details on the full CFL schedule
With all the excitement surrounding the Oilers playoff run its easy to forget that Edmonton has another professional team that sports fans get excited about. The Elks have been busy in the off season making changes on the defensive side of the ball. A common saying around football fans is "defense wins games" and the Elks hope the changes they have made will take them to the CFL playoffs.
CFL football is unique and exciting so get out and support the EDMONTON ELKS. GO ELKS GO!!!
The Edmonton Elks have been a community owned CFL club since they were founded in 1949 but that may soon be coming to an end. The COVID pandemic, operations decisions and on field struggles that last few seasons have all contributed to the club's financial struggles. A five-person committee has been tasked with reviewing its ownership structure as the club deals with mounting losses.
Today is the 2nd game of the Oilers/Kings playoff series and with all the media coverage and hoopla surrounding that its easy to forget that Edmonton has another great team to cheer on, the Edmonton Elks.
Yesterday the new name, a new front office and coaching staff met to make their 10 selections in the CFL draft. The first pre-season game is Friday, May 27th against Winnipeg Blue Bombers last year's Grey Cup champs. The official season begins June 11th and ends October 21st, both games against the BC Lions. Check the full schedule and purchase tickets to games you want to attend or season tickets for what looks to be a much impoved season.
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