Is there something in the water in Edmonton when it comes to pro sports teams making in-season coaching changes lately?
We all know how it worked out last year, when the Edmonton Oilers replaced Jay Woodcroft with Kris Knoblauch following a sputtering 3-9-1 start to the NHL season, only to see the team rebound all the way to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final.
It’s not like Woodcroft was doing a poor job, by any means, having earned a .643 win percentage that stood as the franchise record among head coaches at the time of his departure.
No, they just weren’t winning when they were supposed to, and Knoblauch got them back on track on the way to establishing a new club benchmark with a .703 win percentage.
Over on the gridiron, the Elks weren’t winning. At all.
And the difference in these examples is no one was actually expecting them to, so an 0-5 start to the Canadian Football League season didn’t really raise any eyebrows around the league or the city.
Not after going winless over the entire first half of the previous season, on a run that had seen them trapped in the basement of the West Division with just 11 combined wins to show for the past three years.
Then, all of a sudden, Chris Jones gets shown the door and, after a couple more weeks of spinning their tires, the Elks now find themselves the hottest team in the league having won five of their last six.
Back-to-back wins in the Labour Day Series saw them climb out of last place in the West to sit fourth coming out of a bye week, in preparation for another back-to-back. This one against the division-leading Winnipeg Blue Bombers.
Edmonton sits just one point behind the Saskatchewan Roughriders for third place — a spot that represents a playoff position in their own division. Something the franchise hasn’t enjoyed since 2017. You remember? The perplexing 20-yard-field-goal call by Jason Maas in the dying seconds despite trailing the Calgary Stampeders by a touchdown …
But that’s another story. (And Maas can wipe away that tearful memory with the same finger he puts his 2023 Grey Cup ring on, I’m sure, as his defending champion Montreal Alouettes became the first team to punch a playoff ticket this year).
While the Elks made it to the eastern final two years later, they haven’t been back since.
But that’s all about to change right away.
Playoff picture
As it stands, the Elks appear destined for the post-season.
Not only will they make it, they will make it in their own division, where they can quite plausibly finish anywhere from third to first place. Yes, you read that right.
With five games remaining, if the Elks manage to win Saturday’s home game (5 p.m., TSN, 630 CHED) against the aforementioned Bombers (7-6), there is a good chance they split the upcoming home-and-away series, which would put Edmonton at 6-9 on the season. They would then have Saskatchewan (5-7-1) at home and another trip to Calgary (4-8-1), before recharging with another bye week ahead of their regular-season finale against the Toronto Argonauts (7-6).
Running the table against the Riders, Stamps and Argos is certainly achievable for the playoff-starved Elks. And if the Bombers go 2-3 the rest of the way to also end up 9-9, then every point scored over these next two weeks would determine who finishes ahead in post-season seeding.
For as bad as the B.C. Lions (7-7) looked last week, they will springboard off this bye and end their schedule on a 3-1 run to finish first place in the West at 10-8. Then again, one more stumble could make for a three-way tie for first at 9-9.
In that case, it would come down to the head-to-head between the three teams, where both the Elks and Bombers own the season series over B.C., making these next two games even more important for Edmonton.
Bottom line, the Elks will make the playoffs, either third, second or first in the West.
Jonesing for recognition
Take nothing away from offensive co-ordinator Jarious Jackson. He has made massive headway since taking on the title of interim head coach in the wake of Chris Jones’ dismissal.
The Elks have gone 5-3 in his absence, already eclipsing their annual number of wins from each of the previous three years, and appear to be firing on all cylinders — finally — in stringing together five of their last six.
But how much of the credit should go to Jones, who has since joined the coaching staff of his friend and Hamilton Tiger-Cats head coach Scott Milanovich?
OK, maybe not Chris Jones the head coach, who went 8-33 in his return to Edmonton’s sideline without a sniff of the post-season. But rather Chris Jones the general manager.
He was, after all, the architect of the Elks team we are watching take to the field without him.
But you don’t have to listen to me. Take it from one of his former players, who won a Grey Cup together during Jones’ first time in Edmonton, when he didn’t also have the GM duties to balance. (Back when his head coaching record was an impressive 26-10, while also going 3-1 in the playoffs).
“Or better yet admit that he built a really good team with the Elks,” former defensive tackle Eddie Steele posted on twitter.com. “No help was parachuted in after he was fired, it’s the exact same roster that started 0-7 and lost four games by a field goal.
“He might not have coached it well, but he did build it strongly.”
Driving force
Larry Thompson is taking his new purchase for a joyride. Quite literally.
When we last left the freshly minted private owner of the Double-E, it looked more like a sitcom episode involving Larry David than anyone.
There was Thompson, behind the wheel of the Elks touchdown truck, an antique miniature fire engine painted in what else? Green and gold, of course.
You’ve seen it racing around the track surrounding the field at Commonwealth Stadium after the home team gets into the end zone for – say it with me – High. School. Football!
Well, when they handed Thompson the keys to the franchise, it also included one for the ignition of the truck.
And his maiden voyage in the captain’s chair during the Labour Day Rematch didn’t disappoint.
Picture his lovely wife in the passenger seat, less and less calm as she asks him what he’s doing, while the old-timey automobile continues chugging its way closer and closer to the Calgary Stampeders bench, barely slowing down as opposing players and staff were pressed to get out of the way as the Thompson Express went to cut a path clear down the opposing sideline.
He eventually corrected course, of course. And no one was harmed during filming, as the display of power over the provincial rivals was more fanciful than frantic.
And besides, the Stamps were already getting run over out on the field, on the way to falling 37-16 to witness Edmonton sweep the annual Labour Day Series for the first time in 20 years.
If his intention was to help get the Elks pointed in the right direction, steering straight for the heart of the historically hated Stampeders is a fine start, indeed.
Hey, all’s fair in love and rivalries, no?
By the Numbers: The Elks are a league-worst 1-6 vs. East Division opponents … Edmonton’s 29.6 points per game leads the league, as do their 117.3 rushing yards per game … The Elks surrender a league-worst 386.7 yards per game, including a CFL-high 309.5 passing yards per game … Edmonton’s turnover ratio of plus-16 leads the league, as do their 20 interceptions … No team has given up more plays than the 28 by Edmonton … Their field-goal conversion of 74.2 per cent is the worst in the league, as does their punt-return average of 9.3 yards … Their 69.9-yard kickoff average leads the league … Javon Leake’s rushing average of 6.3 yards per carry leads the league as does Tevin Jones’ 27.5 yards per catch. He also has the two longest receptions of the year at 93 and 81 yards … Nyles Morgan leads the league with 84 tackles … Jake Julien leads the league with a punt average of 54.3 yards and net punt average of 39.8 yards.
E-mail: [email protected]
On Twitter: @GerryModdejonge
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