I’ll be the first to admit my excitement for Saturday’s season-opening game for the Edmonton Elks.
After all, it’s been years since I really followed this team as closely as I have in the last six months.
I grew up with a close eye on this team, especially in the Danny Maciocia era in the late 2000s and into the early 2010s. Ricky Ray, Jason Tucker, A.J. Gass, Kamau Peterson, Fred Stamps, Calvin McCarty, Mark Restelli, Jerome Messam, Adarius Bowman, Nate Coehoorn, Mike Reilly, and the list goes on.
I had a falling out with football after suffering concussions playing, and by the time I graduated high school in 2013, I was off to college, and I struggled to get back into the CFL. The turnover in the league made it hard for me to fall back in love with dedicating the required time to follow the sport as intently as I do hockey.
Now, it’s hard not to be excited about the direction the team is heading. They’ve built out a strong coaching staff led by Mark Kilam and management staff led by Ed Hervey, entering their second year at the helm, and are fresh off an off-season where they made their mark on the team.
They rebuilt their offensive line, picked up a big-time receiver in Austin Mack, committed to Cody Fajardo being the guy at quarterback, and have a workhorse in the backfield in Justin Rankin.
The defence, meanwhile, is largely being returned from last year and that’s good news, as under defensive coordinator J.C. Sherritt, they found their stride in the back half of last season. Despite losing Jake Ceresna, they replaced him with Malik Carney, and the linebacking corps looks strong with Nick Anderson, Brock Mogensen, Joel Dublanko, and Dariel Djabombe. Tyrell Ford and Kordell Jackson head a strong secondary that’s never shy to fly around.
Now, it’s about putting it all together — easier said than done. Getting off to a strong start will be key for the Elks this season, especially considering they went 1-6 in their first seven games in 2025. It put them behind the eight-ball all season, trying to find ways to make up ground.
The Elks’ Game 1 struggles are well known, dropping five straight season openers, catalyzing a chain reaction of losses. In 2024, they started the year 0-7. In 2023, they went 0-9. In 2022, they went 0-3. In 2021, they went 0-2. It’s time to buck the trend.
Edmonton Elks @ Ottawa Redblacks
- Date: Saturday, June 6, 2026
- Kickoff: 5 p.m. MT
- Location: Ottawa, Ont.
- Venue: TD Place
- Watch: TSN
- Weather at kickoff via Environment Canada: 21 degrees, showers, risk of thunderstorm. 80 per cent chance of precipitation. Winds 30 km/h with gusts up to 50 km/h.
FIELD GOALS
Head coach Mark Kilam: “We haven’t played as a starting group for 60 minutes, so we’re going to find out about ourselves. We know what kind of journey we’re on, we know what our goals are inside the room and now we’ve got to go to the field and see who we’re going to be.”
LB Joel Dublanko: “Our talk and our emphasis, and the way our team has been this whole (pre-season) so far and even in the offseason, is urgency. We’re trying to speed things along in the process. We don’t want to start out slow, we’re looking to start out hot. We’re excited to get this opportunity over in Ottawa, and it’s going to be a great challenge.”
DB Tyrell Ford: “New players, but we’ve played against … them, they might have just been on different (teams), so we have their tendencies. As for the coaches, coaches in the league all switch around, so we’ve played against them before, so we’ve got all our stuff together and we’re preparing for them, so we’ll see if we prepared right.”
DOWN AND DISTANCE
The Ottawa Redblacks will be without starting running back Greg Bell after being placed on the one-game injured list. Despite being a full participant in practice this week while dealing with a stiff neck, it flared up Thursday night, leading Redblacks head coach Ryan Dinwiddie into a tough spot. Elijah Collins will take his spot.
“He had a setback — his neck got a little tight on him. It was a last-second thing,” said Dinwiddie Friday. “He wanted to work through it. Then it got inflamed on him, so he wasn’t available for contact. He could probably fight through it for the game, but we don’t want it to be a long-term injury. We don’t want to risk it.
“Elijah’s a good back; he and Greg are a bit different. (Elijah’s) maybe a bit more downhill, where Greg’s a bit shiftier. (Elijah) and Daniel (Adeboboye) will split the load. We trust those guys.”
The Redblacks are dealing with other injuries, too. Defensive back Amari Henderson is on the one-game list, while DB King Ambers, FB Emeric Boutin and REC Nick Mardner are all on the six-game injured list.
DEPTH CHARTS
Elks
Redblacks
