The Elks kickoff their 2026 home schedule against the Montreal Alouettes on June 20, with a return engagement on August 8 in Montreal. These 2 teams arguably own the best Grey Cup Rivalry in CFL History.
These teams are coming off a year where they split the season series winning in each other’s stadiums.The Elks have lost the last 5 games to the Alouettes at Commonwealth. It is the longest win streak for Montreal in Edmonton in its history but the Elks have a Home Opener winning percentage of 0.671. The Elks need to take advantage of their fresh bodies as Montreal has played the last 5 consecutive weeks. In the Elks win last year vs the Alouettes, they came from behind and got 2 4th quarter TD’s from Kaion Julien-Grant, the last one with 0:15 seconds left on the clock, to win 23-22
CFL Week 3 – Game 1 Analysis – Saturday June 20 at Commonwealth Stadium
Happy Home Opener.
The Elks need to get off to a good start at home. In the 17 seasons where the team has missed the playoffs, the Elks were 3-13-1 (0.206) in Home Openers (47-11-1 (0.805) when making the playoffs)
The Elks are currently on a 5 game losing streak in Home Openers including last year’s game, a 38-28 loss to the Alouettes. The Elks last Home Opener win came in 2019 in a 32-25 win against the Alouettes.
The Elks are coming off the Week 2 bye and have 14 days between games. Montreal has 8 days since their last game against the Argonauts.
CFL Week 10 – Game 2 Analysis – Saturday August 8 at Montreal
This will be the 9th regular season game for both teams as they get into the dog days of summer. The past 5 seasons, the Elks have been: 2-6, 2-6, 0-8, 1-7 & 2-6 going into their 9th game. Ideally an 8-0 record is desirable but only achieved once in Elks history back in 1955. The Elks have had a 50% winning percentage or better in 53 of 76 seasons (0.697) and would be in the hunt for the playoffs if they achieve that this season.
The History
Montreal was Edmonton’s first interlocking game on August 19, 1961. Edmonton won that game 33-0 as the EE picked up 28 first downs to the Alouettes 7. Edmonton dominated the series 23-7-2 (0.750 winning pct) when the Montreal Concordes folded after the 1986 season. The re-born Alouettes, rising from the Baltimore Stallions ashes, have the edge with 22 wins in 41 games since reintroduction as the Als in 1996. The Jason Maas coached teams are currently 4-1. That 0.800 winning percentage by Jason Maas is the highest win rate by former EE Head Coaches against the EE. Maas, though, is 19 wins behind the legendary Don Matthews in total wins by a former EE Head Coach with 23 total wins
The 2 cities have played in 1 Eastern Division Semi-Final, 1 Eastern Final & 11 Grey Cup Games:
-2008 East Final Montreal 36 – Edmonton 426
-2019 East Semi Final Edmonton 37 – Montreal 29
Grey Cups
-1954 Edmonton 26 – Montreal 25
-1955 Edmonton 34 – Montreal 19
-1956 Edmonton 50 – Montreal 27
-1974 Montreal 20 – Edmonton 7
-1975 Edmonton 9 – Montreal 8
-1977 Montreal 41 – Edmonton 6
-1978 Edmonton 20 – Montreal 13
-1979 Edmonton 17 – Montreal 9
-2002 Montreal 25 – Edmonton 16
-2003 Edmonton 34 – Montreal 22
-2005 Edmonton 38 – Montreal 35 OT
Common Players/Staff between the two Organizations
Current: McLeod Bethel-Thompson, Cody Fajardo, Scott Hutter, Kaion Julien-Grant, Jason Maas, Danny Maciocia, Noel Thorpe
Historic: Bruce Beaton, Boris Bede, Steve Charbonneau, Carl Crennell, Damon Duval, Peter Eshenko, Johnny Evans, Frank Filchock, Tracy Ham, Matt Kellett, Jim Kemp, Norm Kimball, Pete Lavarato, Garry Lefebvre, Don Matthews, Jerome Messam, Elfrid Payton, Doug Petersen, Mike Pringle, Davis Sanchez, Michael Soles, Brett Williams, Pierre Vercheval, Pat Woodcock, Sean Whyte, Dan Youchum, Terry Vaughn
The Stats
Elks Record when:
Elks record in Home Opener: 50-24-2 (0.671)
Elks record in Home opener vs Montreal: 3-2-0 (0.600)
Elks Record vs Montreal: 50-36-2 (0.580)
Elks Record vs Montreal at Home: 30-15-0 (0.667)
Elks Record vs Montreal at Away: 20-21-2 (0.488)
Elks Record on June 20: This is the first game on June 20th in Elks history
Elks Record on August 8: 2-4-0 (0.333)
The last 10
Elks Record vs last 10 Montreal Games: 3-7-0 (0.300)
Elks Record vs last 10 Montreal Games at Home: 5-5-0 (0.500) *Current 5 game losing streak
Elks Record vs last 10 Montreal Games on the Road: 7-3-0 (0.700)
Last time Edmonton swept season series: 2018
Last time Montreal swept season series: 2024
| 2025 Head-to-Head Statistical Comparison | ||||||
| Edmonton Offensive Rankings | Montreal Defensive Rankings | |||||
| Rank | Total | Avg | Rank | Tot | Avg | |
| 8 | 422 | 23.4 | POINTS FOR/ALLOWED | 4 | 430 | 23.9 |
| 6 | 40 | TDS | T3 | 41 | ||
| T8 | 35 | FGS | 2 | 40 | ||
| 9 | 5665 | 314.7 | NET OFFENCE | 1 | 6091 | 338.4 |
| 5 | 1766 | 98.1 | RUSHING YARDS | 6 | 1856 | 103.1 |
| 8 | 4392 | 244 | PASSING YARDS | 1 | 4625 | 256.9 |
| 6 | 6.2 | AVG YDS/PLAY | 1 | 6.02 | ||
| 4 | 5.2 | AVG GAIN RUSH | 7 | 5.4 | ||
| 8 | 6.1 | AVG GAIN 1st DOWN | 1 | 6.1 | ||
| 9 | 43.6 | 2nd DOWN CONV % | 3 | 45.4 | ||
| 5 | 118 | 1ST DOWN by RUSH | 5 | 120 | ||
| T8 | 185 | 1ST DOWN by PASS | T5 | 214 | ||
| T4 | 26 | 1ST DOWN by PEN | T3 | 24 | ||
| 1 | 71.9 | COMPLETION % | 2 | 68.5 | ||
| 9 | 19 | PASSING TD’S | 5 | 26 | ||
| 4 | 102.5 | PASS EFFICIENCY | 3 | 93 | ||
| 8 | 52 | SACKS ALLOWED/BY | T1 | 45 | ||
| 1 | 12.9 | PUNT RET AVG | 1 | 9.4 | ||
| 5 | 22.5 | K/O RET AVG | 4 | 21.7 | ||
| 2 | 3 | KICK RET TDS | 1 | 0 | ||
| Edmonton Defensive Rankings | Montreal Offensive Rankings | |||||
| Rank | Total | Avg | Rank | Tot | Avg | |
| 5 | 490 | 27.2 | POINTS ALLOWED/FOR | 7 | 445 | 24.7 |
| T6 | 44 | TDS | 9 | 34 | ||
| 7 | 47 | FGS | 1 | 58 | ||
| 9 | 7013 | 389.6 | NET OFFENCE | 8 | 5929 | 329.4 |
| 5 | 1831 | 101.7 | RUSHING YARDS | 8 | 1546 | 85.9 |
| 9 | 5336 | 296.4 | PASSING YARDS | 7 | 4583 | 254.6 |
| 8 | 6.84 | AVG YDS/PLAY | 7 | 6.16 | ||
| T3 | 5 | AVG GAIN RUSH | 8 | 4.7 | ||
| T3 | 6.5 | AVG GAIN 1st DOWN | T4 | 6.6 | ||
| 9 | 51.2 | 2nd DOWN CONV % | 5 | 46.8 | ||
| 6 | 123 | 1ST DOWN by RUSH | T6 | 113 | ||
| T7 | 245 | 1ST DOWN by PASS | 1 | 275 | ||
| T3 | 24 | 1ST DOWN by PEN | 3 | 27 | ||
| 8 | 71.5 | COMPLETION % | 8 | 66.6 | ||
| T6 | 29 | PASSING TD’S | 8 | 22 | ||
| 8 | 104.3 | PASS EFFICIENCY | 7 | 91.3 | ||
| T7 | 24 | SACKS BY/ALLOWED | T2 | 26 | ||
| T6 | 11.9 | PUNT RET AVG | 7 | 10.6 | ||
| 5 | 22.2 | K/O RET AVG | 9 | 20.9 | ||
| 7 | 3 | KICK RET TDS | T6 | 1 | ||
