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You could say the Edmonton Elks are on a well-deserved break.
‘Once we’ve got down to a certain point, we’ve got to look at anything. All our processes. We’ve certainly got to take the next week and take a good hard look at everything. From everything in our locker-room, everything in our coaching, everything from A-Z.’
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You could say the Edmonton Elks are on a well-deserved break.
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But it’s more like the broken Edmonton Elks are on a bye week.
Top to bottom and everything in between, nothing is working. Not properly. Not at all.
Here’s what we’ve learned following Saturday’s 27-0 loss, making for eight straight scoreless quarters against the B.C. Lions this season, with one more meeting still to come:
The season’s done. All the shadows of Green and Gold legends and duct tape in the world couldn’t piece things back together. They’d have to miraculously run the table the rest of the way to salvage a winning record.
But this season hasn’t been about winning. Right now, it is about what they can salvage.
Do they blow it all up and name a new head coach and general manager, which would mark their fifth different head man in as many years? The combination of Chris Jones and his assistant GM, Geroy Simon, on the player personnel side obviously isn’t working. And if it is, Jones’ other role as head coach has completely failed in maximizing the talent on the roster.
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Or is Jones’s loyalty to his coaching staff the downfall here, and he’s been either too stubborn or afraid to alter course on the offensive side of things when it comes to the play-calling of long-time friend and ally Stephen McAdoo? (Previous players have called it the McADon’t Offence.)
If that may even remotely be the case, then it fell on club president and CEO Victor Cui to be more demanding of results. He needed to refuse to allow the on-field product to remain status quo to the point where what fans actually remain in the building have begun voicing their displeasure with seeing the same-old thing happen over and over, booing their offence back to the sidelines.
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The water began swirling long before any of the club’s current executive and football ops management became part of the problem.
The sole finger of blame for what’s being flushed onto the field on a weekly basis points straight at the Elks board of directors for laying the leaky foundation that got things to this point.
Crap runs uphill in this case, and they’re going to pay for it with a fifth consecutive year of registering financial losses in the millions.
One way to take the heat off an embarrassing 21-game home losing streak that has plagued the Elks since last winning at Commonwealth Stadium — a 19-6 result over the same Lions organization on Oct. 12, 2019 — has been to bury it under a heap more misery.
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Suffering two shutouts in the same season, to the same opponent, no less, is unheard of considering the previous time they failed to put points on the board dates all the way back to 1976. (Lions head coach and GM Rick Campbell is now calling his defence the Donut Boys.)
But beyond that, Edmonton’s current 12-game losing streak — home or away — now sits one shy of a club record of 13 back in 1964.
So, coming into sole possession of the North American major pro sports record for consecutive home losses registers low on the list of priorities at the moment.
Taylor Cornelius has started all but one game for the Elks this year, going 0-7 on the way to a miserable 4-23 during his three years with the club.
While it’s unfair to pin an entire loss all on a quarterback, Cornelius hasn’t helped his situation any. While the victories have been few and far between, the same can’t be said for all the overthrows, underthrows, missed open receivers and entirely untimely interceptions that have contributed to the ages-long losing streaks and shutouts the likes of which have never been seen before.
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Following the loss, Jones was asked about the length of leash Cornelius has been given before a change at the position is considered.
“Once we’ve got down to a certain point, we’ve got to look at anything. All our processes,” he said. “We’ve certainly got to take the next week and take a good hard look at everything. From everything in our locker-room, everything in our coaching, everything from A-Z.”
Jones has been around the league long enough to recognize mid-season changes are often made over bye weeks.
With Edmonton’s next game set for Aug. 10 against the visiting Winnipeg Blue Bombers, does he expect to make or see any moves in the roster, coaching staff or beyond before the next kickoff?
“I don’t ever try to control stuff I can’t control,” he said about his own job, which is currently in the second year of a four-year contract. “All I can do is show up every day and work as hard as I possibly can, and if there are decisions that are above me, that’s above me.
“So, I just know that we’ve got some good people in the building, we just haven’t found the right ingredients to win games.”
But they have certainly stumbled upon the recipe for disaster.
E-mail: gmoddejonge@postmedia.com
On Twitter: @GerryModdejonge
DETROIT (AP) — The Detroit Red Wings made another investment this week in a young standout, signing Moritz Seider to a seven-year contract worth nearly $60 million.
The Red Wings announced the move with the 23-year-old German defenseman on Thursday, three days after keeping 22-year-old forward Lucas Raymond with a $64.6 million, eight-year deal.
Detroit drafted Seider with the No. 6 pick overall eight years ago and he has proven to be a great pick. He has 134 career points, the most by a defenseman drafted in 2019.
He was the NHL’s only player to have at least 200 hits and block 200-plus shots last season, when he scored a career-high nine goals and had 42 points for the second straight year.
Seider won the Calder Trophy as the league’s top rookie in 2022 after he had a career-high 50 points.
Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman is banking on Seider, whose contract will count $8.55 million annually against the cap, and Raymond to turn a rebuilding team into a winner.
Detroit has failed to make the playoffs in eight straight seasons, the longest postseason drought in franchise history.
The Red Wings, who won four Stanley Cups from 1997 to 2008, have been reeling since their run of 25 straight postseasons ended in 2016.
Detroit was 41-32-9 last season and finished with a winning record for the first time since its last playoff appearance.
Yzerman re-signed Patrick Kane last summer and signed some free agents, including Vladimir Tarasenko to a two-year contract worth $9.5 million after he helped the Florida Panthers hoist the Cup.
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The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
Veterans Tyson Beukeboom and Karen Paquin will lead Canada at the WXV 1 women’s rugby tournament starting later this month in the Vancouver area.
WXV 1 includes the top three teams from the Women’s Six Nations (England, France and Ireland) and the top three teams from the Pacific Four Series (Canada, New Zealand, and the United States).
Third-ranked Canada faces No. 4 France, No. 7 Ireland and No. 1 England in the elite division of the three-tiered WXV tournament that runs Sept. 29 to Oct. 12 in Vancouver and Langley, B.C. No. 2 New Zealand and the eighth-ranked U.S. make up the six-team WVX 1 field.
“Our preparation time was short but efficient. This will be a strong team,” Canada coach Kevin Rouet said in a statement. “All the players have worked very hard for the last couple of weeks to prepare for WXV and we are excited for these next three matches and for the chance to play on home soil here in Vancouver against the best rugby teams in the world.
“France, Ireland and England will each challenge us in different ways but it’s another opportunity to test ourselves and another step in our journey to the Rugby World Cup next year.”
Beukeboom serves as captain in the injury absence of Sophie de Goede. The 33-year-old from Uxbridge, Ont., earned her Canadian-record 68th international cap in Canada’s first-ever victory over New Zealand in May at the Pacific Four Series.
Twenty three of the 30 Canadian players selected for WXV 1 were part of that Pacific Four Series squad.
Rouet’s roster includes the uncapped Asia Hogan-Rochester, Caroline Crossley and Rori Wood.
Hogan-Rochester and Crossley were part of the Canadian team that won rugby sevens silver at the Paris Olympics, along with WXV teammates Fancy Bermudez, Olivia Apps, Alysha Corrigan and Taylor Perry. Wood is a veteran of five seasons at UBC.
The 37-year-old Paquin, who has 38 caps for Canada including the 2014 Rugby World Cup, returns to the team for the first time since the 2021 World Cup.
Canada opens the tournament Sept. 29 against France at B.C. Place Stadium in Vancouver before facing Ireland on Oct. 5 at Willoughby Stadium at Langley Events Centre, and England on Oct. 12 at B.C. Place.
The second-tier WXV 2 and third-tier WXV 3 are slated to run Sept. 27 to Oct. 12, in South Africa and Dubai, respectively.
WXV 2 features Australia, Italy, Japan, Scotland, South Africa and Wales while WXV 3 is made up of Fiji, Hong Kong, Madagascar, the Netherlands, Samoa and Spain.
The tournament has 2025 World Cup qualification implications, although Canada, New Zealand and France, like host England, had already qualified by reaching the semifinals of the last tournament.
Ireland, South Africa, the U.S., Japan, Fiji and Brazil have also booked their ticket, with the final six berths going to the highest-finishing WXV teams who have not yet qualified through regional tournaments.
Canada’s Women’s Rugby Team WXV 1 Squad
Forwards
Alexandria Ellis, Ottawa, Stade Français Paris (France); Brittany Kassil, Guelph, Ont., Guelph Goats; Caroline Crossley, Victoria, Castaway Wanderers; Courtney Holtkamp, Rimbey, Alta., Red Deer Titans Rugby; DaLeaka Menin, Vulcan, Alta., Exeter Chiefs (England); Emily Tuttosi, Souris, Man., Exeter Chiefs (England); Fabiola Forteza, Quebec City, Stade Bordelais (France); Gabrielle Senft, Regina, Saracens (England); Gillian Boag, Calgary, Gloucester-Hartpury (England); Julia Omokhuale, Calgary, Leicester Tigers (England); Karen Paquin, Quebec City, Club de rugby de Quebec; Laetitia Royer, Loretteville, Que., ASM Romagnat (France); McKinley Hunt, King City, Ont., Saracens (England); Pamphinette Buisa, Gatineau, Que., Ottawa Irish; Rori Wood, Sooke, B.C., College Rifles RFC; Sara Cline, Edmonton, Leprechaun Tigers; Tyson Beukeboom, Uxbridge, Ont., Ealing Trailfinders (England);
Backs
Alexandra Tessier, Sainte-Clotilde-de-Horton, Que., Exeter Chiefs (England); Alysha Corrigan, Charlottetown, P.E.I., CRFC; Asia Hogan-Rochester, Toronto, Toronto Nomads; Claire Gallagher, Caledon, Ont., Leicester Tigers (England); Fancy Bermudez, Edmonton, Saracens (England); Julia Schell, Uxbridge, Ont., Ealing Trailfinders (England); Justine Pelletier, Rivière-du-Loup, Que, Stade Bordelais (France); Mahalia Robinson, Fulford, Que., Town of Mount Royal RFC; Olivia Apps, Lindsay, Ont., Lindsay RFC; Paige Farries, Red Deer, Alta., Saracens (England); Sara Kaljuvee, Ajax, Ont., Westshore RFC; Shoshanah Seumanutafa, White Rock, B.C., Counties Manukau (New Zealand); Taylor Perry, Oakville, Ont., Exeter Chiefs (England).
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 18, 2024.
PENTICTON, B.C. – Vancouver Canucks goalie Thatcher Demko says he’s been working his way back from a rare lower-body muscle injury since being sidelined in last season’s playoffs.
The 28-year-old all star says the rehabilitation process has been frustrating, but he has made good progress in recent weeks and is confident he’ll be able to return to playing.
He says he and his medical team have spent the last few months talking to specialists around the world, and have not found a single other hockey player who has dealt with the same injury.
Demko missed several weeks of the last season with a knee ailment and played just one game in Vancouver’s playoff run last spring before going down with the current injury.
He was not on the ice with his teammates as the Canucks started training camp in Penticton, B.C., on Thursday, but skated on his own before the sessions began.
Demko posted a 35-14-2 record with a .918 percentage, a 2.45 goals-against average and five shutouts for Vancouver last season.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
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