October 12, 2019 is the last time the Edmonton Elks won a game at home.
The team’s 19-home-game losing streak is a Canadian Football League record and has lasted for a span of 1,370 days.
When the Hamilton Tiger-Cats (1-3) arrive at Commonwealth Stadium Thursday night, fresh off their first victory of the season, last Saturday, they will try their best to keep the Elks’ losing streak going.
You can listen to the game on CHML radio, starting with the pregame show at 8 p.m. Eastern. Kickoff is at 9 p.m. Fans can catch The 5th Quarter postgame show 30 minutes after the final whistle.
“It really has no bearing on our preparation,” said Ticats head coach Orlondo Steinauer, when asked Tuesday about Edmonton’s woes on home soil. “They could be 5-0 and we’d be trying to break their winning streak. They could be 2-3 and we’d be trying to make ’em 2-4.”
For their part, the Cats will attempt to win for only the second time this season, but they will have to do so on a short week.
“We weren’t banged up too bad so we will look relatively the same,” said Steinauer of his projected lineup versus Edmonton (0-5), a team that Hamilton lost to in their only meeting in 2022.
Recently acquired fullback Myles Manalo has been ruled out of the game with a knee injury and defensive end Mason Bennett won’t play due to a bad hamstring.
QB Matthew Shiltz will again get the start for the Tiger-Cats, while starter Bo Levi Mitchell continues to recover from an abductor injury he suffered in Week 2 against the Toronto Argonauts.
“I’ve thought that he’s done a great job of moving the stick and getting some first downs in key situation,” acknowledged Steinauer when asked about Shiltz’s play in place of Mitchell, who remains on the six-game injured list.
But when it comes to red-zone production, however, Hamilton’s head coach wants to see more touchdowns going forward.
“The goal there, obviously, is we wanna walk away with six (points) and not three all the time.”
Hamilton’s red-zone offence has stalled time and time against this season. The Ticats have converted just four of their 11 trips to the red zone into touchdowns (36.4%), well behind Toronto’s league leading rate of 76.9 per cent. Ottawa is last after finding the end zone just twice in 10 trips to the red zone.
Shiltz improved to 5-5 as a starter in the CFL after guiding the Ticats past the Ottawa Redblacks. The 30-year-old has completed 66 per cent of his passes in three games this season for 696 yards, while throwing two touchdowns and three interceptions.
Of particular interest is Shiltz’s record against East Division teams and those in the West. He is 5-0 against the East and 0-5 vs. the West.
As for Mitchell’s status in the week’s ahead, Steinauer said the quarterback is improving but would not hazard a guess as to when he would return to action.
“Bo is doing well. He’s progressing,” added Steinauer. “There’s just certain parts of the body and our rehab process that are just going to take time. There’s not going to be any hurry there. Bo is going to be ready when he is ready.”
When compared to the longest home losing streaks in North America’s four main professional sports leagues, a loss Thursday night would leave the Elks tied with the old St. Louis Browns of Major League Baseball for home field futility. The Browns, who became the Baltimore Orioles in 1954, lost 20 games in a row during the 1953 season at Sportsman’s Park.
The Pittsburgh Penguins hold the NHL record with 14 consecutive losses on home ice in the 2003-04 season. The 1998-99 Dallas Cowboys and the St. Louis Rams from 2008-2010 share the NFL record at 14-straight home defeats. The Dallas Mavericks hold the NBA mark with 19-straight home losses in 1993-94.