From the Edmonton Elks' struggle to clinch a home win to hosting some of the world's best snowboarders on an inner-city mountain top, it was a year of highs and lows for Edmonton's Commonwealth Stadium.
A year full of big events kicked off with a big announcement.
In January 2022, the Edmonton Elks announced Victor Cui, an Edmonton native with a background in international sports marketing, was taking over as president and CEO.
The Elks won just three games in 2021, and part of why Cui was hired was to help reconnect the franchise with what board chair Ian Murray called its "disgruntled fanbase."
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"It's like your brother or your dad demanding better of you. Does he still love you? Absolutely. But he's saying, 'I know you can do better,'" Cui told CTV News soon after he took over the new position in February.
Despite going into the 2022 season with some significant management changes, the Elks did not do better and continued to see slumping attendance rates as the team failed to win a home game.
By the end of the season, the team had set a CFL record of 17 straight home losses – three more than the previous record - leaving the franchise little momentum into the off-season.
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"You hope it doesn't get too far down the road where it can't be saved," said Farhan Lalji, from TSN SportCentre, just before the Elk's last season game.
"Because when you look at how the franchise was built, it took decades to get it to such a solid, solid level, and it's taken literally two years for it to crumble beneath its own feet and in front of our very eyes," he added.
GARTH BROOKS
While the Elks struggled to fill seats during the football season, other events had no problems getting people in the stands.
In June, Canadian country music giant Garth Brooks came to Edmonton on the only Canadian stop during his 2022 Stadium Tour.
Brooks sold out the stadium with 61,000 tickets bought in 45 minutes. To the delight of fans, Brooks added a second show a day later. It also sold out in less than one hour.
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POPE FRANCIS
The stadium also saw tens of thousands in attendance in late July, when Pope Francis visited Edmonton during his self-described penitential tour of Canada to reconcile with Indigenous Peoples.
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While in Edmonton, the pontiff gave a public mass and holy communion at the Commonwealth Stadium.
Organizers estimated around 50,000 people were in attendance for the ceremony and 40,000 received communion.
It took 65 days to prepare for the ten-minute communion, which was given out by the holy father and the ministers, deacons and attendants who helped carry out the feat, including local Reverend Roger Niedzielski.
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“I would say it was nothing short of miraculous that it went off without a hitch," Niedzielski told CTV News shortly after the event.
“It was a powerful experience, It was beautiful. It was something I will never forget,” he said.
Others in attendance were less inspired by the experience.
Daryold Corbiere Winkler, a priest in Ottawa who is Anishinaabe, was at the Commonwealth Stadium Mass and told CTV News that he was disappointed by the traditional service and to hear the eucharistic prayer given in Latin with residential school survivors in the stands.
"A lot of survivors, that's the mass they heard when they were children," he told CTV News in July.
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In April, the Pope offered an apology at the Vatican for the role of the Catholic Church in the Canadian residential school system and his arrival in the Edmonton area and the hopes for another apology in person was a long anticipated event for many Indigenous Peoples.
"It's a long time coming for the people who suffered in the schools," Alma Desharlais, a residential school survivor from Frog Lake First Nation, told CTV News after the Pope's arrival. "I am glad to live the day that I have seen it and meet the Pope."
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On the day, a formal apology was not given but the Pope did include a prayer near the end of the service for "a future in which the history of violence and marginalization suffered by our Indigenous brothers and sisters is never repeated."
During his time in the region, the Pope apologized at Maskwacis for the actions of members of the church and the role they played in forced assimilation of Indigenous Peoples and the destruction of Indigenous culture.
BIG AIR
The year ended with another big event and some big air.
In December, Edmonton became the first city to ever host an FIS Snowboard Big Air World Cup in a stadium.
To do it, organizers orchestrated the construction of the biggest snowboarding jump in history. Built over 6,000 hours, the 147-foot-tall ramp allowed Edmontonians to watch the winter sport in the city's heart.
"[It's a] pretty unique thing to do," said Richard Hegarty, major event specialist for Canada Snowboard the week before the event.
"We build these kinds of jumps on snow quite regularly, but you never get to build them in a stadium."
"This, to my knowledge, is the largest scaffolding build ever built in history," he added.
The competition is an Olympic qualifier, and 15,000 fans attended to watch Canadian snowboarder Jasmine Barid take home gold in the women's division.
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Despite the success of the event for spectators, the competition encountered some issues and during the women's qualifying session, eight of 21 riders pulled out of the competition over the man-made jump.
The size of the ramp caused concern for some riders as they found it difficult to build enough speed and get enough air to finish their routines.
“It’s been really, really tough, for sure,” Baird told CTV News after her win.
“Compared to the boys, a lot of our field are just lighter than them. Without that weight behind us, it’s harder to get that speed. Everyone’s pinning it, everyone’s doing their absolute best, but it was really tight."
2023
The next big ticket event at the Commonwealth Stadium isn't until 2024, when rock and roll legends Metallica are scheduled to play two nights on their M72 World Tour.
But until then, the Edmonton Elks are hopeful for what 2023 will bring.
"We found who will continue to work, we found who will continue to fight," head coach Chris Jones told CTV News at the Elks's last game in 2022.
"I can't be more proud of those young guys for coming and playing hard."
The franchise is inviting fans to have some faith in the team and announced "Guaranteed Win Tickets" in December.
The incentive begins on the regular season home opener in June, and gives buyers a free seat to home games until the team breaks their streak with a win at Commonwealth Stadium.
"If the Elks WIN on June 11, you'll leave happy that our pesky home skid has ended," the team said in the announcement. "If the Elks lose on June 11, you'll receive your same seat to Edmonton's June 25 matchup vs. Toronto.
"Pay once, and a win you shall receive."
With files from CTV News Edmonton's Alex Antoneshyn, Adam Lachacz and Sean Amato
With additional files from CTV News' Brooklyn Neaustaeter and The Canadian Press
