Pen to paper: Journalling behind Elks kicker Vincent Blanchard’s breakout season

CALGARY — Vincent Blanchard began writing things down this season.

The Edmonton Elks kicker decided to journal his kicks and outcomes in 2026, which he hadn’t done before.

“When I have something in my mind, I write it in my book,” the 28-year-old from Quebec City said Thursday.

“When you are a kicker, you try and remove more things off your head. When I have something in my head, I just try to write it in my book and try to not think about it anymore, or to help me get some key words in order to excel on the field . . . what I need to do to kick a good ball.

“I was just trying to do something better for the mental aspect.”

Blanchard was the runner-up in voting for the CFL’s special teams award this season behind Winnipeg returner Trey Vaval.

Blanchard set a CFL record for field goals in a game with nine against Hamilton on Sept. 26.

He booted a walk-off, 57-yarder field goal July 23 against the host Saskatchewan Roughriders that silenced Mosaic Stadium and vaulted the Elks to the top of the West Division.

Blanchard led all kickers in field goals (55) and percentage made (93.2 per cent) in his second full season in the league.

“I showed what I can really do in this league, I showed my potential and my real value in this league,” Blanchard said. “I’m happy with what I put on the field, but at the end of the day we have another game to play. The job is not done.”

Kicks for points could factor into Sunday’s Grey Cup game between the Elks and Montreal Alouettes at Calgary’s McMahon Stadium, where it isn’t just notoriously windy, but those winds can shift during the game.

Blanchard says he’ll check the forecast Saturday, but acknowledged he’s had mostly calm conditions when the Elks played at McMahon.

“It’s a very windy place, but at the end of the day, it’s Canadian football. You need play in the snow and the cold and the wind and the rain,” he said.

“In this type of game, when it’s the final, it’s always a tight game. One play, two plays can make a difference. But when your name is called, you need to be ready. I was ready all year and I want to continue to be.”

Blanchard went 5-for-5 in field goals to help the University of Laval’s Rouge et Or beat the Saskatchewan Huskies for the 2022 Vanier Cup.

Drafted in the fourth round (31st) by the Alouettes in 2024, Blanchard was released from Montreal’s training camp that year, but brought back to the practice roster in October.

He was 77.8 per cent accurate on 45 field-goal attempts in his rookie season in 2025, and signed a contract extension in December.

“It’s more about the experience. When I get the experience, I can be more myself on the field,” Blanchard explained.

“At university, that was the same thing. I started, I would say slowly. My second year was better, and my third year was always better.”

“When I left last year, I told Coach Mark (Kilam) before the off-season, ‘I will be better next season. I promise you I will better because I know myself and I just need to adapt myself in this environment.'”

Kilam, who was also in his first year as head coach of the Elks in 2025, has a deep special-teams background after 14 years coaching the Calgary Stampeders in that department.

“Vin just needed to be supported. He is so talented. He needed people to believe in him,” Kilam said. “He’s a pro, he’s critical of himself in the sense that he wants to continue to get better.

“He wants to be coached. He’s sometimes too hard on himself and that’s where we can balance that out a little bit. I think the sky is the limit for Vin. I think he’s going to continue to ascend.”

Elks quarterback Cody Fajardo noticed Blanchard journaling in the locker room this season.

“Maybe it’s just he’s got this clear mentality about him but we have the utmost confidence in Vin and if the game comes down to a field goal, it doesn’t matter how long it is, we believe in Vin,” Fajardo said.

“Whether he makes it or not, it’s not going to change how much we love Vin. I told him that after he hit the walk-off against Saskatchewan.

“He’s been money for us this year. In games like this where you know it’s probably going to be close, it’s always great to have an incredible kicker like this.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2026.

— With files from Dan Ralph.

Donna Spencer, The Canadian Press