Annis Stukus

---

title: "Annis Stukus" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1914-births", "2006-deaths", "british-columbia-social-credit-party-candidates-in-british-columbia-provincial-elections", "canadian-football-hall-of-fame-inductees", "canadian-football-league-announcers", "canadian-football-quarterbacks", "canadian-radio-sportscasters", "canadian-sportswriters", "canadian-war-correspondents", "canadian-people-of-lithuanian-descent", "edmonton-elks-coaches", "edmonton-elks-players", "ontario-rugby-football-union-players", "players-of-canadian-football-from-ontario", "canadian-football-people-from-toronto", "toronto-argonauts-players", "toronto-balmy-beach-beachers-players", "toronto-star-people", "vancouver-sun-people", "winnipeg-jets-(1972–1996)-executives"] description: "Canadian football player and coach (1914–2006)" topic_path: "politics" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annis_Stukus" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Canadian football player and coach (1914–2006) ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox gridiron football person"]

Field	Value
name	Annis Stukus
image	AStukus82591.jpg
caption	Stukus in 1954
birth_date
birth_place	Toronto, Ontario, Canada
death_date
death_place	Canmore, Alberta, Canada
import	no
position1	Quarterback
position2	Kicker
height_ft	6
height_in	0
weight_lb	205
administrating_years1	–
administrating_team1	BC Lions
coaching_years1	–
coaching_team1	Edmonton Eskimos
coaching_years2	1953
coaching_team2	Vancouver Cubs
coaching_years3	–
coaching_team3	BC Lions
playing_years1	–
playing_team1	Toronto Argonauts
playing_years2	1942
playing_team2	Toronto/Oakwood Indians
playing_years3	1943
playing_team3	Balmy Beach
playing_years4	1944
playing_team4	HMCS York Bulldogs
playing_years5	1945–1946
playing_team5	Toronto Indians
playing_years6	–
playing_team6	Edmonton Eskimos
CFHOF	annis-stukus
CFHOFYear	1974
::

| name = Annis Stukus | image = AStukus82591.jpg | alt = | caption = Stukus in 1954 | birth_date = | birth_place = Toronto, Ontario, Canada | death_date = | death_place = Canmore, Alberta, Canada | team = | number = | status = | import = no | position1 = Quarterback | position2 = Kicker | height_ft = 6 | height_in = 0 | weight_lb = 205 | administrating_years1 = – | administrating_team1 = BC Lions | coaching_years1 = – | coaching_team1 = Edmonton Eskimos | coaching_years2 = 1953 | coaching_team2 = Vancouver Cubs | coaching_years3 = – | coaching_team3 = BC Lions | playing_years1 = – | playing_team1 = Toronto Argonauts | playing_years2 = 1942 | playing_team2 = Toronto/Oakwood Indians | playing_years3 = 1943 | playing_team3 = Balmy Beach | playing_years4 = 1944 | playing_team4 = HMCS York Bulldogs | playing_years5 = 1945–1946 | playing_team5 = Toronto Indians | playing_years6 = – | playing_team6 = Edmonton Eskimos | career_highlights =

• 2× Grey Cup champion (1937, 1938)
• 2× CFL All-Star (, )
• Canada's Sports Hall of Fame (1991) | CFHOF = annis-stukus | CFHOFYear = 1974 Annis Paul Stukus (October 25, 1914 – May 20, 2006) was a Canadian professional football player, journalist, coach, broadcaster, and executive. He was the first head coach of the Edmonton Eskimos and the BC Lions of the Western Interprovincial Football Union (now the West Division of the Canadian Football League) and the first general manager of the Winnipeg Jets of the World Hockey Association.

Playing

Stukus was born in Toronto, Ontario. He played for the Toronto Argonauts from 1935 to 1941, leading the team to Grey Cup victories in 1937 and 1938 (playing 45 regular season and 14 playoff games). He then played for the Oakwood Indians (1942), Balmy Beach (1943), HMCS York Bulldogs (1944) and the Toronto Indians (1945, 1946), all Toronto-based teams. He played alongside his brothers Bill and Frank on the Argonauts and Indians and the trio played together in the offensive backfield of the 1938 Grey Cup champion Argonaut team. After his playing career ended, Stukus became a sportswriter for the Toronto Star.

Coaching

In 1949, Stukus was hired as the head coach of the Edmonton Eskimos, which were reentering the Western Interprovincial Football Union after a ten year absence. He was chosen over Cincinnati Bearcats football coach Ray Nolting due to his knowledge of the Canadian game. Stukus not only assembled a roster from scratch, but promoted the sport throughout the city, leading to the growth of junior and high school football in Edmonton. Edmonton compiled a 4–10 in its inaugural season. The following year, Edmonton went 7–7 and beat the Saskatchewan Roughriders 24 to 1 in the Western Semi-Final. Edmonton defeated the Winnipeg Blue Bombers 17 to 16 in the first game of the Western Finals, but dropped the final two of the best-of-three series. Edmonton finished the 1951 season with an 8–6 record and were eliminated from the postseason by the Roughriders after losing the third game of the Western Finals by a single point. Stukus left at the end of the season to return to the Toronto Star.

In February 1953, Stukus signed a three-year contract to become the first head coach and general manager of Vancouver's expansion football club – the BC Lions. As the Lions would not begin play until 1954, Stukus spent his first in Vancouver promoting the sport. This included putting together an amateur team to play a series of exhibition games. The Lions went 1–15 in 1954 and 5–11 in 1955.

Journalism

Stukus' contract was not renewed after 1955 season and he became a football writer for the Vancouver Sun. In 1958, he became a foreign correspondent for the paper and covered the Second Taiwan Strait Crisis from Quemoy. In 1961, he returned to Toronto as a sportswriter for the Telegram and a commentator for the CFL on CTV. In 1967, he appeared in an episode of Quentin Durgens, M.P. as a member of parliament from Manitoba.

Front office

In 1967, Stukus signed a four-year contract as general manager of the Vancouver Canucks of the minor pro Western Hockey League. The team was preparing to move into the new Pacific Coliseum and was making a push for entry into the National Hockey League. He was fired on June 28, 1968 for "services unsatisfactory" and sued for wrongful termination. Following his dismissal, Stukus was the sports director at CFUN/CKVN and was an unsuccessful candidate for the Social Credit Party in North Vancouver-Seymour during the 1969 British Columbia general election.

From 1971 to 1974, Stukus was the general manager of the Winnipeg Jets of the newly-formed World Hockey Association. He was responsible for team operations, public relations, and season ticket sales.

Later life

After leaving the Jets, Stukus returned to CFUN. He was replaced by Tom Larscheid in 1983.

The CFL's annual award for coach of the year is named in his honour. He was elected into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame and the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame.

He died at his home in Canmore, Alberta, at age 91 on May 20, 2006.

References

References

1. 2008 Toronto Argonauts Media Guide
2. (2007-11-22). "Home of The Game".
3. (November 30, 1945). "A Chat With Annis Stukus". Ottawa Citizen.
4. (November 12, 1948). "West Will Give The East Real Battle For Grey Cup". The Calgary Herald.
5. (February 22, 1949). "Stukus To Coach Edmonton". The Calgary Herald.
6. (August 13, 1949). "Esks' Backfield Solid, But Line Worries Stuke". The Calgary Herald.
7. (November 22, 1949). "Stukus Returned As Eskimo Coach". The Calgary Herald.
8. "1950 Edmonton Eskimos Game-by-Game Results". Stats Crew.
9. "1951 Edmonton Eskimos Game-by-Game Results". Stats Crew.
10. (November 23, 1951). "Stuke to Write About Roughriders". The Leader-Post.
11. (February 25, 1953). "Stuke Takes Job To Run City Grid". The Vancouver Sun.
12. Little, Lyndon. (June 10, 2006). "The Loquacious Lithuanian". CFL / Vancouver Sun.
13. "1954 BC Lions Game-by-Game Results".
14. "1955 BC Lions Game-by-Game Results".
15. (November 18, 1955). "Stuke Was Never Fired". The Vancouver Sun.
16. (November 10, 1955). "Reporter Stukus Off To First Assignment". The Vancouver Sun.
17. (October 16, 1958). "Stukus Reports From Quemoy". The Vancouver Sun.
18. (November 1, 1962). "Rote, Stukus Feud Burning". The Calgary Herald.
19. (January 11, 1967). "Bob Shiels...on television". The Calgary Herald.
20. (September 12, 1967). "Familiar situation faces Annis Stukus". The Phoenix.
21. (September 26, 1968). "Stukus sues Canucks". The Montreal Gazette.
22. (February 22, 1969). "Stukus Bounces Back On Radio". The Calgary Herald.
23. (July 29, 1969). "Trail Candidate Quits Stormy Nomination Meet". The Calgary Herald.
24. (December 3, 1971). "Stuke comes out fighting". The Sun.
25. (July 9, 1974). "Stukus quits Jets' post". The Windsor Star.
26. (September 26, 1974). "Annis Stukus". The Vancouver Sun.
27. (September 7, 1983). "CFUN hires Larscheid". The Sun.

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::