1997 CFL season

The 1997 Canadian Football League season is considered to be the 44th season in modern-day Canadian football, although it is officially the 40th Canadian Football League season.

1997 CFL season
Regular season
DurationJune 25 – October 26, 1997
Playoffs
Start dateNovember 2, 1997
East ChampionsToronto Argonauts1997-11-09
West ChampionsSaskatchewan Roughriders1997-11-09
85th Grey Cup
DateNovember 16, 1997
SiteCommonwealth Stadium,
Edmonton
ChampionsToronto Argonauts
CFL seasons

CFL News in 1997

The CFL entered the 1997 season with eight teams, instead of nine. The Ottawa Rough Riders ceased operations and folded after the 1996 season. In February, a dispersal draft was held for the players who were under contract with the Ottawa franchise.

The Montreal Alouettes began the 1997 season under new ownership, which was headed by Robert C. Wetenhall. Wetenhall and his ownership group retained the Alouette name and logo.

With the Rough Riders departure, the CFL returned the Winnipeg Blue Bombers to the East Division.

The CFL also changed the playoff format, adding a 'cross-over' rule. Previously, the 3rd place team in each division played the 2nd place team in the division semifinals. Under the new rule, should the 4th place team in one division have a better record than that of the 3rd place team in the other division, the 4th place team crosses over to the other division's semifinal, taking that 3rd place team's place. There is no tie-breaker; the cross-over hopeful must have a strictly better record to advance. BC attained a cross-over playoff berth in the first year under this rule. The rule remains in effect to date.

Regular season standings

Final regular season standings

Note: GP = Games Played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, PF = Points For, PA = Points Against, Pts = Points

West Division
TeamGPWLTPFPAPts
Edmonton Eskimos18126047940024
Calgary Stampeders18108052244220
Saskatchewan Roughriders18810041347916
BC Lions18810042953616
East Division
TeamGPWLTPFPAPts
Toronto Argonauts18153066032730
Montreal Alouettes18135050953226
Winnipeg Blue Bombers1841404435488
Hamilton Tiger-Cats1821603625494
  • Bold text means that they clinched playoff spots.
  • Edmonton and Toronto both had first round byes.
  • Due to the cross-over rule – the BC Lions played the Montreal Alouettes in the East Semi-Final Game.

Grey Cup playoffs

The Toronto Argonauts won their second-straight Grey Cup championship in 1997, defeating the Saskatchewan Roughriders 47–23, at Edmonton's Commonwealth Stadium. The Argonauts' Doug Flutie (QB) was named the Grey Cup's Most Valuable Player and Paul Masotti (WR) was the Grey Cup's Most Valuable Canadian.

Playoff bracket

  November 2: Division Semifinals     November 9: Division Finals     November 16: 85th Grey Cup @ Commonwealth StadiumEdmonton, AB
                           
  East     E2 Montreal Alouettes 30  
  W4 BC Lions 35     E1 Toronto Argonauts 37    
  E2 Montreal Alouettes 45         E1 Toronto Argonauts 47
      W3 Saskatchewan Roughriders 23
  West     W3 Saskatchewan Roughriders 31    
  W3 Saskatchewan Roughriders 33     W1 Edmonton Eskimos 30  
  W2 Calgary Stampeders 30  

CFL Leaders

1997 CFL All-Stars

Offence

Defence

Special teams

1997 Eastern All-Stars

Offence

Defence

Special teams

1997 Western All-Stars

Offence

Defence

Special teams

1997 Intergold CFLPA All-Stars

Offence

Defence

Special teams

Head coach

[2]

1997 CFL Awards

References

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.