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.

Contents 1 CFL News in 1997 2 Regular Season Standings 2.1 Final regular season standings 3 Grey Cup playoffs 3.1 Playoff bracket 4 1997 CFL All-Stars 4.1 Offence 4.2 Defence 4.3 Special teams 5 1997 Intergold CFLPA All-Stars 5.1 Offence 5.2 Defence 5.3 Special Teams 5.4 Head Coach 6 1997 CFL Awards 7 References

[edit] 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. BC attained a cross-over playoff berth in the first year under this rule.

[edit] Regular Season Standings

[edit] Final regular season standings

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

West Division Team GP W L T PF PA Pts Edmonton Eskimos 18 12 6 0 479 400 24 Calgary Stampeders 18 10 8 0 522 442 20 Saskatchewan Roughriders 18 8 10 0 413 479 16 BC Lions 18 8 10 0 429 536 16

East Division Team GP W L T PF PA Pts Toronto Argonauts 18 15 3 0 660 327 30 Montreal Alouettes 18 13 5 0 509 532 26 Winnipeg Blue Bombers 18 4 14 0 443 548 8 Hamilton Tiger-Cats 18 2 16 0 362 549 4

• 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 Eastern Semi-Final Game.

[edit] 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.

[edit] Playoff bracket

November 2: Division Semifinals

November 9: Division Finals

November 16: 85th Grey Cup @ Commonwealth Stadium - Edmonton, 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

[edit] 1997 CFL All-Stars

[edit] 1997 Intergold CFLPA All-Stars

^[1]

[edit] 1997 CFL Awards

• CFL's Most Outstanding Player Award - Doug Flutie (QB), Toronto Argonauts
• CFL's Most Outstanding Canadian Award - Sean Millington (FB), BC Lions
• CFL's Most Outstanding Defensive Player Award - Willie Pless (LB), Edmonton Eskimos
• CFL's Most Outstanding Offensive Lineman Award - Mike Kiselak (C), Toronto Argonauts
• CFL's Most Outstanding Rookie Award - Derrell Mitchell (SB), Toronto Argonauts
• CFLPA's Most Outstanding Community Service Award - Mark McLoughlin (K), Calgary Stampeders
• CFL's Coach of the Year - Don Matthews, Toronto Argonauts

[edit] References

Preceded by 1996 CFL season

CFL seasons

Succeeded by 1998 CFL season

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