The 1996 CFL season is considered to be the 43rd season in modern-day Canadian football, although it is officially the 39th Canadian Football League season.

1996 CFL season
DurationJune 23 – November 3, 1996
East championsToronto Argonauts
West championsEdmonton Eskimos
84th Grey Cup
DateNovember 24, 1996
VenueIvor Wynne Stadium, Hamilton
ChampionsToronto Argonauts
CFL seasons
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Canadian Football League team locations: West, East

CFL News in 1996

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At the CFL's Board of Governors Meetings in February 1996, it was decided to end the league's four-year American experiment.

The Shreveport Pirates had already disbanded; the league folded the Memphis Mad Dogs and rejected a sale and relocation plan that would have allowed the Birmingham Barracudas to move to Shreveport and survive, forcing that team's closure as well. The Grey Cup champion Baltimore Stallions had opted to move elsewhere rather than face the daunting prospect of competing with the NFL's Baltimore Ravens. When it was apparent the CFL was refocusing on Canada, Stallions owner Jim Speros gave up the Stallions franchise and moved his organisation to Montreal as the third iteration of the Montreal Alouettes. Up until this time, the city of Montreal had been without Canadian football for nine seasons. Speros revived the Als' traditional colour scheme of blue, white, and red. Their logo was an angry bird running with a football; it was their helmet logo until 2019. Unwilling to continue as the lone American team in the league, the San Antonio Texans voluntarily folded.

A dispersal draft was held for the players on four of the five American teams—all except the Stallions. However, all of the Stallions players were released from their contracts. Alouettes general manager Jim Popp, who followed the Stallions organisation to Montreal, managed to re-sign many of them; he was limited to half of the Alouettes roster, since the Stallions as an American team were not subject to the league's requirement that half of a team's roster comprise Canadian citizens, and the Alouettes would be subject to that rule. To stock the roster with Canadians, a special expansion draft, in which only the Canadian citizens on each other team's roster were subject, was held to stock the Alouettes' roster.

With the removal of the American teams, the CFL reverted to its traditional "East-West" alignment. The revived Alouettes were placed in the East Division and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers were placed back into the West Division, after 10 seasons.

The BC Lions and the Calgary Stampeders underwent ownership changes.

Regular season standings

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Final regular season standings

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

West Division
Team GP W L PF PA Pts
Calgary Stampeders 18 13 5 608 375 26
Edmonton Eskimos 18 11 7 459 354 22
Winnipeg Blue Bombers 18 9 9 421 495 18
Saskatchewan Roughriders 18 5 13 360 498 10
BC Lions 18 5 13 410 483 10
East Division
Team GP W L PF PA Pts
Toronto Argonauts 18 15 3 556 359 30
Montreal Alouettes 18 12 6 536 467 24
Hamilton Tiger-Cats 18 8 10 426 576 16
Ottawa Rough Riders 18 3 15 352 524 6
  • Bold text means that they have clinched the playoffs.
  • Calgary and Toronto both have first round byes.

Grey Cup playoffs

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The Toronto Argonauts are the 1996 Grey Cup champions, defeating the Edmonton Eskimos 43–37, at Hamilton's Ivor Wynne Stadium. The Argonauts' Doug Flutie (QB) was named the Grey Cup's Most Valuable Player and Mike Vanderjagt (K) was the Grey Cup's Most Valuable Canadian.

Playoff bracket

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November 9 & 10: Division Semifinals November 16 & 17: Division Finals November 24: 84th Grey Cup @ Ivor Wynne StadiumHamilton, ON
         
E2 Montreal Alouettes 7
East
E1 Toronto Argonauts 43
E3 Hamilton Tiger-Cats 11
E2 Montreal Alouettes 22
E1 Toronto Argonauts 43
W2 Edmonton Eskimos 37
W2 Edmonton Eskimos 15
West
W1 Calgary Stampeders 12
W3 Winnipeg Blue Bombers 7
W2 Edmonton Eskimos 68

CFL Leaders

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1996 CFL All-Stars

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Offence

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Defence

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Special teams

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1996 Western All-Stars

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Offence

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Defence

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Special teams

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1996 Eastern All-Stars

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Offence

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Defence

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Special teams

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1996 Intergold CFLPA All-Stars

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Offence

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Defence

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Special teams

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Head coach

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[2]

1996 CFL Awards

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References

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  1. ^ "CFLapedia".
  2. ^ 1996 Intergold CFLPA All-Stars

Further reading

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