Lions

Stampeders

Eskimos

Roughriders

Blue Bombers

Argonauts

Tiger-Cats

Alouettes

Redblacks

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Locations of the active CFL teams West East

The2017 CFL season was the 64th season of modern-dayCanadian football. Officially, it was the 60th season of theCanadian Football League. The regular season began on June 22 and concluded on November 4. The playoffs commenced on November 12 and concluded on November 26 with theToronto Argonauts defeating theCalgary Stampeders to win the105th Grey Cup.^[1]

According to the new collective bargaining agreement, the 2017salary cap was set at$5,150,000 (average $111,956 per active roster spot). As per the agreement, the cap was fixed did not vary with league revenue performance. The base individual minimum salary was set at $53,000.^[2]

The 2017free agency period began on Tuesday, February 14, 2017, at 12pmEST.^[3] All players eligible for free agency areunrestricted free agents, as is customary in the league.

The league announced on November 15, 2016, thatRegina, Saskatchewan, would be host to the first ever CFL Week (branded asMark's CFL Week), an event designed to engage fans and the media during the off-season.^[4][5] The event took place from March 20 to March 26, 2017 atEvraz Place. The week started with the Western Regional Combine, which Edmonton had hosted the past four years. TheCFL National Combine took place from March 23 to March 25, showcasing2017 CFL draft-eligible prospects.^[6] The 2017Canadian Football Hall of Fame inductees were announced during this week and the CFL andTSN photo shoot also took place here. There was also an interactive Fan Festival, ahead coach andgeneral manager media event, and the CFL Rules and Competition Committee meetings, which normally take place in February. The CFL also invited football teams fromU Sports'Canada West Universities Athletic Association in a skeleton football tournament as part of a football showcase. This was the first CFL Combine held outside ofToronto.^[7]

On February 7, 2017, the CFL released the 2017 season schedule with theSaskatchewan Roughriders visiting theMontreal Alouettes on June 22.^[8] The Alouettes most recently hosted the season-opening game in2015. For the fourth consecutive season, week 1 featured aGrey Cup rematch, with the defending championOttawa Redblacks hosting theCalgary Stampeders. Those two teams also met in week 2 in Calgary in an extended rematch. Including that home-and-home series, there were five played in the season with Saskatchewan and Calgary playing in two each and theHamilton Tiger-Cats having none. For the first time since Ottawa rejoined the league in2014, all pre-season games were played against divisional opponents. Additionally, for the first time since the league expanded to an 81-game schedule in 2014, a team other thanToronto played two games in one week, with the Redblacks playing two games in week 5.

There were 19double headers, with nine on Fridays, nine on Saturdays, and one onLabour Day Monday, with the Ontario Labour Day game being played inprime time for the second consecutive year. There were four instances of overlaps for the Friday games as those nights featured games with 2.5 hours of start-time difference as opposed to the usual three hour difference. Those numbers do not include thetriple header which was featured for the second consecutive year, although this time it occurred in week 12 on the Saturday before the2017 NFL season week one Sunday games were played. For the second time in three years, there was only one game played onThanksgiving Monday, with Montreal maintaining its customary hosting. This was the third straight season to showcaseThursday Night Football with the first 11 weeks featuring Thursday night games, although the hosting distribution was not as equal as it was in the previous year. TheMontreal Alouettes hosted four Thursday night games,Winnipeg hosted three, Ottawa Redblacks hosted two, while two teams (Toronto and Calgary) hosted once and three teams (Hamilton, Saskatchewan, andBC) did not host any.

TheCanadian Football Hall of Fame game took place on September 15, 2017, featuring theHamilton Tiger-Cats hosting theSaskatchewan Roughriders.^[9]Kelvin Anderson,Anthony Calvillo,Mike O'Shea, andGeroy Simon were inducted as players while Stan Schwartz andBrian Towriss joined as builders. O'Shea is the currently thehead coach of theWinnipeg Blue Bombers, whose team had abye that week, and he also played four seasons with the Tiger-Cats. Calvillo is the quarterbacks coach for the Alouettes, whose team played two days after the Hall of Fame game, and he also played for three years with the Tiger-Cats. Simon spent one year with the Roughriders and won theGrey Cup with the team that one year.

After spending 95 years at the site of their old stadium,Mosaic Stadium at Taylor Field, theSaskatchewan Roughriders moved into a brand new facility, also calledMosaic Stadium, for the 2017 season. The stadium has a fixed seating capacity of approximately 33,000 that is expandable to 40,000 for special events like theGrey Cup. The design of the stadium was unveiled on May 22, 2014, with the official groundbreaking ceremony being held on June 16, 2014.^[10][11] Mosaic Stadium was declared "substantially completed" on August 31, 2016 and a test event featuring afootball game between theRegina Rams andSaskatchewan Huskies was held on October 1, 2016.^[12][13] The stadium was built for approximately$278 million with the city ofRegina providing $73 million, theSaskatchewan provincial government providing a grant of $80 million and a loan of $100 million, and the Roughriders paying the rest.^[14] Unlike stadium delays inWinnipeg andHamilton, Saskatchewan opened their new stadium on time, hosting the Bombers in the second week of the season.^[15]

In mid-June 2017 the CFL announced a new international streaming service branded asCFL International. The new service expanded coverage around the world to new markets including mainland Europe, Asia and Africa, totaling over 130 new countries.TSN retained the CFL broadcast rights in Canada,BT Sports in the United Kingdom,ESPN in the United States, South America, Australia and portions of both Southeast Asia and Africa. Provided in partnership withYare Media Group Inc the service offered multiple package options: Single game pass ($2.99 US), team pass ($36.99 US) and league pass ($79.99 US).^[16]

On April 12, 2017 the Board of Governors andJeffrey Orridge agreed to part ways, effective June 30, 2017.^[17] Orridge had been the commissioner of the league since April2015 after taking over fromMark Cohon who served for eight years from2007 though2014. On June 15, 2017 the CFL announced that June 15 would be Orridge's last day in office, two weeks earlier than agreed upon back in April.Jim Lawson, the league's Chairman of the Board of Governors, assumed the duties of commissioner until a suitable replacement was found.^[18] On July 4, 2017, former CFL offensive linemanRandy Ambrosie assumed the position of commissioner.^[19] Having spent 9 seasons playing with theCalgary Stampeders,Toronto Argonauts andEdmonton Eskimos from 1985–1993, Ambrosie is the first commissioner to have played in the league sinceLarry Smith left the position in 1996.

On November 7, 2016, theMontreal Alouettes released their 21-yeargeneral manager and sometime Vice President andhead coachJim Popp after two disappointing seasons in a row. Popp joined the then brand-newBaltimore Stallions organization in1994, and contributed to the revived Montreal team's current threeGrey Cup championships and eightEast Division titles over his tenure as general manager (as well as an additional Grey Cup and one South Division title in Baltimore); Popp was the last major legacy contributor from the CFL'sAmerican expansion of the 1990s.^[20] On December 14, 2016, the Alouettes held a press conference to announce Patrick Boivin as President and CEO andKavis Reed as general manager.^[21] Reed had been thespecial teams coordinator with the Als for the previous two seasons, and has been coaching in the CFL since2001.^[22]

After six seasons as the general manager of theArgonauts and compiling a 49–59 record in that time span,Jim Barker was fired on January 24, 2017.^[23] On February 28, 2017 the Argos announcedJim Popp as their new general manager.^[24] Popp had been the GM of theMontreal Alouettes since the mid-1990s and led the team to three Grey Cup championships.

On April 7, 2017 theEskimos held a press conference to announce the firing of general managerEd Hervey.^[25] The decision was made in large part because of a contract dispute and philosophical differences regarding increasing the media and fan accessibility of the team.^[26] Hervey had been the GM since the2013 CFL season, and had led the team to a record of 40–32 (3–2 in playoffs) during that time, including winning the103rd Grey Cup. On April 25, 2017 the Eskimos named 37-year oldBrock Sunderland as their new GM. Sunderland had been the assistant GM of theOttawa Redblacks since their inaugural season in 2014.^[27]

On December 14, 2016, theMontreal Alouettes announced thatJacques Chapdelaine would stay on as the team's head coach. Chapdelaine had served as the interim head coach for the final six games of theprevious season.^[28] However, after a 3–8 start to the season the Alouettes announced that they had dismissed Chapdelaine and defensive coordinator Noel Thorpe. General ManagerKavis Reed will serve as the interim head coach until the end of the season.^[29] Reed was the head-coach of theEdmonton Eskimos for three seasons (2011–2013), winning 22 games, and losing 32 (1–2 in the playoffs).

On January 27, 2017,Scott Milanovich resigned from his position as the head coach of theToronto Argonauts; and later that day became thequarterbacks coach for theJacksonville Jaguars of theNFL. Scott Milanovich had been the head coach of the Argos for five seasons starting in2012, leading the club to a record of 43–47 during his tenure. Milanovich guided the Argos to victory in the100th Grey Cup, his first season as head coach.^[30] On February 28, 2017 the Argos announcedMarc Trestman as their new head coach. Trestman was the head coach of the Montreal Alouettes from2008 through2012, with a record of 59–31, guiding the Als to back-to-backGrey Cup titles in2009 and2010.^[31]

On August 24, 2017, midway through the 2017 season,Kent Austin stepped down as the head coach of theHamilton Tiger-Cats (remaining with the team as vice president of football operations), and namedJune Jones his successor.^[32] Austin was in his fifth season as the Ti-Cats head coach, but started the season 0–8. During his tenure the Hamilton the Tiger-Cats won 36 games and lost 44, they also lost in consecutive Grey Cups (2013 &2014). Jones had only been with the Ti-Cats for a little over three weeks at the time of his appointment to head coach, and his only other CFL coaching experience was with theOttawa Rough Riders as their offensive coordinator in1986. Nevertheless, he has extensive experience coaching in theNFL and variousAmerican collegiate levels.

On May 16, 2017, the CFL announced it would be renewing and expanding the officiating partnership as it enters into its second year of existence. Six NFL officials (two more than in 2016) worked as part of CFL crews during CFL preseason and regular-season games in June and July, prior to the start of the NFL season. Additionally, six CFL officials (three more than in 2016) attended the NFL's Officiating Development Program.^[33]

In March the CFL's Rules Committee submitted a variety of rule changes to the Board of Governors, to be implemented for the 2017 season. The proposed changes focus on improving game flow and increasing player safety.^[34] The proposals will be reviewed by the CFL's Board of Governors.

• Coaches would no longer be allowed to challenge a play following a TV commercial timeout. The coach would have to throw his challenge flag within the first 30 seconds of the TV break.
• Limiting the types of actions which coaches can challenge with regards to "roughing the passer" penalties and hits on quarterbacks when they are running with the ball.
• Change all 10-yard illegal low block penalties to 15-yard unnecessary roughness penalties.
• Prevent the return team on a kicking play from putting a player on the field a split second prior to the snap and trying to hide him so he can receive a lateral pass from the kick returner. This sort of play would be subject to a 10-yard penalty.
• Increasing the duties of the video official in the Command Centre so they can correct errors when:
  • A flag has been thrown for a line of scrimmage penalty (offside or procedure)
  • A flag has been thrown for an unnecessary roughness penalty following a play and the video official sees other unnecessary roughness infractions
  • A call for illegal contact on a receiver should be changed to defensive pass interference because the ball had been thrown
• The replay official can only a change a call where there is clear and indisputable evidence that it is wrong, rather than attempt to officiate plays to ensure they are correct.
• TSN will go to commercial on every challenge it can. It is estimated that 80% of challenges will now be done during a commercial, up from 20% last season.
• Retaining the mid-season rule change from last season in which if a team makes its first coach's challenge of the game and does not win that challenge, the team losses a timeout.

• On August 2, 2017, new CommissionerRandy Ambrosie announced that coaches would only be able to challenge once per game, instead of twice. This change came in response to the fans growing displeasure over the frequency and inconsistency of coaches challenges. The hope is that by only being able to challenge once per game teams will have to save their challenge for more egregious mistakes.^[35]
• On September 13, 2017, the CFL and CFLPA made two major announcements to address player safety. The first being the immediate end of fully padded-practices during the season. Under the previous rules each team was allowed to have 17 padded practices over the course of the season.^[36] Secondly, it was announced that starting in2018, seasons would now be 21 weeks in length, one week longer than the 2017 season. This will allow more time between games for players to recover, and help alleviate scheduling issues in a nine-team league.^[37]

On May 7, the league launched its "Bring It In /Tous Ensemble" ad campaign, designed to diversify its fan base and attract more women and younger fans.^[38] On August 13, the league launched a suite of T-shirts with the moniker "Diversity is Strength /Diversité est synonyme de Force" in response to the riots inCharlottesville, Virginia. The backs of the shirts had the last names of dozens of former and present CFL players from varying ethnic backgrounds.^[39] The shirts were originally planned to have been released in the fall, with the league moving the launch up to respond to the events in Charlottesville.^[40]

Teams played eighteen regular season games, playing two divisional opponents three times and all of the other teams twice. Teams were awarded two points for a win and one point for a tie. The top three teams in each division qualified for the playoffs, with the first place team gaining a bye to the divisional finals. A fourth place team in one division may qualify ahead of the third place team in the other division (the "Crossover"), if they earn more points in the season.^[41] If a third-place team finishes in a tie with the fourth place team in the other division, the third place team automatically gets the playoff spot and there is no crossover.

If two or more teams in the same division were equal in points, the following tiebreakers applied:^[42]

1. Most wins in all games
2. Head to head winning percentage (matches won divided by all matches played)
3. Head to head points difference
4. Head to head points ratio
5. Tiebreakers 3–5 applied sequentially to all divisional games
6. Tiebreakers 4 and 5 applied sequentially to all league games
7. Coin toss

Notes:

• 1. If two clubs remain tied after other club(s) are eliminated during any step, tie breakers reverts to step 2.

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

Teams inbold are in playoff positions.

• Saskatchewan (4th place in the West Division) qualified for the Crossover ahead of Hamilton (3rd place in the East Division) because Saskatchewan had 10 wins, Hamilton had 6 wins.
• Winnipeg finished 2nd in the West Division because they won their 2 game regular season series against Edmonton (2–0).

This is the firstGrey Cup being played inOttawa in13 years, in celebration of the150th anniversary of Canada. Ottawa also hosted the55th Grey Cup in 1967, in celebration of thecentennial of Canada.Toronto's wide-receiverDeVier Posey was named as theGrey Cup's Most Valuable Player andCalgary's running backJerome Messam was named theGrey Cup's Most Valuable Canadian.

Source^[44]

Source^[44]

• K –Rene Paredes, Calgary Stampeders
• P –Ty Long, BC Lions
• ST –Roy Finch, Calgary Stampeders

Source^[45]

• K –Rene Paredes, Calgary Stampeders
• P –Ty Long, BC Lions
• ST –Roy Finch, Calgary Stampeders

• K –Sergio Castillo, Hamilton Tiger-Cats
• P –Brett Maher, Ottawa Redblacks
• ST –Diontae Spencer, Ottawa Redblacks

• CFL's Most Outstanding Player Award –Mike Reilly (QB),Edmonton Eskimos
• CFL's Most Outstanding Canadian Award –Andrew Harris (RB),Winnipeg Blue Bombers
• CFL's Most Outstanding Defensive Player Award –Alex Singleton (LB),Calgary Stampeders
• CFL's Most Outstanding Offensive Lineman Award –Stanley Bryant, (OT),Winnipeg Blue Bombers
• CFL's Most Outstanding Rookie Award –James Wilder Jr. (RB),Toronto Argonauts
• John Agro Special Teams Award –Roy Finch (KR),Calgary Stampeders
• Tom Pate Memorial Award –Adarius Bowman (WR),Edmonton Eskimos
• Jake Gaudaur Veterans' Trophy –Luc Brodeur-Jourdain (C),Montreal Alouettes
• Annis Stukus Trophy –Marc Trestman,Toronto Argonauts
• Commissioner's Award –Rick Sowieta
• Hugh Campbell Distinguished Leadership Award – Paul Graham

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• Canadian Football League seasons
• 2017 in Canadian football

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