2004 CFL season

The 2004 Canadian Football League season is considered to be the 51st season in modern-day Canadian football, although it is officially the 47th Canadian Football League season.

CFL News in 2004

Neil Payne retired from his position as Director of Officiating in February and was replaced by George Black. Former Eskimos Head Coach, Tom Higgins was named as the 2003 Coach of the Year. CFL Commissioner Tom E. Wright, announced that Vancouver would host the 93rd Grey Cup for 2005. Furthermore, CFL Commissioner Tom E. Wright also announced in late October, that Winnipeg would be the host of the 94th Grey Cup for 2006.

Wayne Smith of Appalachian State University was drafted first overall in the 2004 CFL College Draft by the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. Former player, broadcaster and football administrator, Mike Wadsworth died in April. In September, the Canadian Football Hall of Fame inducted Larry Highbaugh, Cal Murphy, Lui Passaglia, Dan Yochum and Ben Zambiasi during the Induction Weekend ceremonies in Hamilton.

CFL partner, Sun Microsystems added and launched real-time, in-game statistics entry with live play-by-play and scoring on cfl.ca. On June 2nd, the CFL announced a partnership with FSN and launched a player-based and team-based game for the 2004 season. In addition, the CFL also launched its first ever online kids section called - the Dare CFL KidsZone.

The CFL started a new international broadcasting agreement with Trajectory Sports & Media Group, to deliver Canadian Football to more than 50 million households in 176 countries for the 2004 season. U.S. television coverage of the 92nd Grey Cup resulted in the largest international broadcast distribution of a Grey Cup game - when it was made available to more than 55 million television households. In addition, Rogers Sportsnet announced the start of "CFL Crunch", which is a 30-minute news segment concerning the league on June 24th.

On October 18th, the Toronto Argonauts announced their agreement with York University, to construct a new 25,000-seat stadium on the university's Keele campus.

League attendance increased by 8% over the 2003 season, when more than 2.2 million fans were coming in to CFL stadiums. The B.C. Lions home attendance figures increased by 13% over the 2003 season, by averaging about 26,697 fans per game at BC Place Stadium. The Montreal Alouettes continued their strong attendance figures by recording it's fifth straight year of having sell out crowds at both, Percival Molson Memorial Stadium and Olympic Stadium. The CFL set a new playoff attendance record with a total of 181,717 postseason crowds attending playoff games in Toronto, Edmonton, Montreal, Vancouver and Ottawa. The Grey Cup game in Ottawa had a sell-out crowd of 51,242 at Frank Clair Stadium.

The attendance increases were likely caused at least in part by the lack of NHL hockey in the wake of the 2004-05 NHL lockout

Records: Before he retired, Edmonton running back, Mike Pringle, established two new records in 2004. The first record was accomplished on July 12th, when Pringle established a new CFL career record for yards from scrimmage with 20,254 yards in the Eskimos 25-9 win over the B.C. Lions. The second record was accomplished on September 19th against the same B.C. Lions, when Pringle became the all-time leading rusher in CFL history with 16,425 yards.

In addition, three CFL quarterbacks established new records as well. Edmonton's Jason Maas, entered the CFL record books by setting a new mark for most consecutive pass completions in a regular season game with 22 on July 30th. On August 13th, B.C.'s Casey Printers, sets a new CFL record for the highest pass completion percentage in a regular season game by completing 90.9% of his passes. Furthermore, Hamilton's Danny McManus, joined the company of Damon Allen and Ron Lancaster by passing a CFL milestone on October 21st.

The Toronto Argonauts won their 15th Grey Cup by defeating the B.C. Lions 27-19 on November 21st.

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"

*Bold text means that they have clinched the playoffs.
*"British Columbia and Montreal both have first round byes."

Grey Cup playoffs

"Main article: 92nd Grey Cup"

The Toronto Argonauts are the 2004 Grey Cup Champions, defeating the British Columbia Lions 27-19, at Ottawa's Frank Clair Stadium. It was the first Grey Cup for Toronto since the 85th Grey Cup in 1997.The Argonauts' Damon Allen (QB) was named the Grey Cup's Most Valuable Player and the Lions' Jason Clermont (SB) was the Grey Cup's Most Valuable Canadian.

Playoff bracket

6TeamBracket
RD1=November 5 & November 7: Division Semifinals
RD2=November 14: Division Finals
RD3=November 21: 92nd Grey Cup Frank Clair Stadium - Ottawa, ON
group1=East
group2=West
RD1-seed1=E3
RD1-team1=Hamilton Tiger-Cats
RD1-score1=6
RD1-seed2=E2
RD1-team2=Toronto Argonauts
RD1-score2=24
RD1-seed3=W3
RD1-team3=Saskatchewan Roughriders
RD1-score3=14
RD1-seed4=W2
RD1-team4=Edmonton Eskimos
RD1-score4=6
RD2-seed1=E2
RD2-team1=Toronto Argonauts
RD2-score1=26
RD2-seed2=E1
RD2-team2=Montreal Alouettes
RD2-score2=18
RD2-seed3=W3
RD2-team3=Saskatchewan Roughriders
RD2-score3=25
RD2-seed4=W1
RD2-team4=British Columbia Lions
RD2-score4=27*
RD3-seed2=W1
RD3-team2=British Columbia Lions
RD3-score2=19
RD3-seed1=E2
RD3-team1=Toronto Argonauts
RD3-score1=27

*-Team won in Overtime.

2004 CFL All-Stars

OFFENCE

*QB - Casey Printers, British Columbia Lions
*RB - Troy Davis, Hamilton Tiger-Cats
*RB - Charles Roberts, Winnipeg Blue Bombers
*SB - Ben Cahoon, Montreal Alouettes
*SB - Geroy Simon, British Columbia Lions
*WR - D. J. Flick, Hamilton Tiger-Cats
*WR - Jason Tucker, Edmonton Eskimos
*C - Bryan Chiu, Montreal Alouettes
*OG - Paul Lambert, Montreal Alouettes
*OG - Andrew Greene, Saskatchewan Roughriders
*OT - Uzooma Okeke, Montreal Alouettes
*OT - Gene Makowsky, Saskatchewan Roughriders

DEFENCE

*DT - Noah Cantor, Toronto Argonauts
*DT - Nate Davis, Saskatchewan Roughriders
*DE - Tim Cheatwood, Hamilton Tiger-Cats
*DE - Anwar Stewart, Montreal Alouettes
*LB - John Grace, Calgary Stampeders
*LB - Kevin Eiben, Toronto Argonauts
*LB - Barrin Simpson, British Columbia Lions
*CB - Almondo Curry, Montreal Alouettes
*CB - Malcolm Frank, Edmonton Eskimos
*DB - Eddie Davis, Saskatchewan Roughriders
*DB - Clifford Ivory, Toronto Argonauts
*DS - Orlondo Steinauer, Toronto Argonauts

PECIAL TEAMS

*P - Noel Prefontaine, Toronto Argonauts
*K - Sean Fleming, Edmonton Eskimos
*ST - Keith Stokes, Winnipeg Blue Bombers

2004 Western All-Stars

OFFENCE

*QB - Casey Printers, British Columbia Lions
*RB - Kenton Keith, Saskatchewan Roughriders
*RB - Charles Roberts, Winnipeg Blue Bombers
*SB - Jason Clermont, British Columbia Lions
*SB - Geroy Simon, British Columbia Lions
*WR - Ryan Thelwell, British Columbia Lions
*WR - Jason Tucker, Edmonton Eskimos
*C - Angus Reid, British Columbia Lions
*OG - Jay McNeil, Calgary Stampeders
*OG - Andrew Greene, Saskatchewan Roughriders
*OT - Seth Dittman, Calgary Stampeders
*OT - Gene Makowsky, Saskatchewan Roughriders

DEFENCE

*DT - Joe Fleming, Calgary Stampeders
*DT - Nate Davis, Saskatchewan Roughriders
*DE - Brent Johnson, British Columbia Lions
*DE - Tom Canada, Winnipeg Blue Bombers
*LB - John Grace, Calgary Stampeders
*LB - Reggie Hunt, Saskatchewan Roughriders
*LB - Barrin Simpson, British Columbia Lions
*DB - Wes Lysack, Winnipeg Blue Bombers
*DB - Malcolm Frank, Edmonton Eskimos
*DB - Eddie Davis, Saskatchewan Roughriders
*DB - Joey Boese, Calgary Stampeders
*DS - Sam Young, British Columbia Lions

PECIAL TEAMS

*P -
*K - Sean Fleming, Edmonton Eskimos
*ST - Keith Stokes, Winnipeg Blue Bombers

2004 Eastern All-Stars

OFFENCE

*QB - Anthony Calvillo, Montreal Alouettes
*RB - Troy Davis, Hamilton Tiger-Cats
*RB - Josh Ranek, Ottawa Renegades
*SB - Ben Cahoon, Montreal Alouettes
*SB - Jeremaine Copeland, Montreal Alouettes
*WR - D. J. Flick, Hamilton Tiger-Cats
*WR - Kwame Cavil, Montreal Alouettes
*C - Bryan Chiu, Montreal Alouettes
*OG - Paul Lambert, Montreal Alouettes
*OG - Scott Flory, Montreal Alouettes
*OT - Uzooma Okeke, Montreal Alouettes
*OT - Dave Hack, Hamilton Tiger-Cats

DEFENCE

*DT - Noah Cantor, Toronto Argonauts
*DT - Ed Philion, Montreal Alouettes
*DE - Tim Cheatwood, Hamilton Tiger-Cats
*DE - Anwar Stewart, Montreal Alouettes
*LB - Kevin Johnson, Montreal Alouettes
*LB - Kevin Eiben, Toronto Argonauts
*LB - Tim Strickland, Montreal Alouettes
*CB - Almondo Curry, Montreal Alouettes
*CB - Davis Sanchez, Montreal Alouettes
*DB - Kelly Malveaux, Montreal Alouettes
*DB - Clifford Ivory, Toronto Argonauts
*DS - Orlondo Steinauer, Toronto Argonauts

PECIAL TEAMS

*P - Noel Prefontaine, Toronto Argonauts
*K - Noel Prefontaine, Toronto Argonauts
*ST - Bashir Levingston, Toronto Argonauts

2004 Rogers CFL Awards

*CFL's Most Outstanding Player Award - Casey Printers (QB), British Columbia Lions
*CFL's Most Outstanding Canadian Award - Jason Clermont (SB), British Columbia Lions
*CFL's Most Outstanding Defensive Player Award - Anwar Stewart (DE), Montreal Alouettes
*CFL's Most Outstanding Offensive Lineman Award - Gene Makowsky (OT), Saskatchewan Roughriders
*CFL's Most Outstanding Rookie Award - Nikolas Lewis (WR), Calgary Stampeders
*CFL's Most Outstanding Special Teams Award - Keith Stokes (WR), Winnipeg Blue Bombers
*CFLPA's Most Outstanding Community Service Award - Barron Miles (DB), Montreal Alouettes
*Rogers Fans' Choice Award - Danny McManus (QB), Hamilton Tiger-Cats / Anthony Calvillo (QB), Montreal Alouettes
*CFL's Coach of the Year - Greg Marshall, Hamilton Tiger-Cats