1941 in Canadian football

Last updated

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers were once again permitted to challenge for the Grey Cup following a rule dispute a year earlier. In a meeting of the previous two Grey Cup champions, the Blue Bombers prevailed, sending the coveted mug west for the third time. [1]

Contents

Canadian Football News in 1941

The Calgary Bronks left the WIFU and the Vancouver Grizzlies joined. The IRFU was renamed to Eastern Canada Union for one season. [2]

The Hamilton Tigers did not participate in the Eastern Canada Union, due to World War II and the Toronto Balmy Beach Beachers of the ORFU joined. [3] The Tigers would resume play in 1945.

Regular season

Final regular season standings

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

Western Interprovincial Football Union
TeamGPWLTPFPAPts
Winnipeg Blue Bombers 8620921912
Regina Roughriders 8530644310
Vancouver Grizzlies 8170151092
Eastern Canada Union
TeamGPWLTPFPAPts
Ottawa Rough Riders 6510722110
Toronto Argonauts 6510664210
Toronto Balmy Beach Beachers 624027344
Montreal Bulldogs 606012800
Ontario Rugby Football Union
TeamGPWLTPFPAPts
Hamilton Wildcats 65011222811
Toronto Indians 622246556
Kitchener-Waterloo Panthers 6051301151

Grey Cup playoffs

Note: All dates in 1941

League Finals

WIFU Finals
Winnipeg Blue Bombers @ Regina Roughriders
GameDateAwayHome
1November 8 Winnipeg Blue Bombers 6 Regina Roughriders 8
2November 11 Regina Roughriders 12 Winnipeg Blue Bombers 18
3November 15 Regina Roughriders 2 Winnipeg Blue Bombers 8
IRFU Finals
Toronto Argonauts @ Ottawa Rough Riders
GameDateAwayHome
1November 8 Toronto Argonauts 16 Ottawa Rough Riders 8
2November 15 Ottawa Rough Riders 10 Toronto Argonauts 1

Eastern Finals

Hamilton Wildcats (ORFU) @ Ottawa Rough Riders
DateAwayHome
November 22 Hamilton Wildcats (ORFU) 2 Ottawa Rough Riders 7

Playoff bracket

QuarterfinalsSemifinalsGrey Cup final
         
ERFU Ottawa Rough Riders 8-10
ERFU Toronto Argonauts 16-1
ERFU Ottawa Rough Riders 7
EAST
ORFU Hamilton Wildcats 2
ORFU Hamilton Wildcats
ORFU BYE
ERFU Ottawa Rough Riders 16
WIFU Winnipeg Blue Bombers 18
WIFU Winnipeg Blue Bombers
WIFU BYE
WIFU Winnipeg Blue Bombers 6-18-8
WEST
WIFU Regina Roughriders 8-12-2
WIFU Regina Roughriders
WIFU BYE

Grey Cup Championship

November 29

29th Annual Grey Cup Game: Varsity StadiumToronto, Ontario

WIFU Champion IRFU Champion
Winnipeg Blue Bombers 18 Ottawa Rough Riders 16
The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are the 1941 Grey Cup Champions

1941 All Eastern Rugby Football Union All-Stars

NOTE: During this time most players played both ways, so the All-Star selections do not distinguish between some offensive and defensive positions.

1941 Western All-Stars

NOTE: During this time most players played both ways, so the All-Star selections do not distinguish between some offensive and defensive positions.

1941 Canadian Football Awards

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The Toronto Argonauts won the Grey Cup for the second time in five years.

For the second consecutive season the Toronto Argonauts and Winnipeg Blue Bombers met for the Grey Cup. The Argonauts won the game.

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers played in their third consecutive Grey Cup final. A last-second rouge gave Winnipeg its second title in five years.

The only two-game total point series in Grey Cup history was played between the Ottawa Rough Riders and the Toronto Balmy Beach Beachers. It was Ottawa's first Grey Cup championship since the Senators won back-to-back titles in 1925 and 1926. It was Balmy Beach's fourth and final appearance at a Grey Cup, winning two times in four opportunities.

With Canadians serving on battlefields across Europe and the Pacific, the first ever non-civilian Grey Cup took place in 1942. The Toronto RCAF Hurricanes defeated the Winnipeg RCAF Bombers on an icy field at Varsity Stadium in Toronto.

Football returned to relative normal in 1945 following the conclusion of World War II. Two rivals from the pre-war years met once again in the annual Grey Cup, but on this occasion, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers were no match for the Toronto Argonauts. For Winnipeg, it was the worst loss by a western team in the Grey Cup since 1923 when Queen's University routed the Regina Roughriders 54–0.

For the first time in Grey Cup history, the same two teams challenged for the trophy for the third consecutive year. But unlike the previous two years, the Toronto Argonauts needed some late game heroics to win their third consecutive title.

After a 17-year absence, the Saskatchewan Roughriders returned to the Grey Cup final. Their losing streak in the big game continued, however, as it was the other Rough Riders that took home the prize.

The Toronto Argonauts faced the Edmonton Eskimos in the Grey Cup. Although the Argos would hold on to win the game and their tenth Grey Cup championship, an Argo would not sip from the silver mug again until 1983.

The Hamilton Tiger-Cats defeated the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the annual Grey Cup in 1953.

The Edmonton Eskimos upset the Montreal Alouettes to send the Grey Cup trophy back west for the first time since 1948.

The Edmonton Eskimos defeat the Montreal Alouettes in the first Grey Cup held in the west. This was also the first year that the Grey Cup was open to professional teams only, as the amateur Ontario Rugby Football Union was not invited to compete in an inter-union playdown, leaving only the Interprovincial Rugby Football Union and the Western Interprovincial Football Union to compete for the Canadian championship.

The Edmonton Eskimos faced the Montreal Alouettes in the Grey Cup game for the third consecutive year. And for the third consecutive year, the Edmonton Eskimos were Grey Cup champions. It was the first time in a Grey Cup that a touchdown was worth six points instead of five.

The Hamilton Tiger-Cats defeat the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the Grey Cup.

References

  1. "Grey Cup Memories: 1941". CFL.ca. 2005-11-03. Retrieved 2019-10-05.
  2. "CANADIAN FOOTBALL TIMELINES (1860 – 2005)" (PDF). footballcanada.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 January 2017. Retrieved 11 October 2019.
  3. "1941". www.cflapedia.com. Retrieved 2019-10-12.