Best CFL squads ever

[74_75_78_79_]

To the CFL scholars in here...what, generally, is considered the best Canadian football team ever assembled? Is it Moon's Eskimo Dynasty up in Edmonton or some other team and a run they may have made? Where do Bud Grant's Winnipeg squads rank? What's considered the best one-year CFL team? Has anyone ever gone 18-0? Or 17-1?

[argofan87]

Technically, no CFL team has ever finished the season undefeated. I say technically because the CFL itself did not exist until 1958 though all current teams outdate the formation of the league except for the Ottawa RedBlacks who I believe did not inherit the records set by the Ottawa Rough Riders. The 1948 Calgary Stampeders did finish the year 12-0 culminating in a Grey Cup victory. That is the last time a member team in the CFL finished the season undefeated. The western teams in the CFL adopted a 16-game schedule as early as the 1960's I believe while the eastern teams did not adopt a 16-game schedule until the 1970's. The league adopted an 18-game schedule in 1986. Since that time, there have been no 17-1 teams and only one 16-2 team which was the 1989 Edmonton Eskimos. That team featured a strong rushing attack led by Tracy Ham, a QB who was among the best rushing QB's the CFL has ever had (a CFL QB typically must be able to run quite a bit) and an adequate passer. That team rushed for 3,364 yards, which is somewhat rare in the CFL given that there has been a heavy emphasis on passing since the early 1980's. That Eskimos team did not win the Grey Cup, however, as they were upset by the Saskatchewan Roughriders in the Western Final. The CFL has had Grey Cup champs that finished the regular season with 8-10 or 9-9 records. Sometimes they simply get hot at the right time. Anyways, here are some of the teams that people up here in Canada consider to be among the best in league history:

1981 Edmonton Eskimos: Link to team stats, this was the 4th year of the Eskimos 1978-1982 dynasty in which they won 5 straight Grey Cups. The team finished the season 14-1-1 with their only loss being to Dieter Brock and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. The Hamilton Tiger-Cats also played them to a draw that season. Warren Moon and Tom Wilkinson led the team at quarterback, the team featured two very good running backs in Jim Germany and Neil Lumsden plus a lethal receiving corps with Brian Kelly, Tom Scott and Waddell Smith. I realize that some of these names might not mean much to some of you, but up here they are well regarded. Their defense at the time was known as Alberta Crude and featured stars such as Larry Highbaugh who had 7 INT's, DE James "Quick" Parker who had 18.5 sacks and "Dr. Death" Dave Fennell. All told, the team put up 72 sacks in 16 games. Ironically, they played the 5-11 Ottawa Rough Riders in the Grey Cup (the league introduced measures to prevent a 5-11 team from making it in the future) who put up a valiant fight in the Grey Cup building a 20-0 lead before the Eskimos came back and won 26-23.

1967 Hamilton Tiger-Cats: Link to team stats, Hamilton is nick-named the Steel City and features colors similar to the Steelers and in the 1960's they could have been nicknamed the Steel Curtain. This team did not surrender a TD in the last 3 regular season games and 3 playoff games. Their most prominent player was Angelo Mosca who some of you may remember as a professional wrestler. They outscored Ottawa 37-3 in a two-game playoff and then beat the Saskatchewan Roughriders 24-1 in the Grey Cup.

1997 Toronto Argonauts: Link to team stats, a team near and dear to my heart. I believe that this was the most dominant team in league history. This was Doug Flutie's last year in the league and he threw 47 touchdowns along with 5505 passing yards. Robert Drummond who played for the Eagles in the early 1990's rushed for 1000 and would've had 1000 receiving yards but for an injury. The defense didn't have any individual player statistics that made you go wow, but they did surrender under 18 points a game (you won't find a ridiculous PA # like the Ravens or Bears), they were beating teams 46-3, 66-25, 41-9, etc., and dominated Saskatchewan 47-23 in the Grey Cup.

Here are a few teams that come to mind...

[Retro Rider]

On the eve of the 100th Grey Cup in 2012, The Toronto Star named their top 5 CFL teams of all-time:

1) 1981 Edmonton Eskimos (14-1-1)
2) 1995 Baltimore Stallions (15-3)
3) 1997 Toronto Argonauts (15-3)
4) 1967 Hamilton Tiger-Cats (10-4)
5) 1956 Edmonton Eskimos (11-5)

All of those teams won Grey Cups ... The '81 Eskimos trailed 20-1 to a 5-11 Ottawa team but rallied in the 2nd half to win, 23-20. I think a case could also be made for the 1955 Edmonton Eskimos who finished with an impressive 14-2 record and only 117 points allowed. Best CFL teams not to win the Grey Cup? I've only been following the league on a regular basis since 1982 (one of those rare NBC viewers who tuned in during the '82 NFLPA strike), but here are a few that would have to rank right up there:

1960 Winnipeg Blue Bombers (14-2) - Lost two straight to the Eskimos in the best-of-three 1960 West Final. Bomber QB Ken Ploen, playing with a broken bone in his throwing hand, fumbled late in the 4th quarter and that led to Edmonton's game winning field goal. IIRC, Bud Grant called the 1960 Blue Bomber club his best ever (spanning the years 1957-1966)

1970 Saskatchewan Roughriders (14-2) - Lost a hard fought Game 3 Western Final to Calgary, 15-14 on a last second 32 yard field goal during a howling blizzard. The Riders led the CFL in points scored and gave up the fewest points in the league, but fell victim to key injuries late in the season. A review of game films afterward showed that Saskatchewan QB (and future NFL official) Gary Lane scored not once, but twice late in the third quarter. He was inside the goal-line on a 12 yard run, but was ruled out at the one. He scored again two plays later after crossing the goal-line with the ball in front of his body:

Gary Lane 1970.JPG (69.67 KiB) Viewed 13999 times

251543685-1970_roughriders-w.jpg (160.37 KiB) Viewed 7448 times

https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=A ... gary&hl=en

1989 Edmonton Eskimos (16-2) - Probably the most dominant team that I've seen during my years watching the CFL but they were badly outplayed in the '89 West Final by a 9-9 Saskatchewan team that got heathy at the right time and went on to win the Grey Cup.

1994 Calgary Stampeders (15-3) - Doug Flutie & company were a point scoring machine in 1994 and they still hold the CFL record for most points scored by one team in a single season (698). The 1994 West Final was one of the best CFL games of all-time, but the Stamps came out on the short end of the stick 37-36. B.C. Lions QB Danny McManus found Doug Flutie's brother Darren in a snow covered Calgary endzone with no time left on the clock for the game winner.

[JWL]

If Calgary wins the Grey Cup next week, would they be in the mix for "best CFL team ever"?

[JohnH19]

The 1960 Winnipeg Blue Bombers actually lost the best of three Western Final 2 games to 1. As Retro Rider said, Kenny Ploen's broken hand was mostly to blame as this was indeed Bud Grant's best team. Had the Big Blue gotten by Edmonton and then Ottawa in the Grey Cup game, it could have been five in a row as Winnipeg was the league champion in 1958, 59, 61 and 62.

[JohnH19]

Future official, Gary Lane, was Ron Lancaster's backup with the 1970 Saskatchewan Roughriders and Frank Ryan's backup in Cleveland in 1967.

[JohnH19]

If Calgary wins the Grey Cup next week, would they be in the mix for "best CFL team ever"?

They would certainly belong in the conversation. They're a tremendous team as shown again today in a dominant 42-15 win over BC.

[BD Sullivan]

Future official, Gary Lane, was Ron Lancaster's backup with the 1970 Saskatchewan Roughriders and Frank Ryan's backup in Cleveland in 1967.

Well, technically, Lane was Ryan's backup's (Dick Shiner) backup.

[JohnH19]

Future official, Gary Lane, was Ron Lancaster's backup with the 1970 Saskatchewan Roughriders and Frank Ryan's backup in Cleveland in 1967.

Well, technically, Lane was Ryan's backup's (Dick Shiner) backup.

You sure? Lane threw 43 passes and Shiner threw 9.

[BD Sullivan]

Future official, Gary Lane, was Ron Lancaster's backup with the 1970 Saskatchewan Roughriders and Frank Ryan's backup in Cleveland in 1967.

Well, technically, Lane was Ryan's backup's (Dick Shiner) backup.

You sure? Lane threw 43 passes and Shiner threw 9.

39 of Lane's passes came in the season finale, when he was forced to start the meaningless game because Shiner had broken his leg in the run-through the day before.