2013 CFL season

2013 CFL season
Regular season
Duration June 27, 2013 – November 2, 2013
Playoffs
Start date November 10, 2013
East Champions Hamilton Tiger Cats
West Champions Saskatchewan Roughriders
101st Grey Cup
Date November 24, 2013
Site Mosaic Stadium at Taylor Field, Regina
Champions Saskatchewan Roughriders
2012  CFL seasons  2014

The 2013 CFL season was the 60th season of modern Canadian professional football. Officially, it was the 56th season of the league.

The pre-season began on June 12, 2013 and the regular season began on June 27, 2013.[1] Regina, Saskatchewan hosted the 101st Grey Cup on November 24, with the Cup won by the Saskatchewan Roughriders.

CFL news in 2013

Salary cap

According to a new collective bargaining agreement, the 2013 salary cap was set at $4,400,000. As per the agreement, the cap is fixed and does not vary with league revenue performance. The minimum team salary was set at $4,000,000, with individual minimum salaries set at $45,000.[2]

Season schedule

The 2013 season schedule was released on March 5, 2013, with the regular season opening on June 27 at the new Investors Group Field in Winnipeg, Manitoba.[3] This was the first time Winnipeg had opened the regular season since 1998 and the first brand new Canadian stadium in the CFL since Toronto's SkyDome opened in 1989 (the Alamodome opened in 1993 with the now defunct San Antonio Texans playing there in 1995). For the second time in three years, the Toronto Argonauts and Hamilton Tiger-Cats did not play in their Labour Day Classic matchup, due to scheduling conflicts for both teams. Following the previous year's experiment, the league held all division matchups not only in the last week, but for the final four weeks in total, hoping for a tight playoff race. There were 15 double headers, with one on a Thursday, three on Fridays, nine on Saturdays, one on a Sunday, and the traditional Thanksgiving contests on a Monday.[4]

Bye weeks

For the second consecutive year, the teams' bye weeks occurred in the sixth and seventh weeks of the season, earlier than the usual eighth and ninth week setup that has been in place since 2007. These began over the August Civic Holiday, suggesting that this was done to accommodate for fans' vacation plans.

Stadium changes

The Hamilton Tiger-Cats played 2013 home games at Alumni Stadium in Guelph, with the exception of Touchdown Atlantic (see below). The team's previous venue, Ivor Wynne Stadium, was demolished during the offseason, and its replacement, Tim Hortons Field, would not be ready until at least 2014. For the first time in decades, the Tiger-Cats did not host the Labour Day Classic and instead traveled to Vancouver to face the BC Lions that weekend. Because Ontario University Athletics (of which Alumni Stadium's primary tenants, the Guelph Gryphons, are a member) also has a tradition of playing football games on Labour Day, finding a suitable venue within Southern Ontario would have been impossible. The Toronto at Hamilton matchup was instead played as the nightcap in the 2013 Thanksgiving Day Classic.[5]

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers finally took residence at the new Investors Group Field. The stadium was supposed to have been readied in 2012, but construction delays pushed back the opening to the 2013 season. The Toronto Argonauts hosted the Montreal Alouettes at the University of Toronto's Varsity Stadium for their preseason game, the first Argonauts game at Varsity Stadium in 55 years.[6]

Return of Touchdown Atlantic

After a one-year hiatus in 2012, Touchdown Atlantic returned for the 2013 season with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats hosting the Montreal Alouettes on September 21, 2013. This was the third regular season instalment of the game and the second to feature the Tiger-Cats. This was the first appearance for the Alouettes and it was also the first matchup to feature division opponents.[7]

Media

On March 21, 2013, the CFL announced it had renewed its exclusive contract with TSN to televise all CFL games through 2018; the contract included the national radio rights to the Grey Cup, which would air on TSN Radio and The Team. The contract had originally been set to expire at the end of the 2013 season.

As with the previous contract, the league had no games broadcast on terrestrial television, prolonging an absence dating to 2007 and making it the largest league in North America without over-the-air television broadcasts.

On June 21, 2013, the CFL announced it had renewed its distribution deal with NBC Sports Network for United States broadcasts and that ESPN2 would also pick up five additional games for live broadcast. ESPN3 continued to serve as the league's online broadcaster.

Rule changes

On April 10, 2013 the CFL Board of Governors approved 2 new rules. The first stated that coaches would be allowed to challenge the result of a field goal attempt or extra point attempt. The second rule gave coaches more flexibility on when they can use their timeouts. Coaches could now use both of their time outs at any point during regulation time of a game, as long as they didn't use more than one after the three-minute warning was sounded in the second half of the game. In the past coaches were only allowed to use one time out per half.[8]

Coaching changes

Immediately following the close of the 2012 CFL season it seemed probable that there would be no head coaching changes in the off-season.

However, after a disappointing 6–12 regular season the Hamilton Tiger-Cats fired George Cortez. The expectations on the Ticats were very high after the off-season acquisitions of Henry Burris and Andy Fantuz which Cortez failed to live up to. The Tiger-Cats replaced Cortez with Kent Austin. Austin, who won the 95th Grey Cup with the Saskatchewan Roughriders, had been the offensive coordinator at the University of Mississippi and the head coach of Cornell University for 3 years each.

In mid-January, 2013, the Montreal Alouettes lost their head coach Marc Trestman to the Chicago Bears of the NFL. Trestman won two Grey Cups in five seasons as the head coach of the Alouettes from 2008 to 2012. On February 19 the Alouettes announced that Dan Hawkins would be the new head coach. Hawkins had been the head coach of Willamette University, Boise State and University of Colorado from 1993 to 2010.

Dan Hawkins was fired on August 1, 2013, after a 2–3 start to the season. Longtime general manager Jim Popp was interim head coach for the remainder of the season.

Tim Burke was fired on November 12, 2013 after the Winnipeg Blue Bombers finished last in the league with a dismal 3–15 record.

Trade deadline

The deadline for teams to complete trades was Wednesday October 9 at 3:59pm EDT.

Regular season

Structure

Teams played eighteen regular season games, playing two of the three divisional opponents three times, the other four times, and teams from the opposing division 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 could qualify ahead of the third place team in the other division (the "Crossover"), if they earned more points in the season.

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

Notes:

Standings

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

Teams in bold are in playoff positions.
X – clinched playoff berth
Y – clinched first place and bye to division final

West Division
Team GP W L T PF PA Pts
Y-Calgary Stampeders 18 14 4 0 549 413 28 Details
X-Saskatchewan Roughriders 18 11 7 0 519 398 22 Details
X-BC Lions 18 11 7 0 504 461 22 Details
Edmonton Eskimos 18 4 14 0 421 519 8 Details
East Division
Team GP W L T PF PA Pts
Y-Toronto Argonauts 18 11 7 0 507 458 22 Details
X-Hamilton Tiger-Cats 18 10 8 0 453 468 20 Details
X-Montreal Alouettes 18 8 10 0 459 471 16 Details
Winnipeg Blue Bombers 18 3 15 0 361 585 6 Details

Weekly results

Abbreviation and Color Key:
BC Lions - BC • Calgary Stampeders - CAL • Edmonton Eskimos - EDM • Hamilton Tiger-Cats - HAM
Montreal Alouettes - MON • Toronto Argonauts - TOR • Saskatchewan Roughriders - SAS • Winnipeg Blue Bombers - WBB
Preseason Win   Preseason Loss   Regular Season Win   Regular Season Loss   BYE   Home
Team Game
A B 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19
BC Lions CALEDMCALTOREDMEDMTORWBBBYECALMONHAMHAMMONSASWBBSASCALSASEDMCAL
29–2727–2244–3224–1617–331–2138–1227–20BYE26–2239–3829–2637–2936–1424–2253–1731–1740–2635–1443–2926-7
Calgary Stampeders BCSASBCSASMONMONWBBBYESASBCTOREDMEDMHAMTORHAMWBBBCEDMSASBC
29–2724–2344–3236–2122–1438–2737–24BYE42–2726–2235–1437–3422–1226–2233–2735–1138–1140–2627-1329-2526-7
Edmonton Eskimos SASBCSASHAMBCBCMONHAMBYETORSASCALCALWBBWBBTORMONSASCALBCSAS
31–2427–2239–1830–2017–321–3127–3230–29BYE33–3630–2734–3722–127–2535–27 (OT)34–2247–249–1427–1329–4330-26
Hamilton Tiger-Cats MONWBBTOREDMWBBSASSASEDMBYEWBBWBBBCBCCALMONCALTORTORMONMONWBB
33–2633–2639–3430–2025–2037–032–2030–29BYE37–1837–1429–2637–2926–2228–2635–1133–1924–1836–527–2437-7
Montreal Alouettes HAMTORWBBWBBCALCALEDMBYETORSASBCTORTORBCHAMSASEDMWBBHAMHAMTOR
33–2624–2038–3319–1122–1438–2732–27BYE38–1324–2139–3820–937–3036–1428–2617–1247–2434–2736-527-2423-20
Toronto Argonauts WBBMONHAMBCSASWBBBCBYEMONEDMCALMONMONSASCALEDMHAMHAMWBBWBBMON
24–624–2039–3424–1639–2835–1938–12BYE38–1336–3335–1420–937–3031–2933–2734–2233–1924–1826–2036–2123-20
Saskatchewan Roughriders EDMCALEDMCALTORHAMHAMBYECALMONEDMWBBWBBTORBCMONBCEDMBCCALEDM
31–2424–2339–1836–2139–2837–032–20BYE42–2724–2130–2748–2525–1331–2924–2217–1231–1714–935-1429-2530-26
Winnipeg Blue Bombers TORHAMMONMONHANTORCALBCBYEHAMHAMSASSASEDMEDMBCCALMONTORTORHAM
24-652-038-3319-1125–2035–1937–2427–20BYE37–1837–1448–2525–1325–735–27 (OT)53–1738–1134-2726–2036–2137-7

2013 average attendance[9]

CFL playoffs

The Calgary Stampeders were first to clinch a playoff berth, in Week 12 of the schedule. Toronto and BC followed in Week 14, followed by Saskatchewan and Hamilton in Week 15, and the final playoff spot was clinched by Montreal in Week 17.[10] Three of the four home playoff hosts were determined in Week 17.[10]

Main article: 101st Grey Cup

The Saskatchewan Roughriders won their fourth Grey Cup championship on home turf at Mosaic Stadium at Taylor Field by defeating the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, 45-23. Roughriders' running back Kory Sheets was named the MVP, while Roughriders' slotback, Chris Getzlaf was named the Grey Cup's Most Valuable Canadian.

Playoff bracket

  November 10:
Division Semi-Finals
    November 17:
Division Finals
    November 24:
101st Grey Cup
Mosaic Stadium at Taylor FieldRegina
                           
  East     E2  Hamilton Tiger-Cats 36  
  E3  Montreal Alouettes 16     E1  Toronto Argonauts 24    
  E2  Hamilton Tiger-Cats 19*         E2  Hamilton Tiger-Cats 23
      W2  Saskatchewan Roughriders 45
  West     W2  Saskatchewan Roughriders 35    
  W3  BC Lions 25     W1  Calgary Stampeders 13  
  W2  Saskatchewan Roughriders 29  

*-Team won in Overtime.

Award winners

CFL Player of the Week

Week Offensive Player of the Week Defensive Player of the Week Special Teams Player of the Week Outstanding Canadian
One Ricky Ray Charleston Hughes Lindsey Lamar Jon Cornish
Two Hugh Charles Bryant Turner Jock Sanders Andrew Harris
Three Kory Sheets Renauld Williams Rene Paredes Andre Durie
Four Darian Durant Renauld Williams Rene Paredes Rob Bagg
Five Bo Levi Mitchell Kyries Hebert Sean Whyte Shea Emry
Six Travis Lulay Solomon Elimimian Luca Congi Samuel Giguere
Seven Jon Cornish Alonzo Lawrence Chad Owens Jon Cornish
Eight Ricky Ray Tyron Brackenridge Tim Brown Marc-Olivier Brouillette
Nine Kory Sheets Dee Webb Tyron Carrier Eric Deslauriers
Ten Maurice Price Charleston Hughes Joe Burnett Marc-Olivier Brouillette
Eleven Henry Burris Demond Washington Will Ford Jon Cornish
Twelve Mike Reilly Adam Bighill Rob Maver Chris Getzlaf
Thirteen Zach Collaros Chip Cox Brett Lauther Andre Durie
Fourteen Chad Kackert Adam Bighill Trent Guy Jabari Arthur
Fifteen Jon Cornish Jerald Brown Will Ford Jon Cornish
Sixteen C.J. Gable Rennie Curran Rob Maver Jon Cornish
Seventeen Kory Sheets Chip Cox Bo Bowling Jon Cornish
Eighteen Ricky Ray Charleston Hughes Brandon Banks Jon Cornish
Nineteen Chris Garrett Rennie Curran Jamal Miles Andrew Harris
Twenty Darian Durant Simoni Lawrence Christopher Milo Andrew Harris
Twenty-one Kory Sheets Jermaine McElveen Diamond Ferri Andy Fantuz

Source[11]

CFL Player of the Month

Month Offensive Player of the Month Defensive Player of the Month Special Teams Player of the Month Outstanding Canadian
July Kory Sheets Kyries Hebert Rene Paredes Jon Cornish
August Darian Durant Chip Cox Christopher Milo Marc-Olivier Brouillette
September Zach Collaros Adam Bighill Rene Paredes John Cornish
October Jon Cornish Chip Cox Rene Paredes Jon Cornish

Source[12]

2013 CFL All-Stars

Offence

Defence

Special teams

2013 CFL Western All-Stars

Offence

Defence

Special teams

2013 CFL Eastern All-Stars

Offence

Defence

Special teams

2013 Gibson's Finest CFL Awards

References

Preceded by
2012 CFL season
CFL seasons Succeeded by
2014 CFL season
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