# 1998 Montreal Alouettes season

The 1998 Montreal Alouettes finished in second place in the East Division with a 12–5–1 record. The Hamilton Tiger-Cats finished with the same record, but won the season series and thus, the tie-breaker. Hamilton also defeated the Alouettes in the East Final, denying the team a trip to the Grey Cup.
The 1998 season was significant with the signing of future all-time team passing leader Anthony Calvillo, the drafting of future Alouette touchdown leader Ben Cahoon, and longtime centre Bryan Chiu becoming a regular starter on the offensive line. Running back Mike Pringle became the first player to rush for over 2000 yards in a single season. The Alouettes also made a permanent move to Percival Molson Memorial Stadium on the campus of McGill University after dwindling attendance numbers at Olympic Stadium.

## Offseason
### CFL draft

| Round | Pick | Player | Position | School/Club Team |
| 1 | 6 | Ben Cahoon | WR | Brigham Young |
| 3 | 15 | Scott Flory | OL | Saskatchewan |
| 3 | 18 | William Loftus | D | Manitoba |
| 5 | 34 | Yannic Sermanou | OL | McGill |
| 6 | 41 | Kelly Ireland | OL | St. Mary's |

## Preseason

| Game | Date | Opponent | Results | Results | Venue | Attendance |
| Game | Date | Opponent | Score | Record | Venue | Attendance |
| A | June 18 | at Toronto Argonauts | L 18–21 | 0–1 | SkyDome | 12,465 |
| B | June 25 | vs. Winnipeg Blue Bombers | W 44–18 | 1–1 | Molson Stadium | 11,752 |

## Regular season
### Season Standings

East Division :
| Team | GP | W | L | T | PF | PA | Pts |
| Hamilton Tiger-Cats | 18 | 12 | 5 | 1 | 503 | 351 | 25 |
| Montreal Alouettes | 18 | 12 | 5 | 1 | 470 | 435 | 25 |
| Toronto Argonauts | 18 | 9 | 9 | 0 | 452 | 410 | 18 |
| Winnipeg Blue Bombers | 18 | 3 | 15 | 0 | 399 | 588 | 6 |

### Season Schedule

| Week | Game | Date | Opponent | Results | Results | Venue | Attendance |
| Week | Game | Date | Opponent | Score | Record | Venue | Attendance |
| 1 | 1 | July 1 | at Winnipeg Blue Bombers | W 27–24 | 1–0 | Winnipeg Stadium | 22,013 |
| 2 | 2 | July 9 | vs. Saskatchewan Roughriders | W 30–24 | 2–0 | Molson Stadium | 14,388 |
| 3 | 3 | July 16 | at Calgary Stampeders | W 29–26 | 3–0 | McMahon Stadium | 27,515 |
| 4 | 4 | July 23 | vs. Hamilton Tiger-Cats | L 21–23 | 3–1 | Molson Stadium | 16,149 |
| 5 | 5 | July 31 | at Edmonton Eskimos | L 10–22 | 3–2 | Commonwealth Stadium | 30,813 |
| 6 | 6 | Aug 6 | vs. BC Lions | W 22–16 | 4–2 | Molson Stadium | 14,050 |
| 7 | 7 | Aug 13 | vs. Toronto Argonauts | W 24–20 | 5–2 | Molson Stadium | 16,399 |
| 8 | 8 | Aug 21 | at Saskatchewan Roughriders | W 13–12 | 6–2 | Taylor Field | 22,042 |
| 9 | 9 | Aug 28 | vs. Calgary Stampeders | W 40–32 | 7–2 | Molson Stadium | 17,501 |
| 10 | 10 | Sept 5 | at BC Lions | W 26–15 | 8–2 | BC Place | 14,408 |
| 11 | 11 | Sept 13 | vs. Hamilton Tiger-Cats | L 9–30 | 8–3 | Molson Stadium | 18,262 |
| 12 | 12 | Sept 20 | at Hamilton Tiger-Cats | T 31–31 | 8–3–1 | Ivor Wynne Stadium | 18,509 |
| 13 | 13 | Sept 25 | at Winnipeg Blue Bombers | L 23–34 | 8–4–1 | Winnipeg Stadium | 22,539 |
| 14 | 14 | Oct 4 | vs. Edmonton Eskimos | W 34–3 | 9–4–1 | Molson Stadium | 16,152 |
| 15 | 15 | Oct 12 | vs. Toronto Argonauts | L 13–40 | 9–5–1 | Molson Stadium | 16,268 |
| 16 | 16 | Oct 17 | at Toronto Argonauts | W 38–28 | 10–5–1 | SkyDome | 24,230 |
| 17 | 17 | Oct 25 | at Winnipeg Blue Bombers | W 58–44 | 11–5–1 | Molson Stadium | 16,205 |
| 18 | 18 | Nov 1 | at Hamilton Tiger-Cats | W 22–11 | 12–5–1 | Ivor Wynne Stadium | 20,025 |

### Roster
## Playoffs
### East Semi-Final

| Team | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | Total |
| Toronto Argonauts | 0 | 17 | 4 | 7 | 28 |
| Montreal Alouettes | 14 | 10 | 10 | 7 | 41 |

### East Final

| Team | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | Total |
| Montreal Alouettes | 0 | 6 | 0 | 14 | 20 |
| Hamilton Tiger-Cats | 15 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 22 |

## Awards
### 1998 CFL All-Star Selections

* Uzooma Okeke – Offensive Tackle
* Elfrid Payton – Defensive End
* Mike Pringle – Running Back
* Pierre Vercheval – Offensive Guard

### 1998 CFL Eastern All-Star Selections

* Uzooma okeke – Offensive Tackle
* Elfrid payton – Defensive End
* Mike pringle – Running Back
* Pierre vercheval – Offensive Guard