# 1996 Montreal Alouettes season

The 1996 Montreal Alouettes finished in second place in the East Division with a 12–6 record in the franchise's first full season in the Canadian Football League since 1986. Unlike the lean years from 1981 to 1986, the revived Alouettes were going to be competitive, especially since most of them had won the Grey Cup in the previous season as the Baltimore Stallions. They had some nice talented offensive players from that team, such as Tracy Ham, Mike Pringle, kick returner Chris Wright, slotback Chris Armstrong, and two great defensive players in Irvin Smith, and Elfrid Payton. After a slow start they rebounded to finish strong and after defeating the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, they traveled to Toronto, where they were defeated in the East Final by the eventual Grey Cup champions, the Toronto Argonauts.

## Offseason
### Start of a new franchise

Starting in the 1993 CFL season, the league began expanding into the United States with hopes of boosting revenues and saw five US-based teams in 1995, including the dominant Baltimore Stallions. Prior to the 1996 NFL season, Cleveland Browns owner Art Modell, announced his intentions to move the Browns to Baltimore (to be reborn as the Ravens, meaning there would be two professional football teams in the city. Stallions owner Jim Speros realized that the Stallions could not realistically compete with an NFL team and decided to move the team elsewhere. He looked into moving the team to Houston, Texas (which would lose their NFL team, the Oilers by the end of that same year), but after a deal could not be resolved, he decided to move the team to Montreal as the third (and current) incarnation of the Alouettes.
Stallions General Manager Jim Popp came with Speros to Montreal, but he had to build the team from scratch since the CFL did not allow the team to retain its Baltimore legacy. It was, however, allowed to reclaim the history and records of the old 1946–86 Alouettes (and the Concordes from 1982 to 1985). According to official CFL records, Speros is reckoned as having canceled the Stallions' franchise and reactivated the dormant Alouettes franchise. The Alouettes are now reckoned as having suspended operations from 1987 to 1995.
While all Baltimore players were released from their contracts, Popp was able to resign future Canadian Football Hall of Fame quarterback Tracy Ham and future Hall of Fame running back Mike Pringle, who would go on to become the CFL's all-time leading rusher. Both Ham and Pringle, along with other former Baltimore players re-signed by Popp, would play large roles in the success of the reborn team. The new Alouettes played their first regular season game on June 27, 1996; almost ten years since their last game in the city of Montreal.

### CFL draft

| Round | Pick | Player | Position | School/Club Team |
| 1 | 9 | Denis Montana | WR | Concordia University |
| 2 | 18 | Bryan Chiu | DT | Washington State |
| 3 | 27 | Adam Cassidy | OL | Alberta |
| 4 | 36 | Tom Hipsz | DE | Toronto |
| 6 | 53 | Adrian Rainbow | QB | British Columbia |
| 7 | 62 | Marc Charles | DT | Morgan State |

## Preseason

| Game | Date | Opponent | Results | Results | Venue | Attendance |
| Game | Date | Opponent | Score | Record | Venue | Attendance |
| A | June 13 | vs. Ottawa Rough Riders | W 38–7 | 1–0 | Olympic Stadium | 11,215 |
| B | June 20 | at Hamilton Tiger-Cats | W 43–39 | 2–0 | Ivor Wynne Stadium | 16,346 |

## Regular season
### Season Standings

East Division :
| Team | GP | W | L | T | PF | PA | Pts |
| Toronto Argonauts | 18 | 15 | 3 | 0 | 556 | 359 | 30 |
| Montreal Alouettes | 18 | 12 | 6 | 0 | 536 | 467 | 24 |
| Hamilton Tiger-Cats | 18 | 8 | 10 | 0 | 426 | 576 | 16 |
| Ottawa Rough Riders | 18 | 3 | 15 | 0 | 352 | 524 | 6 |

### Season Schedule

| Week | Game | Date | Opponent | Results | Results | Venue | Attendance |
| Week | Game | Date | Opponent | Score | Record | Venue | Attendance |
| 1 | 1 | June 27 | vs. Toronto Argonauts | L 24–27 | 0–1 | Olympic Stadium | 24,653 |
| 2 | 2 | July 5 | at Edmonton Eskimos | L 13–16 | 0–2 | Commonwealth Stadium | 26,211 |
| 3 | 3 | July 10 | vs. Calgary Stampeders | L 22–62 | 0–3 | Olympic Stadium | 19,362 |
| 4 | 4 | July 19 | at BC Lions | W 44–24 | 1–3 | BC Place Stadium | 21,855 |
| 5 | 5 | July 24 | vs. Winnipeg Blue Bombers | W 36–10 | 2–3 | Olympic Stadium | 20,302 |
| 6 | 6 | Aug 1 | at Toronto Argonauts | L 31–40 | 2–4 | SkyDome | 20,302 |
| 7 | 7 | Aug 7 | vs. Hamilton Tiger-Cats | W 29–22 | 3–4 | Olympic Stadium | 25,210 |
| 7 | 8 | Aug 11 | at Saskatchewan Roughriders | W 32–20 | 4–4 | Taylor Field | 21,997 |
| 8 | 8 | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye |
| 9 | 9 | Aug 23 | vs. Saskatchewan Roughriders | W 23–16 | 5–4 | Olympic Stadium | 26,511 |
| 10 | 10 | Aug 30 | at Ottawa Rough Riders | L 6–17 | 5–5 | Frank Clair Stadium | 28,451 |
| 11 | 11 | Sept 7 | vs. BC Lions | W 28–27 | 6–5 | Olympic Stadium | 15,161 |
| 12 | 12 | Sept 13 | at Calgary Stampeders | W 25–23 | 7–5 | McMahon Stadium | 19,196 |
| 13 | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye |
| 14 | 13 | Sept 29 | at Hamilton Tiger-Cats | L 38–39 | 7–6 | Ivor Wynne Stadium | 17,740 |
| 15 | 14 | Oct 4 | vs. Edmonton Eskimos | W 32–18 | 8–6 | Olympic Stadium | 17,886 |
| 16 | 15 | Oct 14 | at Ottawa Rough Riders | W 25–18 | 9–6 | Frank Clair Stadium | 14,080 |
| 17 | 16 | Oct 19 | vs. Ottawa Rough Riders | W 28–21 | 10–6 | Olympic Stadium | 18,671 |
| 18 | 17 | Oct 25 | vs. Hamilton Tiger-Cats | W 45–41 | 11–6 | Olympic Stadium | 20,231 |
| 19 | 18 | Nov 1 | at Winnipeg Blue Bombers | W 42–24 | 12–6 | Winnipeg Stadium | 25,968 |

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

| Team | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | Total |
| Hamilton Tiger-Cats | ? | ? | ? | ? | 11 |
| Montreal Alouettes | ? | ? | ? | ? | 22 |

### East Final

| Team | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | Total |
| Montreal Alouettes | ? | ? | ? | ? | 7 |
| Toronto Argonauts | ? | ? | ? | ? | 43 |

## Awards
### 1996 CFL All-Star Selections

* Grant Carter – Defensive End
* Charles Gordon – Defensive Back
* Tracy Gravely – Linebacker

### 1996 CFL East All-Star Selections

* Terry Baker – Placekicker
* Bruce Beaton – Offensive Guard
* Grant carter – Defensive End
* Jock Climie – Slotback
* Neal Fort – Offensive Tackle
* Charles gordon – Defensive Back
* Tracy gravely – Linebacker
* Spencer McLennan – Defensive Safety
* Mike Pringle – Running Back
* Paul Randolph – Linebacker
* Irvin Smith – Cornerback