# 1997 Montreal Alouettes season

The 1997 Montreal Alouettes finished in second place in the East Division with a 13–5 record. Their season came to a close as the Doug Flutie-led Toronto Argonauts defeated the Alouettes in the Eastern Final. The 1997 team saw major head office changes as Jim Speros sold the team to Bob Wetenhall and Larry Smith assumed the role of president and chief executive officer after resigning as CFL commissioner.

## Offseason
### CFL draft

| Round | Pick | Player | Position | School/Club Team |
| 1 | 6 | Steve Charbonneau | DL | New Hampshire |
| 2 | 11 | Jerome Pathon | WR | Washington |
| 2 | 14 | Ryan Coughlin | OL | McGill |
| 3 | 21 | Bruno Heppell | RB | Western Michigan |
| 4 | 29 | Derek Krete | LB | Western Ontario |
| 4 | 30 | Ryan Carruthers | SB | Calgary |
| 5 | 38 | Andy Brereton | SB | Western Michigan |
| 6 | 45 | Francis Bellefroid | LB | Bishop's |

### Ottawa Rough Riders Dispersal Draft

| Round | Pick | Name | Pos |
| 1 | 6 | Uzooma Okeke | G |
| 2 | 14 | Swift Burch | DT |
| 3 | 22 | Michael Hendricks | LB |
| 4 | 29 | Robert Stevenson | G |
| 5 | 32 | David Harper | LB |

## Preseason

| Game | Date | Opponent | Results | Results | Venue | Attendance |
| Game | Date | Opponent | Score | Record | Venue | Attendance |
| A | June 8 | Hamilton Tiger-Cats | W 30–14 | 1–0 | Ivor Wynne Stadium | 9,311 |
| C | June 18 | Toronto Argonauts | L 0–40 | 1–1 | Olympic Stadium | 6,394 |

## Regular season
### Season Standings

East Division :
| Team | GP | W | L | T | PF | PA | Pts |
| Toronto Argonauts | 18 | 15 | 3 | 0 | 660 | 327 | 30 |
| Montreal Alouettes | 18 | 13 | 5 | 0 | 509 | 532 | 26 |
| Winnipeg Blue Bombers | 18 | 4 | 14 | 0 | 443 | 548 | 8 |
| Hamilton Tiger-Cats | 18 | 2 | 16 | 0 | 362 | 549 | 4 |

### Season Schedule

| Week | Game | Date | Opponent | Results | Results | Venue | Attendance |
| Week | Game | Date | Opponent | Score | Record | Venue | Attendance |
| 1 | 1 | June 27 | vs. Hamilton Tiger-Cats | W 27–17 | 1–0 | Olympic Stadium | 7,380 |
| 2 | 2 | July 3 | at Winnipeg Blue Bombers | W 27–24 | 2–0 | Winnipeg Stadium | 20,497 |
| 3 | 3 | July 9 | vs. Calgary Stampeders | W 34–28 | 3–0 | Olympic Stadium | 7,669 |
| 4 | 4 | July 17 | at Edmonton Eskimos | L 0–32 | 3–1 | Commonwealth Stadium | 27,811 |
| 5 | 5 | July 24 | Edmonton Eskimos | L 24–34 | 3–2 | Olympic Stadium | 10,025 |
| 6 | 6 | July 31 | at Toronto Argonauts | L 8–46 | 3–3 | SkyDome | 16,218 |
| 7 | 7 | Aug 9 | at BC Lions | W 45–31 | 4–3 | BC Place Stadium | 19,106 |
| 8 | 8 | Aug 16 | vs. Hamilton Tiger-Cats | W 36–26 | 5–3 | Olympic Stadium | 10,039 |
| 9 | 9 | Aug 22 | at Winnipeg Blue Bombers | W 26–21 | 6–3 | Winnipeg Stadium | 19,930 |
| 10 | 10 | Aug 30 | vs. BC Lions | W 34–33 | 7–3 | Olympic Stadium | 11,050 |
| 11 | 11 | Sept 6 | at Hamilton Tiger-Cats | W 38–18 | 8–3 | Ivor Wynne Stadium | 9,253 |
| 12 | 12 | Sept 12 | vs. Winnipeg Blue Bombers | W 29–28 | 9–3 | Olympic Stadium | 10,259 |
| 13 | 13 | Sept 21 | at Saskatchewan Roughriders | W 24–22 | 10–3 | Taylor Field | 25,570 |
| 14 | 14 | Sept 28 | at Calgary Stampeders | L 22–43 | 10–4 | McMahon Stadium | 27,153 |
| 15 | 15 | Oct 3 | vs. Saskatchewan Roughriders | W 30–29 | 11–4 | Olympic Stadium | 12,322 |
| 16 | 16 | Oct 11 | at Toronto Argonauts | L 21–28 | 11–5 | SkyDome | 17,355 |
| 17 | 17 | Oct 19 | vs. Winnipeg Blue Bombers | W 41–34 | 12–5 | Olympic Stadium | 6,721 |
| 18 | 18 | Oct 26 | at Toronto Argonauts | W 43–38 | 13–5 | Olympic Stadium | 10,801 |

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

| Team | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | Total |
| BC Lions | 2 | 10 | 16 | 7 | 35 |
| Montreal Alouettes | 21 | 21 | 3 | 0 | 45 |

### East Final

| Team | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | Total |
| Montreal Alouettes | 1 | 8 | 21 | 0 | 30 |
| Toronto Argonauts | 7 | 13 | 3 | 14 | 37 |

## Awards
### 1997 CFL All-Star Selections

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