# 1997 Edmonton Eskimos season

The 1997 Edmonton Eskimos, coached by Ron Lancaster, finished in first place in the West Division with a 12–6 record. They were upset in the West Final by the Saskatchewan Roughriders.

## Offseason
### CFL Draft

| Round | Pick | Player | Position | School |
| 1 | 3 (via Ottawa) | Chad Folk | OL | Utah |
| 1 | 8 | Mark Farraway | DL | St. Francis Xavier |
| 2 | 16 | Patrice Denis | LB | Western Ontario |
| 4 | 32 | David Heasman | OL | Northern Arizona |
| 5 | 40 | O.J. Santiago | TE | Kent State |
| 6 | 47 | Chris Hardy | QB | Manitoba |

### Ottawa Roughriders Dispersal Draft

| Round | Pick | Player | Pos |
| 1 | 5 (via Winnipeg) | André Bolduc | SB |
| 1 | 8 | Robert Gordon | WR |
| 2 | 16 | Tommy Henry | DB |
| 3 | 24 | Sean Reade | RB |

## Preseason
### Schedule

| Week | Date | Opponent | Score | Result | Attendance | Record |
| A | June 8 | @. British Columbia Lions | 32–15 | L | 10284 | 0–1 |
| B | June 19 | vs Saskatchewan Roughriders | 18–17 | W | 32291 | 1–1 |

## Regular season
### Season standings

East Division
| Team | GP | W | L | T | Pts | PF | PA |
| Toronto Argonauts | 18 | 15 | 3 | 0 | 30 | 660 | 327 |
| Montreal Alouettes | 18 | 13 | 5 | 0 | 26 | 509 | 532 |
| Winnipeg Blue Bombers | 18 | 4 | 14 | 0 | 8 | 443 | 548 |
| Hamilton Tiger-Cats | 18 | 2 | 16 | 0 | 4 | 362 | 549 |
West Division
| Team | GP | W | L | T | Pts | PF | PA |
| Edmonton Eskimos | 18 | 12 | 6 | 0 | 24 | 479 | 400 |
| Calgary Stampeders | 18 | 10 | 8 | 0 | 20 | 533 | 442 |
| Saskatchewan Roughriders | 18 | 8 | 10 | 0 | 16 | 413 | 479 |
| BC Lions | 18 | 8 | 10 | 0 | 16 | 429 | 536 |

### Season schedule

| Week | Date | Opponent | Score | Result | Attendance | Record | Stk |
| 1 | June 25 | @ Calgary Stampeders | 23–22 | W | 24868 | 1–0 | W1 |
| 2 | July 4 | @ Saskatchewan Roughriders | 24–18 | W | 25751 | 2–0 | W2 |
| 3 | July 10 | vs. British Columbia Lions | 41–31 | L | 26010 | 2–1 | L1 |
| 4 | July 17 | vs. Montreal Alouettes | 32–0 | W | 27811 | 3–1 | W1 |
| 5 | July 24 | @ Montreal Alouettes | 34–24 | W | 10225 | 4–1 | W2 |
| 6 | July 31 | vs. Saskatchewan Roughriders | 37–34 | W | 30917 | 5–1 | W3 |
| 7 | August 7 | vs. Winnipeg Blue Bombers | 45–11 | W | 29293 | 6–1 | W4 |
| 8 | August 14 | @ Toronto Argonauts | 38–14 | L | 18031 | 6–2 | L1 |
| 9 | August 21 | vs. Hamilton Tiger Cats | 28–24 | W | 26960 | 7–2 | W1 |
| 10 | September 1 | @ Calgary Stampeders | 27–14 | L | 37611 | 7–3 | L1 |
| 11 | September 5 | vs. Calgary Stampeders | 24–20 | W | 43913 | 8–3 | W1 |
| 12 | September 13 | @ British Columbia | 27–1 | L | 25088 | 8–4 | L1 |
| 13 | September 20 | vs. Toronto Argonauts | 25–24 | L | 38619 | 8–5 | L2 |
| 14 | September 28 | @ Saskatchewan Roughriders | 29–15 | L | 29361 | 8–6 | L3 |
| 15 | October 5 | vs. Calgary Stampeders | 42–32 (OT) | W | 31572 | 9–6 | W1 |
| 16 | October 12 | @ Winnipeg Blue Bombers | 20–2 | W | 18524 | 10–6 | W2 |
| 17 | October 19 | vs. British Columbia Lions | 41–7 | W | 31958 | 11–6 | W3 |
| 18 | October 25 | @ Hamilton Tiger Catse | 30–19 | W | 16110 | 12–6 | W4 |

### Offence

* SB – Darren Flutie, Edmonton Eskimos

### Defence

* LB – Willie Pless, Edmonton Eskimos
* CB – Kavis Reed, Edmonton Eskimos
* DB – Glenn Rogers Jr., Edmonton Eskimos

### Offence

* SB – Darren Flutie, Edmonton Eskimos
* OG – Leo Groenewegen, Edmonton Eskimos
* OT – Thomas Rayam, Edmonton Eskimos

### Defence

* DT – Bennie Goods, Edmonton Eskimos
* DE – Malvin Hunter, Edmonton Eskimos
* LB – Willie Pless, Edmonton Eskimos
* CB – Kavis Reed, Edmonton Eskimos
* DB – Glenn Rogers Jr., Edmonton Eskimos
* DS – Trent Brown, Edmonton Eskimos

### Special teams

* ST – Gizmo Williams, Edmonton Eskimos

## Playoffs
### West Final

| Team | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | Total |
| Saskatchewan Roughriders | 14 | 10 | 0 | 7 | 31 |
| Edmonton Eskimos | 7 | 8 | 1 | 14 | 30 |