2004 CFL season The 2004 Canadian Football League season is considered to be the 51st season in modern - day Canadian football , although it is officially the 47th Canadian Football League season . CFL News in 2004 . Neil Payne retired from his position as Director of Officiating in February and was replaced by George Black . Former Eskimos Head Coach , Tom Higgins was named as the 2003 Coach of the Year . CFL Commissioner Tom E . Wright , announced that Vancouver would host the 93rd Grey Cup for 2005 . Furthermore , CFL Commissioner Tom E . Wright also announced in late October , that Winnipeg would be the host of the 94th Grey Cup for 2006 . Wayne Smith of Appalachian State University was drafted first overall in the 2004 CFL College Draft by the Hamilton Tiger - Cats . Former player , broadcaster and football administrator , Mike Wadsworth died in April . In September , the Canadian Football Hall of Fame inducted Larry Highbaugh , Cal Murphy , Lui Passaglia , Dan Yochum and Ben Zambiasi during the Induction Weekend ceremonies in Hamilton . CFL partner , Sun Microsystems added and launched real - time , in - game statistics entry with live play - by - play and scoring on cfl . ca . On June 2 , the CFL announced a partnership with FSN and launched a player - based and team - based game for the 2004 season . In addition , the CFL also launched its first ever online kids section called — the Dare CFL KidsZone . The CFL started a new international broadcasting agreement with Trajectory Sports & Media Group , to deliver Canadian Football to more than 50 million households in 176 countries for the 2004 season . U . S . television coverage of the 92nd Grey Cup resulted in the largest international broadcast distribution of a Grey Cup game — when it was made available to more than 55 million television households . In addition , Rogers Sportsnet announced the start of " CFL Crunch " , which is a 30 - minute news segment concerning the league on June 24 . On October 18 , the Toronto Argonauts announced their agreement with York University , to construct a new 25 , 000 - seat stadium on the university ' s Keele campus . League attendance increased by 8 % over the 2003 season , when more than 2 . 2 million fans were coming in to CFL stadiums . The B . C . Lions home attendance figures increased by 13 % over the 2003 season , by averaging about 26 , 697 fans per game at BC Place Stadium . The Montreal Alouettes continued their strong attendance figures by recording its fifth straight year of having sell out crowds at both , Percival Molson Memorial Stadium and Olympic Stadium . The CFL set a new playoff attendance record with a total of 181 , 717 postseason crowds attending playoff games in Toronto , Edmonton , Montreal , Vancouver and Ottawa . The Grey Cup game in Ottawa had a sell - out crowd of 51 , 242 at Frank Clair Stadium . The attendance increases were likely caused at least in part by the lack of NHL hockey in the wake of the 2004 – 05 NHL lockout . Records : Before he retired , Edmonton running back , Mike Pringle , established two new records in 2004 . The first record was accomplished on July 12 , when Pringle established a new CFL career record for yards from scrimmage with 20 , 254 yards in the Eskimos 25 - 9 win over the B . C . Lions . The second record was accomplished on September 19 against the same B . C . Lions , when Pringle became the all - time leading rusher in CFL history with 16 , 425 yards . In addition , three CFL quarterbacks established new records as well . Edmonton ' s Jason Maas , entered the CFL record books by setting a new mark for most consecutive pass completions in a regular season game with 22 on July 30 . On August 13 , B . C . ' s Casey Printers , sets a new CFL record for the highest pass completion percentage in a regular season game by completing 90 . 9 % of his passes . Furthermore , Hamilton ' s Danny McManus , joined the company of Damon Allen and Ron Lancaster by surpassing the milestone of passing for 50 , 000 or more career yards on October 21 . The Toronto Argonauts won their 15th Grey Cup by defeating the B . C . Lions 27 - 19 on November 21 . Regular season standings . Final regular season standings . " Note : GP = Games Played , W = Wins , L = Losses , T = Ties , PF = Points For , PA = Points Against , Pts = Points " Grey Cup playoffs . The Toronto Argonauts are the 2004 Grey Cup Champions , defeating the BC Lions 27 - 19 , at Ottawa ' s Frank Clair Stadium . It was the first Grey Cup for Toronto since the 85th Grey Cup in 1997 . The Argonauts ' Damon Allen ( QB ) was named the Grey Cup ' s Most Valuable Player and the Lions ' Jason Clermont ( SB ) was the Grey Cup ' s Most Valuable Canadian .