65th Grey Cup The 65th Grey Cup , played on November 27 , 1977 and also known as The Ice Bowl , was the 1977 Grey Cup Canadian Football League championship final between the Montreal Alouettes and the Edmonton Eskimos played at the Olympic Stadium . The Alouettes beat the Eskimos by a score of 41 - 6 . Game Summary . The 1977 Grey Cup was Canada ’ s version of the Ice Bowl , as the playing surface was more ideal for hockey than football . A blizzard hit Montreal two days prior to the game , and stadium crews put salt on the field to melt the snow . But as the temperature dropped the next day the melted snow turned into a sheet of ice . To combat the conditions , many of the Montreal Alouettes players put staples on the bottom of their shoes in order to get good traction . The move was spearheaded by star defender Tony Proudfoot . It was the third meeting in four years between the Alouettes and the Edmonton Eskimos . With a record Grey Cup crowd of 68 , 318 at Montreal ’ s Olympic Stadium , the home team did not disappoint in a 41 - 6 rout over their Western rivals . Sonny Wade completed 22 of 40 passes for 340 yards and three touchdowns . He was intercepted once . Montreal had a total offence of 424 yards , making 21 first downs . The Eskimos were held to just 102 yards and turned the ball over 10 times , six times in the first half alone . The kicking game carried over from the 1975 Grey Cup as both Montreal ’ s Don Sweet and Edmonton ’ s Dave Cutler scored all the points in the first half . Sweet was good on three field goal attempts and missed on one for a single point . Trailing 10 - 0 , Cutler finally put the Eskimos on the scoreboard on the final play of the second quarter , as he was good on a nine - yard field goal . Sweet booted two field goals , and Cutler kicked another before a touchdown drought spanning eight quarters between these teams in the Grey Cup was finally put to rest . Edmonton running back Angelo Santucci ’ s fumble set up an Alouettes scoring drive . Wade threw a seven - yard touchdown pass to Peter Dalla Riva to put the Alouettes ahead 23 - 6 . Just prior to the start of the fourth quarter Wade threw a 10 - yard major to a wide - open John O ’ Leary , and the rout was on . Cornerback Vernon Perry returned an interception 74 yards to help set up Wade ’ s seven - yard touchdown pass to Bob Gaddis . Sweet added a single and field goal to complete the scoring . Sweet set a number of records in the game , including six field goals and 23 total points , records which still stand . It was the Alouettes ' third championship of the 1970s . For the Eskimos , it marked their fourth loss in five trips to the final since 1960 . Ice Bowl . Although Olympic Stadium was designed to have a retractable roof , and a roof was added in 1987 , the stadium was open to the air in November 1977 . As is common in late November , Montreal received a fair amount of snow and low temperatures before game time . Stadium crews put salt on the field to melt the snow . But as the temperature dropped on game day , the melted snow turned into a sheet of ice . The game was marred by several fumble s on otherwise routine snaps of the ball . However , the Alouettes found a competitive advantage - they put staples in the bottom of their sneakers to get traction on the slippery surface . The Eskimos , using standard football cleats , could not find traction on the field . The Als did not give up a single tackle behind their own line of scrimmage . Tony Proudfoot , Alouettes defensive back and the player who had the idea for , perhaps , the cleverest ploy in Grey Cup history : " We just had our 25th anniversary reunion of the team which beat Edmonton in the 1977 so - called Staples Game . " " I was asked about it again , of course . It was icy cold and there had been a big snowstorm with a transit strike , and fans walking all the way from downtown to Olympic Stadium . " " The field was a skating rink . Guys were trying different kinds of footwear - broomball shoes and things like that . All week long we ' d been thinking of what footwear to use . We knew it was going to be slippery and nothing , really , was any good . On a frozen field a lot of players like to wear broomball shoes . But they didn ' t work very well . " " Another alternative , because the field was so hard , was screw - on cleats . Nobody really used those anymore , but they were available . We tried grass cleats , Astroturf cleats , nothing worked . I experimented during the week . I even thought about putting nails through my shoes . " " By game day , a bunch of guys settled on using steel cleats . Before the warm - up , I noticed a guy from Bell Canada walking by with a staple gun . A light bulb went on . ' I ' ve tried everything , but not that . ' So I tried putting staples in my shoes . I stapled an ' X ' on about six bumps . Gordon Judges and Chuck Zapiec put some in , too . We looked at each other and said , ' That ' s it . ' " " At the start of the game , about 12 guys had them in and by halftime it was half or three - quarters of the team . The numbers aren ' t precise because this wasn ' t organized . " " The coaches weren ' t in on it and the equipment guys had nothing to do with it . It was just the players . Wally Buono was involved . In my opinion it made a big difference . With that little bit of a grip , it gave you extra confidence . We really knew we had something when Gerry Dattilio caught a short pass from Sonny Wade and ran right past Larry Highbaugh for a big gain . Gerry will tell you that he was not . . . well , he was not very fast . And Highbaugh was known as one of the fastest guys in the league . " " That ' s when we knew we had something . It was a big factor in that 41 - 6 win . To me , it was a big deal . I still have that staple gun . To me it ' s a prized possession . " Box Score . First Quarter Montreal – FG – Don Sweet Montreal – FG – Don Sweet Montreal – FG – Don Sweet Montreal – Single – Don Sweet missed field goal Second Quarter Edmonton – FG – Dave Cutler Third Quarter Montreal – FG – Don Sweet Montreal – FG – Don Sweet Edmonton – FG – Dave Cutler Montreal – TD – Peter Dalla Riva 7 yard pass from Sonny Wade ( Don Sweet convert ) Montreal – TD – John O ' Leary 10 yard pass from Sonny Wade ( Don Sweet convert ) Fourth Quarter Montreal – TD – Bob Gaddis 7 yard pass from Sonny Wade ( Don Sweet convert ) Montreal – FG – Don Sweet Montreal – Single – Don Sweet missed field goal