2008 CFL season The 2008 CFL season was the 55th season of modern Canadian professional football . Officially , it was the 51st season for the league . It was also the first CFL season in which all of the league ' s regular season and post - season games , including the Grey Cup game , were aired on TSN . This meant the CFL was no longer aired on broadcast television in Canada . As of 2008 , TSN was available in approximately 8 . 8 million of Canada ' s 13 million households . Montreal hosted the 96th Grey Cup at Olympic Stadium on November 23 , when the championship was won by the Calgary Stampeders . CFL News in 2008 . Schedule . On February 21 , 2008 , the CFL announced the game schedule for the 2008 season . It was a 19 - week schedule that included 18 regular - season games and one bye week for each team . Bye weeks were taken consecutively by each division , beginning with the West in Week 8 , thus creating two weeks of divisional rivalry games . The regular - season schedule began on Thursday , June 26 , with an East - West double - header . For the first time since 1977 , the season opener took place at Hamilton ' s Ivor Wynne Stadium , with the host Tiger - Cats losing to the Montreal Alouettes 33 - 10 . The second game of the double - header saw the Calgary Stampeders at home , where they prevailed 28 - 18 over the BC Lions . The Toronto Argonauts opened by beating the host Winnipeg Blue Bombers 23 - 16 the following night , and the Saskatchewan Roughriders defeated the Edmonton Eskimos , in Regina , by a score of 34 - 13 on June 28 . The regular season concluded with a double - header on Saturday , November 1 , with divisional playoffs the following weekend . The 2008 season officially ended with the playing of the 96th Grey Cup Championship on Sunday , November 23 , in Montreal . Television . 2008 marked the first year in which the entire CFL schedule , including the playoffs and the Grey Cup game , was televised by TSN . CBC television did not broadcast any games , as the CFL and TSN began an exclusive five - year deal . This led some to criticize TSN , because the Grey Cup aired on a cable channel ( TSN ) while CTV — TSN ' s majority owner — broadcast regular - season NFL games . Because of obligations to other sporting events , concerns intensified after TSN began relegating some CFL games to its new digital channel TSN2 ( which was not available to analog cable subscribers ) , while other sports , including the NFL , were broadcast . In addition , TSN severely curtailed high - definition coverage for the final three weeks of the regular season , with only five of the twelve games being made available in HD . Montreal games , as well as the entire playoffs and the Grey Cup game , were televised in French by RDS . In the United States , a last - minute deal was reached between the league and its longtime American syndicator America One , which carried two games each week . Internet broadcasts were also aired in the United States on ESPN360 . CFL in Ottawa . On March 25 , 2008 , the CFL granted a conditional franchise — slated to begin play in 2010 — to an Ottawa - based group led by Jeff Hunt , owner of the Ontario Hockey League ' s Ottawa 67 ' s , under the condition that the group could secure a lease agreement with the City of Ottawa to allow the team to play at Frank Clair Stadium . The franchise was based on the remnants of the Ottawa Renegades , but was to be a separate team . In November , it was announced that the 2014 Grey Cup would be granted to Ottawa , again based on the condition that use of Frank Clair Stadium could be secured . Competition with the NFL . 2008 was the first year in which the National Football League played a regular season game in Toronto , as part of an agreement reached between the owners of the Rogers Centre and that league and the Buffalo Bills . The NFL accommodated the CFL by playing the regular season game on December 7 , after the end of the CFL season , so that the leagues did not directly compete . A preseason game was also played in Toronto , on August 14 , between the Bills and the Pittsburgh Steelers , one day before the Toronto Argonauts played in the Rogers Centre , and concurrently with the Hamilton Tiger - Cats ' game in Winnipeg . The Bills ' preseason game did not sell out , amid reports of exorbitant ticket prices and thousands of tickets being given away . Marketing and Heritage Revisited . In an effort to expand the CFL merchandise line , it was announced that RBK would release vintage jerseys for each team , beginning with the Toronto Argonauts and Winnipeg Blue Bombers . The launch for the new apparel began August 29 , 2008 , with releases in Toronto and Winnipeg retail stores attended by Argonaut players Kerry Joseph and Arland Bruce III and Blue Bombers Kevin Glenn and Milt Stegall respectively . Attendance . Attendance in the CFL remained strong in 2008 , averaging 28 , 914 per game and exceeded two million fans for the seventh straight season . Regular season . " Note : GP = Games Played , W = Wins , L = Losses , T = Ties , PF = Points For , PA = Points Against , Pts = Points " " Teams in bold finished in playoff positions . X - clinched playoff berthY - clinched first place " Grey Cup playoffs . The Calgary Stampeders were the 2008 Grey Cup champions , defeating the Montreal Alouettes 22 – 14 at Montreal ' s Olympic Stadium . It was the first Grey Cup for the Stampeders since the 2001 Championship ( a game also held in Montreal ) . Stampeder quarterback Henry Burris was named the Grey Cup Most Valuable Player , and kicker Sandro DeAngelis was named the Grey Cup Most Valuable Canadian .