Hi again, folks. The CFL Beat is back this week with a look at another memorable weather-related fiasco, featuring the frozen turf of a roofless Olympic Stadium – the infamous “Ice Bowl” of 1977, featuring the Edmonton Football Team and hometown Montreal Alouettes!

Date: November 27, 1977

Venue: Olympic Stadium, Montreal, QC

Attendance: 68,318 (A Grey Cup record!)

Edmonton Football Team fast facts:

• Season record: 10-6 (1st in West)
• Head Coach: Hugh Campbell
• Quarterback: Bruce Lemmerman & Tom Wilkinson

Edmonton had lost a slew of Grey Cup games heading into this game, but they were feeling very good about their chances for this one, having absolutely thrashed the BC Lions 38-1 in the West Final a week prior, as well as a 38-0 drubbing of the Saskatchewan Roughriders in their final regular season games two weeks before that one. In 1975, they’d defeated these same Alouettes, but had been bested in 1974 and 1973. Edmonton went into this championship game with the main core of their roster in place that would see them return to the Grey Cup every year after, making the title game from 1977 all the way up to 1982.

Montreal Alouettes fast facts:

• Season record: 11-5 (1st in East)
• Head Coach: Marv Levy
• Quarterback: Sonny Wade

Oh yes! You read that name right. Marv Levy coached in the CFL from 1973-77 before heading to the NFL as Kansas City’s head coach in 1978. Levy’s family was originally from Montreal, and emigrated to Chicago, his birthplace, in the years before his birth in 1925. During his time in Montreal, Levy had some absolutely legendary defenses that he got to work with, featuring CFL Hall of Famers Glen Weir (DT), Junior Ah You (DE), and best of all, Canadian DB Tony Proudfoot. In Levy’s time at the helm, Montreal made three Grey Cup games, making it one of their most successful periods in franchise history.

GAME RECAP

0:53 – Here’s your story about the weather for this game! Two days prior to the game (November 25), a major snowstorm hit Montreal. In order to clear the turf of the snow that had built up (since the Olympic Stadium architects and builders were giant idiots who couldn’t get the building done on time for the Olympics, not to mention putting on the roof until over a decade later), the groundscrew ended up pouring giant amounts of salt on the field. All it did was succeed in turning the melted snow into ice when the temperature dropped again. With traction virtually impossible, both teams spent a while slip-sliding around in practise, until Als DB Tony Proudfoot came up with the idea to put staples through the bottom of his shoe. It worked so well that by halftime, three-quarters of the team followed suit in this engineering spectacle. This game is often referred to as the “Ice Bowl”, but Montreal media and fans have also commonly referred to it as the “Staple Game” thanks to Proudfoot’s ingenious discovery of traction on ice. Another interesting footnote to the game is the record crowd size – the 68,318 who attended the game hasn’t been broken, and this figure becomes even more impressive when you take into account the face that there was a transit strike going on in Montreal. Fans couldn’t take the Metro trains or buses to the stadium, which is tucked away in the city’s somewhat isolated east end, and had to trudge through snow and ice, making the normally 90-minute walk a much slower and colder experience.

FIRST QUARTER

3:18 – Sonny Wade, the Als’ QB, is also their punter – while this was fairly common in previous decades, it was a rare sight by the late ’70s!

4:46 – PICKERCEPTION! Edmonton QB Bruce Lemmerman floats a pass that would make even Phillip Rivers blush, and it gets taken back the other way by Montreal DB Vernon Perry. The Als will start at Edmonton’s 46.

6:06 – ANOTHER PICK. This time, Edmonton DB Joe Hollimon steps in front of Sonny Wade’s pass, and the Green & Gold are headed back the other way!

8:45 – Has Montreal fumbled the ball again?? YES! CHAOS REIGNS.

9:47 – Edmonton DE Ron Estay is changing shoes – putting on some “non-slip” rubber-soled broomball shoes. Not a bad idea, but not nearly as effective as the staples that many Als have on…

10:11 – PICK! Woooooo baby, it’s like watching a MAC college game out there. Montreal DB Dickie Harris comes up with this ball.

13:09 – The Als gamble on 3rd and short, and RB John O’Leary punches it through the line to pick up the first down.

15:33 – Short of a first down, the Alouettes bring out their kicker, Don Sweet, who connects from 17 yards out to put the first points of the day on the board. Montreal leads 3-0.

16:15 – Ron Estay is changing back to his regular cleats, removing the broomball shoes. Nothing’s working so far.

17:12 – Kwik-Heat… the forerunner to modern-day Hot Paws. As this was before my time, does anyone actually know if these things worked or not? I’m genuinely curious.

17:25 – A quick shot of the tower-less, roof-less, “magnificent” Olympic Stadium. OK, let’s maaaaybe turn down the rhetoric a little? People hated it when it was built – let’s not kid ourselves here.

20:37 – Edmonton RB George McGowan tries to take the handoff, but he fumbles! Montreal DT George Weir scoops up the loose ball, and he bullies a number of Edmonton players going back the other way, simply refusing to go down. What an effort!

24:09 – Don Sweet is good from 38 yards, and Montreal extends their lead to 6-0.

SECOND QUARTER

27:11 – ANOTHER PICK! Bruce Lemmerman sends this one directly into the hands of Als’ DB Randy Rhino (an ELITE name, if you ask me).

30:35 – Don Sweet connects from 33, and Montreal’s lead is now 9-0.

32:14 – A quick look at the field covered in snow from the day before – we see Alouettes LB Wally Buono, who will go on to become the all-time leader in wins as a CFL head coach, hucking snowballs at teammates.

34:13 – Randy Rhino has a nice run off the punt return to set Montreal to start their drive from their own 42. Offscreen, Montreal will add a rouge to make their lead 10-0.

36:24 – Edmonton QB Tom Wilkinson, who’s replaced Bruce Lemmerman after so many turnovers in the first half, is on the run – as he pivots to avoid the pass rush, he loses the ball! The Als’ Glen Weir once again pounces on it, running it back to the Edmonton 15 and setting Montreal up for another red zone opportunity late in the first half. But wait! Junior Ah You is offside, and the Edmonton drive stays alive for a little longer. Talk about anticlimactic.

42:15 – On the last play of the half, Dave Cutler kicks a field goal, and Edmonton is finally on the board – Montreal leads 10-3 after 30 minutes.

THIRD QUARTER

42:57 – Don Chevrier and Russ Jackson, the TV commentary for the second half, are wearing some INCREDIBLE fur-lined leather jackets. This is the height of fashion, folks.

46:32 – Dancing fan on the sidelines in a cowboy hat and beautiful Hudson’s Bay Company striped wool jacket, resembling their eighteenth-century fur trader blankets. An iconic Canadian look.

47:02 – Sideline reporter Bill Stephenson has details about Montreal’s bench – there’s no heaters there, but there are on Edmonton’s. Montreal had heaters on their bench two years prior, but the players found that when they left the bench to go play, they got cold, started cramping up, and turned over the football more often. So this time around, the team opted to go without.

48:04 – Montreal DE Junior Ah You brings down Tom Wilkinson, and Edmonton is forced to punt.

48:46 – Edmonton punter Hank Ilesic made the team as an 18-year-old, fresh out of high school – which would never, ever happen in this day and age; he is a seven-time Grey Cup winner and two-time All-Star who played 19 seasons in the CFL, and one in the NFL (for San Diego). Ilesic was inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 2018. Punters are people too – and Ilesic is a good one!

49:20 – A quick visual of Montreal’s iconic Champlain Bridge, linking the island to the southern shore of the St. Lawrence River and the southeastern part of the province.

50:26 – Sonny Wade connects with Gerry Dattillio over the middle, and the two-QB system works for this play – it’s a Montreal first down at the Edmonton 26!

51:41 – Als tight end Peter Dalla Riva has a TD catch at the goal line – wait, no he doesn’t! – the ball’s popped up! – It’s intercepted! – Nope. None of that. None of that at all. Edmonton DB Ed Jones can’t hang onto the ball after making a great play on Dalla Riva.

52:30 – Don Sweet kicks his fourth field goal of the game, and it’s 13-3, Montreal. The kick is followed up by a very, very unflattering headshot of Sweet. Poor guy, he’s playing well.

53:21 – There’s a green and gold gorilla on the sidelines. I kinda want to get one of these costumes, not gonna lie.

53:54 – RB Angelo Santucci picks up the bouncing kick for Edmonton, and has a great 41-yard return to set up the team with very good field position on their next drive!

55:30 – Louise-Josée Mondoux, Miss Grey Cup 1977, is sitting with Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau and CFL Commissioner Jake Gaudaur to watch the game. Good company, I hope??

56:03 – Dave Cutler kicks a long field goal to pull Edmonton within a touchdown – the score is now 13-6, Montreal.

1:00:51 – Wade flips the ball to RB John O’Reilly, who has a 32-yard gain to move the ball down to the Edmonton 15 – a really great play call here.

1:02:40 – We’ve got a fan playing a banjo now. This game atmosphere is an absolute party.

1:03:21 – Don Sweet connects on his fifth field goal of the game, and now it’s 16-6, Alouettes.

1:05:03 – Another Edmonton fumble, and another Montreal recovery! It’s the 11th turnover of the game. This is absolutely incredible.

1:08:24 – And finally, we have a touchdown! It’s a fade to the right side of the goal line, caught by TE Peter Dalla Riva. After the convert, Montreal leads 23-6.

1:12:30 – Hank Ilesic’s punt is returned by Randy Rhino all the way back to the 10 – another fantastic run. Edmonton is getting absolutely clobbered in every aspect of the game.

1:13:58 – Touchdown, Alouettes! John O’Reilly has all the time and space in the world to walk in the screen pass from Sonny Wade, and after the convert, the score is now 30-6, Alouettes.

FOURTH QUARTER

1:17:16 – Another shot of “The Big O(we)”, with downtown and Mont-Royal off in the background. Remember, not only was the stadium structurally unsound and the in-game experience very disappointing, it was also expensive as fuck – the Quebec provincial government only finished paying for it 30 years after the 1976 Montreal Olympics!

1:18:16 – Look at those total offense totals. Edmonton has 90 yards, Montreal 359. And we still have a quarter to go. Wowza.

1:18:20 – Another PICKERCEPTION – Als DB Vernon Perry returns Bruce Lemmerman’s pass 71 yards. Just go home, Edmonton.

1:19:11 – Touchdown, Montreal! WR Bob Gaddis snags the short pass from Sonny Wade right at the goal line, and the Als are running up the score now. After the convert, it’s 37-6, Montreal.

1:21:24 – Don Sweet’s kickoff bounces past Edmonton DB Larry Highbaugh, who’s forced to take a knee in the end zone to protect the ball. With the kneel, Montreal scores a…

ROUGE! 

The score is now 38-6, Montreal.

1:23:57 – Bruce Lemmerman is sacked by Junior Ah You. I seriously hope the Edmonton team bus is warming up right now – these guys need some respite.

1:27:56 – Don Sweet kicks his sixth field goal of the game – another Grey Cup record! (It was tied by the Winnipeg Blue Bombers’ Justin Medlock in 2019.) 23 points is the most ever scored by a kicker in the Grey Cup. His unflattering headshot is now peeking out the roof of Olympic Stadium. The score is now 41-6, Montreal.

1:29:50 – The Grey Cup makes its own appearance peeking out of the roof of the Olympic Stadium.

1:30:55 – I have to laugh that Alouettes’ sideline jackets only have “ALOUETTE” written on them. I guess the 9th letter was too expensive?

1:34:26 – And that’s it, folks! Media pours onto the field to get close to the players as they accept the trophy.

GAME AFTERMATH

The staples worked! Montreal dominated the second half, paving the way to a lopsided win. Don Sweet, fittingly, was named the Most Valuable Canadian thanks to his six field goals, three converts, and two rouges, while teammates Sonny Wade and Glen Weir were named offensive and defensive MVP of the championship. While Edmonton got smoked in this game, they would soon have revenge – they would defeat Montreal in the Grey Cup in both 1978 and 1979, the first two of five straight Grey Cup wins – a feat that has never been done in the CFL before or since.

Thanks for reading! Check back next week, when we take a look at the first time two Western teams have faced off in the Grey Cup – the 1988 matchup between the BC Lions and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.