1941 Winnipeg Blue Bombers season

1941 Winnipeg Blue Bombers season
President	Frank Hannibal
General manager	Joe Ryan
Head coach	Reg Threlfall
Home stadium	Osborne Stadium
Results
Record	6–2
Division place	1st, WIFU
Playoffs	Won Grey Cup

The 1941 Winnipeg Blue Bombers was the 12th season in franchise history. They finished in first place in the WIFU with a 6–2 record. The Blue Bombers won their third Grey Cup championship by defeating the Ottawa Rough Riders 18–16. This would be the last official Blue Bomber season until 1945 due to the suspension of operations of both the Interprovincial Rugby Football Union and the Western Interprovincial Football Union because of World War II; star halfback Jeff Nicklin had elected to enlist in the Royal Winnipeg Rifles of the Canadian Army in the summer of 1940 and served abroad until his death in 1945. The Winnipeg Football club would establish a city league that had three teams, one with civilian Bomber players on it. The 1942 Grey Cup would be played with a team called the Winnipeg RCAF Bombers that was composed of all-stars from each of the teams.^[1]

Exhibition games

Date	Opponent	Score	Result	Record
Sat, May 24	vs. University of North Dakota Sioux	25–5	Loss	0–1
Tues, Aug 26	vs. Columbus Bullies	19–12	Win	1–1
Mon, Sept 1	vs. Columbus Bullies	6–0	Loss	1–2
Wed, Sept 10	vs. Columbus Bullies	31–1	Loss	1–3
Sat, Oct 4	vs. Kenosha Cardinals	18–16	Loss	1–4
Sun, Nov 2	at. Kenosha Cardinals	35–6	Loss	1–5

^{[2][3][4][5][6]}

Regular season

Standings

Western Interprovincial Football Union

Team	GP	W	L	T	PF	PA	Pts
Winnipeg Blue Bombers	8	6	2	0	92	19	14
Regina Roughriders	8	5	3	0	64	43	8
Vancouver Grizzlies	8	1	7	0	15	109	2

^[7]

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Score	Result	Record
1	Sat, Sept 6	vs. Regina Roughriders	11–0[8]	Win	1–0
2	Bye
3	Mon, Sept 22	vs. Vancouver Grizzlies	18–0[9]	Win	2–0
4	Thurs, Sept 25	vs. Vancouver Grizzlies	12–5[10]	Win	3–0
	League Bye
5	Sat, Oct 11	at Regina Roughriders	9–0[11]	Loss	3–1
5	Mon, Oct 13	at Vancouver Grizzlies	17–0[12]	Win	4–1
6	Wed, Oct 15	at Vancouver Grizzlies	12–0[13]	Win	5–1
6	Sat, Oct 18	at Regina Roughriders	15–1[14]	Win^[A]	5–2
7	Sat, Oct 25	vs. Regina Roughriders	7–4[15]	Win	6–2

^ A. Winnipeg forfeited this game for using an ineligible player, Ken Preston.^[16]

Playoffs

Game	Date	Opponent	Score	Result
WIFU Final #1	Nov 8	at Regina Roughriders	8–6	Loss
WIFU Final #2	Nov 11	vs. Regina Roughriders	18–12	Win
WIFU Final #3	Nov 15	vs. Regina Roughriders	8–2	Win
29th Grey Cup	Nov 29	Ottawa Rough Riders	18–16	Win

Grey Cup

Team	Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4	Total
Winnipeg Blue Bombers	3	6	9	0	18
Ottawa Rough Riders	6	3	6	1	16

^[17]

References

1. https://www.bluebombers.com/2020/09/15/quest-decades-1940s/
2. "The Winnipeg Evening Tribune - 26/05/1941 - Page 17 : Digital Resources on Manitoba History". manitobia.ca. Archived from the original on 19 February 2013. Retrieved 22 May 2022.
3. https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=jbpTAAAAIBAJ&sjid=bDgNAAAAIBAJ&pg=1513%2C5986162 The Leader-Post – Aug 27, 1941
4. https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=-K1TAAAAIBAJ&sjid=cjgNAAAAIBAJ&pg=1512%2C93963 The Leader-Post – Sep 2, 1941
5. https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=_61TAAAAIBAJ&sjid=cjgNAAAAIBAJ&pg=1609%2C1072212 The Leader-Post – Sep 11, 1941
6. "The Winnipeg Evening Tribune 03-NOV-1941 : Digital Resources on Manitoba History". manitobia.ca. Archived from the original on 19 February 2013. Retrieved 22 May 2022.
7. "1941 Regular Season Standings | CFL.ca | Official Site of the Canadian Football League". Archived from the original on 2014-02-28. Retrieved 2017-08-22.
8. https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=_K1TAAAAIBAJ&sjid=cjgNAAAAIBAJ&pg=1752%2C711284 The Leader-Post – Sep 8, 1941
9. https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=CK5TAAAAIBAJ&sjid=cjgNAAAAIBAJ&pg=1827%2C2326759 The Leader-Post – Sep 23, 1941
10. https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Cq5TAAAAIBAJ&sjid=cjgNAAAAIBAJ&pg=2298%2C2730162 The Leader-Post – Sep 25, 1941
11. https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=F65TAAAAIBAJ&sjid=cjgNAAAAIBAJ&pg=2045%2C4538606 The Leader-Post – Oct 14, 1941
12. https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=F65TAAAAIBAJ&sjid=cjgNAAAAIBAJ&pg=1451%2C4541228 The Leader-Post – Oct 14, 1941
13. https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Ga5TAAAAIBAJ&sjid=cjgNAAAAIBAJ&pg=1494%2C4797048 The Leader-Post – Oct 16, 1941
14. https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=HK5TAAAAIBAJ&sjid=cjgNAAAAIBAJ&pg=2223%2C5216079 The Leader-Post – Oct 20, 1941
15. https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=IK5TAAAAIBAJ&sjid=cjgNAAAAIBAJ&pg=1377%2C5958255 The Leader-Post – Oct 27, 1941
16. https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=H65TAAAAIBAJ&sjid=cjgNAAAAIBAJ&pg=1515%2C5818872 The Leader-Post – Oct 25, 1941
17. https://www.cfl.ca/page/his_greycup_recap1941 Archived 2011-11-05 at the Wayback Machine 1941 Grey Cup