In 1931, Canadian Football consisted of 6 separate leagues, which only competed within its own league during the regular season.  Each league would have teams that would qualify for the post-season, and the right to compete for the 19th Grey Cup Championship.  This
included the IRFU (Interprovincial Rugby Football Union), the ORFU West (Ontario Rugby Football Union - West), the ORFU East (Ontario Rugby Football Union - East), the CIRFU (Intercollegiate Rugby Football Union), the MRFU (Manitoba Rugby Football Union), the SRFU
(Saskatchewan Rugby Football Union), and the ARFU (Alberta Rugby Football Union).  1931 was an unusual year, in that the entire season was dominated by one team, the Montreal Winged Wheelers.  They finished the year 6-0, and crushed everyone in their sight. In the first round of the playoffs, it was the Western Ontario Mustangs over the Sarnia Imperials 7-1, the Calgary Altomahs would sweep a two-game set over the Vancouver Athletic Club (from the British Columbia Rugby Football Union) 6-4 and 14-1, and the Regina Roughriders would crush St. John's College 47-7.  In the Semi-Finals, it was Montreal shutting out Western Ontario 22-0, while the Regina Roughriders would roll over the Calgary Altomahs 26-2, setting up the match-up for the 19th Grey Cup Championship.  For 22 years the Grey Cup had been the exclusive property of Ontario-based clubs.  In 1931, the mug left the province for the first time as the Montreal Winged Wheelers were the first team outside Ontario to win the Grey Cup after shutting out the Regina Roughriders.  The Winged Wheelers took the lead on a rouge and then took advantage of a Roughriders turnover. Regina's Eddie James dropped the ball behind his own line of scrimmage as Montreal's
Pete Jotkus charged through the line.  Jotkus dribbled the ball 35 yards to the Regina goal line. As he crossed the line he smothered the ball for a touchdown.  History was made in the third quarter when Stevens completed a 40-yard pass to Grant in the end zone.  Stevens added another in the fourth quarter when he began a quarterback sneak, changed his mind, and passed to Wally Whitty who raced wide around the right end for a touchdown.  Huck Welch also booted a field goal for the victors.  The Roughriders made history by playing in their fourth straight Grey Cup, losing all four times.  In total, Regina made the trip east five times, only to come away empty handed. Roughriders head coach Al Ritchie thought he outsmarted the Winged Wheelers by having a Montreal shoemaker attach leather cleats to the players' boots the night before the game for better traction.  It may have worked, except Mother Nature spoiled the plan.  The field was frozen hard with ice patches due to a snowstorm the previous evening, making Montreal's sneakers more effective.  Little did Ritchie know, but team manager Fred Wilson and player Gordon Barber made alternate arrangements to have lacrosse shoes sent to the Roughriders after witnessing the storm.
But the shoes were sent to the wrong dressing room, and the Winged Wheelers gladly accepted the delivery.  The Winged Wheelers triumph provided Montreal its first national title since 1907, two years before the berth of the Grey Cup.  The mug may have traveled to Quebec sooner, as McGill University never challenged for the trophy in its dominant years of 1912-1919, deciding instead to focus on their studies.