By: Kaja Antic, Sports Writer
January 5: Canada wins World Junior gold, Bedard MVP
Arizona Coyote prospect Dylan Guenther lifts Canada to a 3–2 victory in OT against Czechia to win gold at the World Junior Hockey Championship. 17-year-old Connor Bedard of North Vancouver was named tournament MVP after scoring 23 points in 7 games, setting a Canadian record for most points in a single tournament.
April 19: TSS Rovers FC make Canadian Championship history
On November 3, 2022, Canada Soccer announced that the winners of the semi-professional soccer league, League 1 BC, would be allowed to compete in the Canadian Championship. The championship consists of teams from four professional leagues and one other semi-professional league. Five months later, the League 1 BC winners, Richmond’s TSS Rovers FC, beat Valour FC 3–1, making them the tournament’s first semi-professional team to defeat a professional team.
April 29: Maple Leafs beat the first-round curse
After a game-seven win in April 2004, the Toronto Maple Leafs didn’t win a playoff round until late April 2023. Second in the Atlantic Division, the Leafs were matched with the division’s third seed, the Tampa Bay Lightning, who had eliminated them in seven games the previous post-season. During game six of this first-round series, overtime was needed to break the 1–1 tie, and the Leafs were a win away from moving on to the next round. Captain John Tavares was the hero for Toronto, scoring four minutes and thirty-six seconds into the overtime period, finally breaking the long-standing curse of post-season failure. The Leafs were subsequently knocked out of the next round, though, and pretty fast at that.
June 11: Nick Taylor wins RBC Canadian Open
Nick Taylor became the first golfer from Canada to win the Canadian Open since 1954, and the first Canadian-born golfer to win since 1914. Taylor, born in Winnipeg and raised in Abbotsford, defeated England’s Tommy Fleetwood on the fourth playoff hole, achieving this with a 72-foot eagle putt.
September 10: Canada wins FIBA World Cup bronze, clinch Olympic berth
In a dramatic 127–118 overtime win against the USA, Canada claimed the bronze medal at the 2023 FIBA Men’s Basketball World Cup — the first World Cup medal in national history. Just a week prior, Team Canada defeated the reigning champions, Spain, to secure a spot in the 2024 Paris Olympics — the team’s first Olympic placement in 23 years.
October 21–25: Maggie Mac Neil, record breaker
Olympic swimmer Maggie Mac Neil made herself known at the 2023 Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile. Mac Neil won seven medals (five gold, one bronze, one silver), setting a Canadian Pan Am record. Along with the national record, Mac Neil set Pan Am Games records in the 100m butterfly and the 100m freestyle, with the latter being her first time racing in that event internationally.
November 12: Canada wins first Billie Jean King Cup
Canada defeated Italy in a best-of-three tournament, winning the country’s first Billie Jean King Cup — the highest award in international women’s team tennis competition. Leylah Fernandez clinched the trophy for Canada in the second finals match, winning both sets 6–2 and 6–3 respectively. Fernandez also won the Heart Award for most valuable player in the finals, where she remained undefeated.
November 19: Montreal Alouettes win Grey Cup
After a mediocre 11–7 season for Quebec, the Alouettes advanced to the 110th Grey Cup after defeating the defending champions, the Toronto Argonauts, 38–17 in the Eastern Final. Prior to the matchup, the Alouettes had lost all three regular-season matchups against the Argonauts. Talk about winning when it counts. The Alouettes then faced the 14–4 Winnipeg Blue Bombers, who were in the finals for the fourth straight year — having won in 2019 and 2021. Despite Winnipeg being the heavy favourites after beating the Alouettes handsomely, 17–3 and 47–17, in the regular season, the Alouettes persevered. Down by three points late in the fourth quarter, the Alouttes dramatically scored a touchdown in the game’s dying seconds to defeat the Blue Bombers 28–24 — winning their first Grey Cup since 2010.
December 5: Canada bids farewell to a legend
After announcing her retirement from international competition, international goal-scoring record holder Christine Sinclair played her final match against the Matildas, Australia’s national women’s team. The match was played at BC Place, which was renamed Christine Sinclair Place specifically for this historic send-off, and marked the largest attendance for a “women’s friendly international match in Canada.” Sinclair factored into the game’s lone goal for Canada, before being subbed off the field in the second half.
December 23: Canucks in first at NHL break
Playing the final game before the annual three-day Christmas break, the Vancouver Canucks defeated the San Jose Sharks 7–4 to hold sole possession of first-place in the league, with a record of 23–9–3. This is the first time a Canadian team has led the NHL standings at Christmas since the Ottawa Senators did on December 23, 2005, with a 24–6–3 record.
