Canadians on the main stage
It's a special day indeed when one of the biggest performers in a championship game not called the Stanley Cup is a Canadian.
When Eric Gagne won the Cy Young award with MLB's Los Angeles Dodgers in 2003, becoming only the second Canadian to ever win the award, he became a household name in Canada. We made a fuss over the win; he headlined sports shows for weeks, he pushed baseball into the starting rotation on Sportscentre, sometimes even putting it ahead of hockey in the lineup. It was a big deal. But since then injuries have plagued the pitcher and we've heard barely a peep out of him since he joined the Boston Red Sox.
But now those same BoSox are going head-to-head with the Colorado Rockies, a team that needed a tie breaking game with the San Diego Padres to earn the NL wild card spot for the post-season. That's an upstart team if there ever was one. And amongst the players making waves for the Rockies is Canadian pitcher Jeff Francis, who has already made history.
The 26-year old Vancouver native, nicknamed ‘Boomer' after the legendary Montreal Canadiens hockey player Bernie ‘Boom Boom' Geoffrion, became the first Canadian pitcher to win a playoff game when on October 3 he lead the Rockies to a win over the Philadelphia Phillies in his first postseason appearance. Now Francis is set to become only the second Canadian to start a MLB Championship game.
Now that piece of trivia got me thinking, outside of hockey, how many marquee players, or competitors, are there in the sports world who are Canadian. So I've compiled a small list of my favourite Canucks who are, or have, made headlines in their respective sport.
Phoenix Suns player, Steve Nash, joined a very elite list of players during the 2005-06 NBA season winning his second consecutive league MVP title. Nash is also a five time All-Star.
Calgary native, Owen Hargreaves, was a popular soccer player with FC Bayern-Munich who pretty much flew under the radar in his home country. That is, until he appeared on the English national team's 2005 FIFA World Cup roster, and not only played well, but was considered to be one of the team's best players. Hargreaves won the ‘Man of the Match' title after the team was knocked out of the tournament by Portugal in the quarterfinals.
Jacques Villeneuve won the Lou Marsh trophy as Canada's top athlete in 1995 and 1997, the latter being the year he became the only Canadian to win the Formula-One Championship, which at only 26-years of age made him one of the youngest drivers ever to do so.
Speed skater Cindy Klassen won the Lou Marsh trophy in 2006 after becoming the first Canadian athlete to win a life-time six Olympic medals, five of which were won in the 2006 Olympics alone.
Mike Weir won the 2003 PGA Masters making him the first Canadian ever to win a professional major championship. Earlier this year Weir was also named to the Order of Canada.
Elvis Stojko, a seven-time Canadian figure skating champion, became famous for his silver medal win at the 1998 Winter Olympics where he competed with an injured groin and limped to the podium in running shoes to collect his medal. The silver was his second Olympic medal after having won the silver previously in 1994.
So, with any luck, in a few years I may be able to include Francis to that list and say that not only was he an integral part of his team making the MLB postseason, but also that he's a World Series champion.
When Eric Gagne won the Cy Young award with MLB's Los Angeles Dodgers in 2003, becoming only the second Canadian to ever win the award, he became a household name in Canada. We made a fuss over the win; he headlined sports shows for weeks, he pushed baseball into the starting rotation on Sportscentre, sometimes even putting it ahead of hockey in the lineup. It was a big deal. But since then injuries have plagued the pitcher and we've heard barely a peep out of him since he joined the Boston Red Sox.
But now those same BoSox are going head-to-head with the Colorado Rockies, a team that needed a tie breaking game with the San Diego Padres to earn the NL wild card spot for the post-season. That's an upstart team if there ever was one. And amongst the players making waves for the Rockies is Canadian pitcher Jeff Francis, who has already made history.
The 26-year old Vancouver native, nicknamed ‘Boomer' after the legendary Montreal Canadiens hockey player Bernie ‘Boom Boom' Geoffrion, became the first Canadian pitcher to win a playoff game when on October 3 he lead the Rockies to a win over the Philadelphia Phillies in his first postseason appearance. Now Francis is set to become only the second Canadian to start a MLB Championship game.
Now that piece of trivia got me thinking, outside of hockey, how many marquee players, or competitors, are there in the sports world who are Canadian. So I've compiled a small list of my favourite Canucks who are, or have, made headlines in their respective sport.
Phoenix Suns player, Steve Nash, joined a very elite list of players during the 2005-06 NBA season winning his second consecutive league MVP title. Nash is also a five time All-Star.
Calgary native, Owen Hargreaves, was a popular soccer player with FC Bayern-Munich who pretty much flew under the radar in his home country. That is, until he appeared on the English national team's 2005 FIFA World Cup roster, and not only played well, but was considered to be one of the team's best players. Hargreaves won the ‘Man of the Match' title after the team was knocked out of the tournament by Portugal in the quarterfinals.
Jacques Villeneuve won the Lou Marsh trophy as Canada's top athlete in 1995 and 1997, the latter being the year he became the only Canadian to win the Formula-One Championship, which at only 26-years of age made him one of the youngest drivers ever to do so.
Speed skater Cindy Klassen won the Lou Marsh trophy in 2006 after becoming the first Canadian athlete to win a life-time six Olympic medals, five of which were won in the 2006 Olympics alone.
Mike Weir won the 2003 PGA Masters making him the first Canadian ever to win a professional major championship. Earlier this year Weir was also named to the Order of Canada.
Elvis Stojko, a seven-time Canadian figure skating champion, became famous for his silver medal win at the 1998 Winter Olympics where he competed with an injured groin and limped to the podium in running shoes to collect his medal. The silver was his second Olympic medal after having won the silver previously in 1994.
So, with any luck, in a few years I may be able to include Francis to that list and say that not only was he an integral part of his team making the MLB postseason, but also that he's a World Series champion.
