As the world of sport continues to grow, Canadians and their sports teams are front and centre as they make their mark around the globe — and in no small way. This past week, there were numerous major moments featuring Canadian talent.
The Toronto Blue Jays are off to a blazing start in the ALDS against the New York Yankees, the Canadian teams in the NHL are gearing up for the start of the 2025-26 season, and three Canadians earned medals in the final day of the World Para Athletics Championships. And there was also some action from the footy world, as the Vancouver Whitecaps continued their dominant ways in the Voyageur Cup. But on a heavier note, it looks like Moise Bombito potentially suffered another major injury before Canada’s international break.
With that being said, here’s an update on some of the things you might’ve missed from our Canadians last week, and what you should have marked on your calendar moving forward.
Blue Jays pummel the Yankees, stand one game away from ALCS
Thanks to a combination of powerful pitching and electric batting, the Toronto Blue Jays are just one game away from the ALCS, after putting together a 2-0 series lead.
The Jays earned their first postseason victory since 2016 with a dominant 10-1 victory in Saturday’s Game 1. Toronto put up 14 hits in the game, snapping a playoff drought that stretched back almost a decade.
After going with Kevin Gausman in Game 1, John Schneider turned to Trey Yesavage in Game 2; and it’s safe to say he didn’t disappoint.
The rookie recorded a franchise postseason record 11 strikeouts in 5 and one-third hitless innings. Known for his terrific split-finger fastball, eight of his 11 strikeouts came on the pitch.
And how about Toronto’s bats? The Jays had five home runs on their fifteen hits in the game, with the most notable being Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s grand slam in the 4th inning of Sunday’s game.
Vladdy has been on fire through two postseason games, going 6 for 7 with 6 RBIs.
The attention now shifts to Tuesday at Yankee Stadium, but so far, it’s fair to say that it’s been a dream start to the postseason for the Blue Jays.
NHL quick dive: Taking a brief look at Canada’s NHL teams
The Canadian seven are an integral part of the NHL’s makeup and should continue to make their mark in the upcoming season. Here’s a brief look at where they stand entering the 2025-26 campaign, which is set to take off Tuesday, Oct. 7.
Toronto Maple Leafs
For the first time since the 2015-16 season, the Toronto Maple Leafs will enter their campaign without Mitch Marner on their roster. And although the Core 4 is no more, there’s still a lot to like about this team.
Matthew Knies, William Nylander, John Tavares and Auston Matthews are more than capable of having monster scoring seasons, and on the blue line, the team has a relatively stable group spearheaded by Morgan Rielly.
But as we all know, the regular season usually isn’t the issue for the Leafs, as they’re still looking to advance past the second round of the playoffs for the first time in 24 years.
Things will surely look different for the Maple Leafs this season without star player Mitch Marner. (AP Photo/Chris O’Meara)
Montreal Canadiens
Despite being viewed as a team in rebuild mode, the Habs ended up being well ahead of schedule, becoming the youngest team to make the playoffs last season.
Now, they’re expected to be even better and why wouldn’t they be? They made the biggest move of the off-season, trading for star defenceman Noah Dobson. Nick Suzuki looks like a star centerman and Lane Hutson is coming fresh off a Calder-winning season.
It remains to be seen if they can put it all together, but it’s looking more like the rebuild is coming to an end for this team.
Edmonton Oilers
Fresh off a second-straight Stanley Cup final loss to the Panthers, the Oilers shook things up in the offseason by getting younger.
They departed with six of their oldest players and replaced some of them with Andrew Mangiapane, Issac Howard, David Tomasek and Curtis Lazar. Mangiapane brings steady and versatile two-way ability, while Howard and Lazar add more talent to the bottom six.
Having mega talents like Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl on your side always helps, but it will be interesting to see if losing a ton of experience ends up hurting this team.
The Oilers star duo continue to chase their first Stanley Cup. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette)
Ottawa Senators
Similar to the Canadiens, the Senators also made an unprecedented run last season.
Ottawa made the playoffs for the first time since 2017 and a large part of that came from steady goaltending. Linus Ullmark won 25 of his 42 starts, while having a 2.72 goals allowed average in 2024-25.
They’ll need that to continue in order to make the playoffs once again. That, and some sharp play from their dynamic forwards Brady Tkachuk and Tim Stutzle.
Winnipeg Jets
Last season’s NHL regular season champions are in a spot where the pressure is larger than ever.
Despite earning 116 points and a Central Division title, the Jets found themselves looking in from the outside with a second-round loss to the Stars. This team has talent from top to bottom, but for the most part, it looks like they’ll go as far as Connor Hellebuyck will take them.
He’s the reigning Vezina and Hart trophy winner, but he has yet to fully turn into that goalie in the playoffs. Could this finally be the year?
Vancouver Canucks
A season full of controversies and injuries derailed the Canucks’ chances of making something happen in 2024-25, but the offseason’s been good to them so far.
The team re-signed Brock Boeser to a 7-year, $50 million dollar contract, Elias Pettersson has noticeably taken more of a stance as a leader and Thatcher Demko is seemingly healthy.
Given their overall talent, it wouldn’t be much of a shocker to see this team rise above the cracks and make a run to the playoffs this season.
After a rocky 2024-25 season, all eyes are on Vancouver Canucks’ Elias Pettersson. (AP Photo/Joe Puetz)
Calgary Flames
Of all the Canadian teams, the Flames are the squad that’s truthfully in rebuild mode.
Despite nearly making the playoffs last season, most people would say that they were punching a bit above their weight class.
On a positive note, Dustin Wolf showed flashes of a potential elite goaltender.
The 24-year-old was second in voting for the Calder trophy and was a big reason why this team had a chance to make the playoffs.
His growth will be one to watch for the 2025-26 campaign.
Canadians dazzle in the final day of the Para World Championships
Nate Tucker of Team Canada celebrates winning the gold medal during the Men’s 1500m T38 Final on day nine of the World Para Athletics Championships New Delhi 2025 at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium on October 05, 2025 in New Delhi, India. (Photo by Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images)
Canada’s finest showed up when it mattered most, racking up four medals on the final day at the World Para Championships in Dubai.
Nate Tucker earned his third career World title, breaking his own championship record in the men’s 1500-metre T38 final with a time of three minutes and 57.98 seconds.
Marissa Papaconstatinou captured her first-ever world silver in the Women’s 200 T64, while wheelchair racer Austin Smeenk earned bronze in the men’s 800 T34 earlier in the day.
Canada’s final medal count ends at nine, with three of those medals being gold.
Vancouver Whitecaps win 4th straight Canadian Championship
On Wednesday, the Vancouver Whitecaps became just the second team ever to win four straight Voyageur Cups with a 4-2 win over Vancouver FC.
They join Toronto FC as the only other team to accomplish this feat. And on top of that, they also automatically qualify for a spot in the 2026 Concacaf Champions Cup.
Among the personal accolades, Thomas Müller notched his 300th career goal for club and country in this one, scoring from the spot in the 10th minute. The forward also made history, surpassing Toni Kroos as the most decorated German player of all time by earning his 35th career trophy.
Moise Bombito stretchered off with leg injury before international break
The Canadian men’s national soccer team suffered a major blow on Sunday, as Moise Bombito was stretchered off the field with a leg injury.
Bombito suffered the injury during Nice’s 2-2 draw against Monaco in Ligue 1 play and according to his head coach Franck Haise, the injury isn’t expected to be a minor one.
This was just the defender’s second appearance for Nice since returning from a wrist and tibia stress fracture that kept him out through Canada’s Gold Cup run.
Bombito took to Instagram with a post that translates: “We gave it our all tonight. Thank you for your messages. I will come back stronger.”
The official diagnosis has yet to be given, but it looks like he’ll be missing a second straight international window for Canada, with the team set Australia on Friday, Oct. 10.
WNBA and Cathy Engelbert: Where do they go from here?
The WNBA is in a bit of a volatile place as of late.
After Minnesota Lynx forward Napheesa Collier criticized WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert and the leadership of the league on Tuesday, fans have been left wondering what will happen next.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like things will be patched up in the immediate future. After Engelbert asserted that Collier’s statement was “full of inaccuracies”, Collier canceled her private meeting with the commissioner.
The current WNBA CBA expires on October 31st and with rumours of a potential lockout swirling, issues like this will likely only make negotiations harder as time goes by.
RJ Barrett a potential trade candidate?
Another season, another year of RJ Barrett trade rumours.
The Raptors forward’s name has once again been floated around as a potential trade target throughout the offseason, according to TSN’s Josh Lewenberg. But despite that, Barrett is staying focused on the upcoming season.
The forward led the Raptors in scoring with 21.1 points per game last season. Along with his scoring ability, Barrett’s playmaking ability adds another dimension to a Raptors team that has an array of talent on the roster.
The Raptors start their preseason on Oct. 6 against the Denver Nuggets, and will get their official 2025-26 campaign underway on Oct. 22.
Canadians in the MLB postseason
There are seven Canadians remaining in the MLB postseason. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Freddie Freeman are the most notable, but joining them are Mariners players Matt Brash and Josh Naylor, Mike Soroka and Jameson Taillon, who will pitch for the Cubs, and then Rob Zastryzny, who will come out of the bullpen for the NL-leading Brewers.
Look out for each of these players as their teams look to make a push towards the World Series.