It is one of the peculiarities of North American sports. What much of the world regards as American major leagues are actually more of a regional affair. Teams and clubs from Canada have a long tradition of competing in the major leagues of basketball, soccer, baseball, and hockey. Only the NFL is still a purely US affair.
There are Canada-specific leagues and championships, of course. But they tend to operate at a minor or lower league level, with the biggest professional teams competing in the NBA, MLS, MLB, and the NHL. It is the same situation for some of the top teams in New Zealand that compete in Australian sports leagues. The bigger neighbor attracts the most investment, attracts more media coverage, and, ultimately, a better class of athlete.
With so few elite Canadian teams playing at this top level, it is usually the case that they have the odds stacked against them when it comes to winning championships. Fans will find that even the best Canada sports betting sites rarely have their local teams as favorites to go all the way. There is a history of success, though. In this article, we will take a look at the Canadian teams that have beaten the Americans in what they regard as their own leagues.
Most Recent Championship
Although the very first NBA-recognized game took place in Toronto, there have not been a lot of Canadian teams in the world’s best basketball league. The Huskies only played for a season, with the Toronto Raptors and Vancouver Grizzlies joining the NBA as part of a major expansion drive in the 1990s.
The Grizzlies relocated to Memphis in 2001, but the Raptors are still going and are now regarded as “Canada’s Team”. That is why their championship triumph in 2019, the latest by a Canadian team in any of the major leagues, was celebrated so much. In what was the first finals since 2010 not to feature LeBron James, the Raptors lost one of their first two finals home games against the Golden State Warriors, before taking the title with a game six victory in Oakland.
The Newest Major League
When it came to American sports, it was always The Big Four – football, baseball, hockey, and basketball. But in the 1990s, a new soccer league was launched with the hope of it becoming as big as some of the others around the globe. Being able to compete with the best at the “world’s game” was the lofty goal.
Major League Soccer also expanded northwards over the years, bringing Toronto FC, the Vancouver Whitecaps, and CF Montreal (formerly the Montreal Impact) into the fold. It is Toronto that has proved to be the most successful in the last 20 years, appearing in the MLS Cup final on three occasions. Only the 2017 final was won, but the appearance in 2019 posed the chance of a Canadian team winning two major league championships that year.
Beating the Americans at Their Own Game
The NFL is arguably the biggest sports league in the world, and football is the most popular sport in the US, but it is baseball that has always been thought of as “America’s pastime”. The ballpark is regarded as a quintessentially American sports venue, but there has been Canadian success there too.
There used to be two Major League Baseball teams from Canada, before the Montreal Expos relocated to Washington in 2005. The Toronto Blue Jays have been in existence since 1977, but it was the early 1990s when they took over the world of baseball. The Blue Jays actually won back-to-back titles in 1992 and 1993, beating the Atlanta Braves and Philadelphia Phillies at their own game.
The National Sport
Hockey is undoubtedly the main national sport of Canada, and the precursor to the NHL as we know it today was actually heavily weighted in Canadian teams’ favor. The Stanley Cup goes back further than the league itself, but the modern era is understood to have begun in 1915. In that time, there has been much Canadian success, with the Montreal Canadians able to claim to be the most successful hockey team in history.
The Habs have won the championship an incredible 24 times, 13 more than their nearest challenger, the Detroit Red Wings. But the most recent finals win came way back in 1993, also the last time any Canadian team lifted the Stanley Cup. The Toronto Maple Leafs, Edmonton Oilers, and Calgary Flames all have titles to their names too, but Canada, as a nation, has been waiting for a very long time to celebrate another championship in its own national sport.
Turning of the Tide?
Although it will always be difficult for Canadian teams to challenge for titles in the North American major leagues, last year raised new hope that there may be another one coming soon. Three of the league’s championship games or series saw a Canadian team competing. Ultimately, the Blue Jays lost the World Series, the Vancouver Whitecaps lost the MLS Cup final, and the Oilers lost the Stanley Cup finals (for what was the second year in a row).
Many of the US teams are based in bigger cities and boast bigger markets and tax breaks for athletes, so we will continue to see the biggest stars playing there rather than in Canada, even when it comes to hockey. But recent results and performances should keep hope alive, and we may see another Canadian team winning a major league championship soon.
