Browse "Sports & Recreation"

Constantine Falkland Cary Smythe, "Conn," sports entrepreneur (b at Toronto 1 Feb 1895; d there 18 Nov 1980). He was awarded the Military Cross in WWI and was severely injured by shrapnel in WWII. His reputation for

Connor McDavid, hockey player (born 13 January 1997 in Richmond Hill, ON). A two-time National Hockey League All-Star, McDavid plays for the Edmonton Oilers. One of the best skaters in the game, McDavid is also an elite playmaker. Since breaking into the NHL in 2015, McDavid has established himself as one of the most dynamic offensive stars in the league. He has won the Art Ross Trophy (2017, 2018), Ted Lindsay Award (2017, 2018) and Hart Memorial Trophy (2017). McDavid has also won gold medals with Team Canada at the IIHF Ice Hockey U18 World Championship (2013), IIHF World Junior Championship (2015) and IIHF World Championship (2016).

Cowboys and cowgirls are people employed to tend cattle or horses. The first cowboys to work on the Canadian prairies arrived in the 1870s. The traditional cowboy lifestyle has since given way to a more contained, corporate model of ranching. But the romanticized image of the cowboy on the “open range” lives on as a symbol of the prairies. Today, the terms cowboy and cowgirl can refer to ranch workers or rodeo competitors.

​In 1975, alpine skier Ken Read became the first North American to win a World Cup downhill race. For a period of about ten years, Read and three other young Canadians — Dave Irwin, Dave Murray, and Steve Podborski — challenged the European ski establishment and changed the course of ski racing history in Canada.

Curtis Hibbert, gymnast (b at Mississauga, Ont 1966). Hibbert is the finest gymnast Canada has ever produced. Proficient in all apparatus, he excels in the strength events. In 1987 Hibbert won the first medal by a Canadian at the World Championships with a 2nd place finish in the high bar.

Daniel Albert Halldorson, golfer (born 2 April 1952 in Winnipeg, MB; died 19 November 2015 in Cambridge, Illinois). Dan Halldorson was one of Canada’s best and most influential golfers. He won seven Canadian Tour events and finished in the Top 10 in 28 PGA Tour events, amassing career earnings just shy of US$1.2 million. He was named Canada’s professional golfer of the year in 1981 and 1983 and is the only Canadian golfer to be a part of two World Cup victories (1980 and 1985). He served as deputy director of the Mackenzie Tour – PGA Tour Canada from 2005 to 2011 and was a mentor to such Canadian golf greats as Mike Weir and Ian Leggatt. Halldorson is a member of the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame, the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame and the Professional Golfers’ Association (PGA) of Canada Hall of Fame.

Daniel Abraham Yanofsky, OC, chess grandmaster, lawyer, municipal official (born 26 March 1925 in Brody, Poland; died 5 March 2000 in Winnipeg, MB).

Daniel Igali began wrestling at the age of 16 and entered the Nigerian National Senior Tournament. Despite the absence of designated age groups, Daniel Igali won his division.

Nestor entered few singles tournaments after 2000 when a shoulder injury forced him to concentrate on doubles, in which he is now considered one of the world's finest players.

Danielle Goyette, hockey player, coach (born 30 January 1966 in Saint-Nazaire d'Acton, QC). Goyette was a member of the Canadian women’s national hockey team from 1991 to 2008. In 172 international matches, she won eight world championships, twenty gold medals, and four silver medals. She is a member of the Quebec Sports Hall of Fame, Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame and the Hockey Hall of Fame. Goyette was named to the Order of Hockey in Canada in 2018.

Darren Zack (nicknamed Z-Man), pitcher in fastpitch softball (born 9 August 1960 in Garden River First Nation, ON). Compared in his skill to Babe Ruth, Zack dominated fastpitch softball in the 1990s. In addition to many other athletic accomplishments, Zack helped Team Canada win the Pan American Games fastpitch medal in 1991, 1995 and 1999. Though a fearsome competitor, Zack is known for his modest and humble demeanor off the field. He is actively involved in his Garden River First Nation community and in encouraging youth involvement in sports. (See also Baseball.)

Darryl Sittler, hockey player (b at Kitchener, Ont 18 Sept 1950). Darryl Sittler is considered one of the best-ever TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS players. Sittler began his hockey career with the London Knights of the Ontario Hockey Association in the 1960s.

Dave Barr, golfer (b at Kelowna, BC 13 Apr 1952). Barr learned his golf while banging balls around a Kelowna schoolyard before joining the Kelowna Golf Club on a junior membership. He later attended Oral Roberts University on a golf scholarship, and turned professional in 1974.

Dave Castilloux, boxer (b at Paspébiac, Qué 4 Jun 1916; d at Montréal 8 Mar 1994). When Dave Castilloux was only three years old, his parents moved to the United States, and in 1936, when the young fighter settled permanently in Montréal, he was already a seasoned BOXER.

David Robert Stuart Cutler, football player (b at Biggar, Sask 17 Oct 1945). He joined the EDMONTON ESKIMOS in 1969 as a placement kicker and stayed there for 16 years until his retirement in 1984. Cutler was one of the last kickers to use the straight on kicking syle.

David Binnie Turner, soccer player (b at Edinburgh, Scot 11 Oct 1903; d at Victoria 6 Apr 1989). Turner came to Canada at age 11 and played junior soccer in Edmonton. A powerful player with an excellent shot and heading ability, he was one of Canada's top players in the 1920s and 1930s.

Although she has never claimed an Olympic medal, Brill won gold medals in the 1970 Commonwealth Games, the 1971 Pan-American Games and the 1979 World Cup, as well as a silver in the 1978 Commonwealth Games. In 1980 she was named BC's "Athlete of the Decade.

Denis Charles Potvin, hockey player (b at Ottawa 29 Oct 1953). After a junior career with the Ottawa 67s, Potvin was the first player chosen in the 1973 NHL draft.

Dennis Lloyd (Denny) Morrison, speed skater (born 8 September 1985 in Chetwynd, BC). A four-time Olympic medalist in speed skating, Morrison won gold for Canada in the men’s team pursuit at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver, with Mathieu Giroux and Lucas Makowsky. He also won silver in the men’s team pursuit at the 2006 Olympic Winter Games in Turin and two individual medals at the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi: silver in the 1000m and bronze in the 1500m. Morrison has also won 11 career medals, including 2 gold medals, at the World Single Distances Speed Skating Championships and 57 career World Cup medals, including 16 gold medals, as of March 2018.

Diane Elaine Clement (née Matheson), OC, track and field sprinter (born 27 September 1936 in Moncton, New Brunswick). Diane Clement held numerous Canadian sprinting records and won a bronze medal for Canada in the women’s 4x110 yard relay at the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games. In 1956, she became the first athlete born in New Brunswick to represent Canada at an Olympic Summer Games. In 1959, she became the first female coach of the University of British Columbia women’s track and field team. She was also the first female president of an athletic federation in Canada and the first woman to be the honorary vice-president of the International Amateur Athletic Federation Congress. Clement has been inducted into the New Brunswick Sports Hall of Fame and the British Columbia Sports Hall of Fame and Museum and is a Member of the Order of Canada.