Browse "Sports & Recreation"

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.

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 Jones Konihowski, pentathlete, track and field coach (b at Vancouver 7 Mar 1951).

Dino Ciccarelli, hockey player (b at Sarnia, Ont 8 Feb 1960). At 5'10" and 180 lbs, Dino Ciccarelli was considered too small to be successful in the NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE.

Donald Stewart “Grapes” Cherry, hockey broadcaster, coach, player, team owner (born 5 February 1934 in Kingston, ON). Don Cherry is best known as the former hockey analyst and commentator on the Hockey Night in Canada segment, “Coach’s Corner.” As a hockey player, Cherry won a Memorial Cup with the Barrie Flyers in 1953 and had a long career in the American Hockey League (AHL), winning the Calder Cup four times. He won coach of the year honours in both the AHL and National Hockey League (NHL) and coached the Boston Bruins to two Stanley Cup Finals before retiring from coaching. His 39-year stint on “Coach’s Corner” made him a Canadian icon, albeit a controversial one. Nicknamed “Grapes” (a play on his last name and the term “sour grapes”), Cherry’s blunt opinions made him a lightning rod for controversy. He faced accusations of bigotry and racism throughout his broadcasting career and was fired in 2019 for comments that were widely regarded as being racist toward immigrants. Also in 2019, he was inducted into the American Hockey League Hall of Fame.

Don Forest, mountaineer (b 1920; d 2003). Don Forest did not begin serious mountaineering until his forties even though he had an interest in the outdoors throughout his life. Some of his earliest climbs were done with Gmoser and Grillmair in the early 1960s.

Donald Ross Getty, athlete, businessman, premier of Alberta 1985–92 (born 30 August 1933 in Westmount, QC; died 26 February 2016 in Edmonton, AB).

Donald Graham Smith, swimmer (b at Edmonton, Alta 9 May 1958). A breaststroke specialist, Graham Smith became the youngest Canadian male to win 2 national titles in one meet, winning both the 100 m and 200 m breaststroke events in 1974.