Top 5 Canadian professional sports teams of 2022
Canada enjoyed a successful 2022 on the international stage, but who were its best domestic teams?
As we count down the days to 2023, we look back on the sporting year that 2022 gifted us, with its unforgettable triumphs and heartbreaking defeats.
Canada, on the international stage, enjoyed plenty of success, winning 26 medals at the Beijing Winter Olympic Games, a World Junior Championship gold medal and qualifying for the FIFA World Cup for the first time in 36 years, among other accomplishments.
And while it's nearly impossible to compare teams from different sports and leagues, why don't we take a look at which Canadian pro sports franchises enjoyed the most success in 2022.
5. Toronto Blue Jays
It may have ended horribly, but the Toronto Blue Jays' 2022 season still gave fans a ton to cheer about.
The Jays finished with a 92-70 record — one more win than the previous season — and seven games behind the New York Yankees for second place in the American League East. Bo Bichette led the AL in hits (189), Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit the seventh-most home runs (32) and the fifth-most RBIs (97), starting pitcher Alek Manoah owned the third-best ERA (2.24) and third-most wins (16), while closer Jordan Romano finished third in saves (36). On an individual level, plenty of Blue Jays enjoyed successful seasons, with six players being named to the MLB All-Star Game.
Unfortunately, the excitement was cut short rather abruptly in the playoffs. Toronto was blanked 4-0 in Game 1 of the AL wild-card series by the Seattle Mariners. Things were looking up in Game 2, with the Jays jumping out to an 8-1 lead through five innings at Rogers Centre. What followed was one of the biggest collapses in baseball history, as the Mariners stormed back to win 10-9 and stun the raucous home crowd, ending the Jays' promising season.
4. Edmonton Oilers
The Edmonton Oilers may not have had the regular season success that a team led by the likes of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl would expect, but they did finally put together a solid postseason run in 2022.
After a 49-win, 104-point regular season that saw them finish second in the Pacific Division behind provincial rival Calgary Flames, the Oilers fought past a pesky Los Angeles Kings team in seven games in the first round. They then took on the Flames in a highly anticipated Battle of Alberta second-round series, which Edmonton cruised through in five games. Next came the Colorado Avalanche, who proved to be too much to handle, sweeping the Oilers to advance to the Stanley Cup Final before clinching their first championship since 2001.
Edmonton currently sits in fourth place in the Pacific with 38 points and a 18-14-2 record. While the team is still trying to find its footing, McDavid is lighting up the NHL, unsurprisingly, with a league-leading 29 goals and 65 points in 34 games. Draisaitl is not far behind, sitting in second with 55 points.
3. CF Montréal
CF Montréal had its most successful regular season ever, notching franchise records in points (65) and wins (20), while finishing second in the Eastern Conference behind the Philadelphia Union. Montreal beat Orlando City 2-0 in the first round of the playoffs, but fell to New York City FC in the conference semifinal.
First-year head coach Wilfried Nancy finished a very close runner-up for MLS Coach of the Year, and a number of young promising stars, including Djordje Mihailovic, Ismaël Koné and Alistair Johnston, earned big money moves to Europe after stellar seasons with Montreal.
The club was also well represented in Qatar, with six players making the men's Canadian national team for the country's first World Cup appearance since 1986.
2. Toronto Maple Leafs
This year has to have been the Toronto Maple Leafs' best in a long time.
The Leafs set franchise records for wins (54) and points (115) in the 2021-22 campaign, finishing second in the Atlantic Division behind the President's Trophy winning Florida Panthers. Superstar forward Auston Matthews registered a career-high 60-goal, 106-point season that earned him the Rocket Richard and Art Ross trophies, as well as the Ted Lindsay Award.
Despite the memorable season, Toronto was once again eliminated in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs, this time taking the defending champion Tampa Bay Lightning to seven games. The Lightning went on to their third consecutive Cup final appearance, but failed to three-peat.
The Buds have not missed a beat in 2022-23, once again getting off to a roaring start with a 20-7-6 record and 46 points, good for second in the Atlantic behind the Boston Bruins. Matthews is still playing at an all-league level, tied with Mitch Marner for the team lead in points (38), with the latter putting together a franchise-record 23-game point streak that was just recently snapped.
With solid goaltending backing up their high-octane offense, the Leafs look like a contender once again.
1. Toronto Argonauts
This might be a controversial choice, considering the CFL's popularity — or lackthereof — relative to other leagues or franchises in Canada, but the Toronto Argonauts' reason for topping this list is very simple: they won a championship.
The Argos finished first in the East Division with 22 points and a 11-7-0 record, a total that would've seen them finish fourth in the West Division. However unremarkable their regular season was, Toronto secured a first-round bye, then turned up the heat in the playoffs, beating the Montreal Alouettes 34-27 in the Eastern Final at BMO Field.
The Argonauts moved on to beat the two-time defending Grey Cup champion Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the final in Regina, edging them out 24-23 with a wild final drive by backup quarterback Chad Kelly to put their hands on their first championship since 2017.
