Avery Anderson recaps the 2025 world series between the Dodgers and Blue Jays, watching highlights in her living room. Photo by Tanner French

One thing that sets Canadians apart from others is the pride we carry when calling ourselves Canadians. That pride always seems to come out a little bit more than usual when one of our professional sports teams has a shot at winning a championship. Whether it’s hockey, baseball or basketball, Canadians proudly support whatever team we have with a shot of winning it all.  These are the last five professional sports championships that Canadian teams had a chance to win.

Number 1: 2019-Toronto Raptors

In 2019 the Toronto Raptors ran deep into the playoffs with a newly signed Kawhi Leonard and went up against a dynasty in the finals.  The series was over in six games with the Raptors taking home the Larry O’Brien trophy winning the series 4-2. All around sports fan and ex-athlete Avery Anderson recalls watching the triumphant championship series live.

“Watching a Canadian team win a championship with my friends made them feel like family.  It even made me feel like strangers were my friends.”

Unfortunately, the Raptors championship is the only one we’ve seen since, but we’ve had several chances.

Number 2: 2021-Montreal Canadiens

In 2021 the Montreal Canadiens had a shot to bring the Stanley Cup home where it belongs.  In a disappointing series against the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Canadiens would fall short of that goal losing the series 4-1.  Cole Tisdale, a former WHL goalie was disappointed at the outcome, but aware of the positive impact it had on the nation.

“I was rooting them on since they were the last Canadian team left.  Their team was an underdog for sure, which I feel like lifted Canada up.”

Everyone loves an underdog, and us Canadians are no different.  After Montreal’s exit from contention for the cup, we had a new team step up to try to bring Lord Stanley home.

Number 3 and 4: 2024 and 2025-Edmonton Oilers

The past two years have seen the same two teams face off for the Stanley Cup.  The Edmonton Oilers and Florida Panthers battled it out in 2024 and 2025.  Both Stanley Cup series were long and hard fought, but the Panthers got the better of the Oilers in both matchups.  In 2024 the series went the distance, seeing the Oilers fall in the seven game series 4-3.  The Panthers got the job done even quicker in 2025, closing out the Oilers in six games winning the series 4-2.  Tisdale said he didn’t cheer for the Oilers as hard as he did the Canadiens because they knocked his team out of the playoffs, but he knows what that trophy means to the country.

“Nothing feels more prideful and patriotic than your country’s team bringing home the cup.”

The Oilers were the most recent Canadian team to have a chance at bringing home the Stanley Cup, but there’s one final team that had a chance to bring a championship to Canada.

Number 5: 2025-Toronto Blue Jays

The final and most recent chance a Canadian team had to bring a championship home was in the World Series that wrapped up a few weeks ago.  The Toronto Blue Jays faced a formidable Los Angeles Dodgers squad led by arguably the greatest baseball player ever Shohei Ohtani.  This was another series that went the distance, not ending until game 7.  The Blue Jays lost game seven 5-4.  The game ended after 11 innings seeing the Dodgers take home the championship with a series score of 4-3. A major highlight of the series was game three where both teams could not find a way to take the lead and the game went on for an astounding 18 innings.  Anderson recalls watching this historic game three, but not of her own volition.

“I’m not a huge baseball fan, but my boyfriend was watching the game on his laptop in bed.  I couldn’t help but watch with him and wait for someone to make the big play.”

As Canadians, we can’t help but be filled with pride when one of our teams gets the chance to win a championship for us.  This is reflected by the statistics on the MLB website. Game seven of this year’s World Series was the most watched English-language broadcast in Canada besides the Vancouver Olympics in 2010.  Game seven brought in an astounding 11.6-million Canadian viewers on average.  We are all proudly Canadian, and we aren’t afraid to let the world know when we have a chance to reach the top.