As the year comes to an end, it’s time to take a look back at the ten best sports moments of 2024 for the city of Toronto.
For huge sports fanatic, Nick Karagiannis, it’s the Argos winning the 111th Grey Cup. For SportsNet’s Kai Gammage, a graduate of Centennial College’s sports journalism program, it’s Auston Matthews being named the new captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs. (Editor’s note: Centennial College publishes the Toronto Observer)
As a lifelong sports fan who grew up in the GTA, I can think of a few Toronto sports moments that stood out this year.
So with that being said, let’s take a look back at the top 10 Toronto sports moments of the year, in my opinion.
10. The PWHL’s first-ever game of the regular season is played in Toronto at a historic venue
Even though Toronto did not win the game against New York, with all the talk of having a professional women’s hockey league throughout the years, it was a monumental moment to finally see it happen, and to have the first PWHL game played in Toronto on Jan. 1. It was pretty cool to see Maple leafs Gardens (now named the Mattamy Centre) back on TV, the historic venue where the Stanley Cup has been raised in over the years.
9. The 2024 NHL All-Star weekend
When it was announced that the 2024 NHL All-Star game would be coming to Toronto, you knew it was gonna be huge.
And when it was revealed that celebrity captains would be a part of the NHL All-Star weekend, many fans correctly speculated that Toronto Maple Leafs’ Auston Matthews’ pick for celebrity captain of Team Matthews would be Canadian superstar musician Justin Bieber.
Other celebrity sightings during in the festivities that took place Feb. 1 to 3 included a Tate McRae performance, Michael Bublé as a celebrity coach, as well as Will Arnett being a celebrity coach. And, not to mention, the NHL’s best was all gathered in the hockey capital of the world.
It was a special weekend to remember, and the fact that the Atlantic division won made the All-Star game just a little sweeter for Leafs fans.
8. UFC 297
It had been a while since a UFC event had come to Toronto. The last one was UFC 231 in 2018. The UFC 297 card was headlined by controversial and at the time UFC middleweight champion Sean Strickland, who went on an anti-LGBTQ+ rant during a press conference prior to the Jan. 20 event.
Strickland was up against and lost to Dricus Du Plessis, who was next in line for a title shot. The entire fight card featured various Canadians. However, even though it was a successful night, it was one of the weaker cards that the UFC had put on that year.
7. WWE takes over Toronto
From July 5 to July 7, Scotiabank Arena was taken over by the WWE, who put on three events. July 5 was Friday night SmackDown. On July 6, WWE held its premium live event, Money in the Bank. And on July 7, it was NXT Heat Wave.
The weekend marked the first time since the 2019 SumerSlam that a premium live WWE event would be in Toronto. There were great matches and moments throughout all three shows. But, all anyone could talk about from that weekend was 16-time world champion John Cena’s appearance at Money in the Bank, and his earth-shattering announcement that he would be retiring from in-ring competition in the WWE at the end of the calendar year 2025.
6. PWHL Toronto and Montreal set the all-time attendance record for a women’s hockey game
Yes, I know this game was not in Toronto, it was in Montreal at the Bell Centre, where the Montreal Canadiens play.
The record that previously was in place was from the Feb. 16 PWHL Toronto vs. Montreal game held in Toronto and that had 19,285 fans at Scotiabank Arena. The Montreal game held April 20 had 21,105 fans in attendance. This is a huge accomplishment and goes to show women’s sports are only growing in both cities.
The recently named Montreal Victoire‘s home ice for the 2024-2025 season is Place Bell in Laval, Que.
5. Auston Matthews scores goal number 69 for the Maple Leafs at home
On April 13, Toronto Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews scored what would be his last goal of the 2023/24 NHL regular season, which was goal number 69.
He was able to do this in front of a home crowd against the Tampa Bay Lightning, as well as show why he is one of the most dangerous and legal goal scorers in the current game. This was the second time that Matthew had hit the 60-goal mark, and he took home the Maurice “Rocket” Richard trophy at the end of the 2023-24 season for most goals in the regular season.
4. Leafs force game seven in series vs. Boston; fans in Scotiabank Arena loudest they’ve been for Leafs in years
Going into game six against Boston at Scotiabank Arena, Toronto fans knew that something had to change from games three and four. It felt like the crowd had barely been there for those home games, but that all changed April 30 for game six.
You could feel something different even if you were not there physically at the game; you could feel it while watching it on your TV. The fans were loud. The fans were obnoxious. You could feel the energy and TV cameras shake. The fans knew this was a must-win game. The Leafs knew it was a must-win game.
And boy, did they deliver: Toronto won 2-1, sending the fans back for more and keeping the Leafs alive to play one last game in the playoff series.
3. The Toronto Argonauts win the 111th Grey Cup
As mentioned earlier, this was Nick Karagiannis’ pick for the best Toronto sports moment of the year.
Heading into the CFL playoffs, the Argos were looking good and whatever momentum they had from the end of the regular season going into the playoffs they captured, and that’s what pushed them to continuously win and make it to the Grey Cup. They had a tough challenge in the Winnipeg Blue Bombers on Nov. 17, who for the fifth year in a row were in the Grey Cup final. But, the last time it was Toronto vs. Winnipeg, Toronto beat them. So, history repeated itself; the Argos beat the Bombers 41 to 24, which gave the Argos their 19th Grey Cup in franchise history.
2. ‘Air Canada’ takes his rightful place in the rafters of the house that he built
On Nov. 2, Vince Carter, who had just been inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame, had his jersey number, 15, retired by the Toronto Raptors.
Now, without Carter, the Raptors wouldn’t have gotten to where they currently are. He put them on the map. Everyone who was alive at the time remembers in 2000, when he was in that dunk contest, and he put his arm through the rim as well as put his arm through his legs, and dunking that ball in the hoop like it was nobody’s business. Vince wouldn’t have had the impact on so many kids wanting to play basketball if it wasn’t for him in this country and in Toronto.
1. Auston Matthews named 26th captain in Leafs franchise history
Kai Gammage named this moment his pick for best Toronto sports moment of the year.
In the middle of the summer, when news first broke that the Toronto Maple Leafs would be stripping now-former captain, John Tavares, of the C and giving it to Auston Matthews, most fans were in shock. Tavares had one more year on his deal and everyone thought that just after the season was over, if Tavares did not resign, then Matthews would be appointed the next captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs.
But that’s not what happened after another unsuccessful playoff run, which involved them losing in seven games to the Boston Bruins and relieving Sheldon Keefe of his head coaching job. Getting a new coach, Craig Berube, in the front office felt like the time to shake it up a bit, and that shakeup was announcing on Aug. 14 that Tavares was giving up the captaincy and passing it on to Matthews.
Matthews became the first-ever American-born captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs, as well as the second captain in franchise history who is not Canadian.
