THUNDER BAY -- Here's a look at the top 10 local sports stories of 2018, as compiled by Thunder Bay Source editor Leith Dunick.
- Thunder Bay’s Haley Irwin struck silver at the Winter Olympics in South Korea, as Team Canada fell to the United States in the gold-medal game. The second-place finish helped her add to her hardware collection, bringing home women’s hockey gold in 2010 and 2014.
- It was the end of the road for three-time Stanley Cup champion Patrick Sharp, who announced his retirement after one final season with the Chicago Blackhawks. Sharp, who returned to Chicago after two years in Dallas, finished with 10 goals and 11 assists and wrapped up a 15-year NHL career with 287 goals and 620 points in 939 games. He won championships in 2010, 2013 and 2015 and Olympic gold in 2014.
- After a five-year run that saw the event raise more than $1 million for local charities, organizers of the Staal Foundation Open announced the tournament was calling it a day. Ben Griffin fired a spectacular final-round 64 to hold off Canadian Riley Wheeldon and capture the fifth edition of the Staal Foundation Open with a four-round, 16-under 266 total. Locals Barry Caland, Walter Keating Jr., Matt Simmons, Evan DeGrazia and Jeremy Kirk were in the field, but didn’t make the cut.
- The Lakehead Thunderwolves struck women’s basketball gold again with the arrival of Bahamian forward Leashja Grant, who led the OUA in rebounding and points and captured league most valuable player honours, making her a finalist for national player of the year. The Wolves edged into the national Top 10 just before the Christmas break.
- The Lakehead Thunderwolves, who lost in the first round of the OUA playoffs to York, changed coaches in the offseason, with the retirement of veteran bench boss Bill McDonald. He was replaced by long-time assistant Andrew Wilkins, who has the team in contention in the OUA West and even briefly returned the Wolves to the U Sports top 10 for the first time in more than four years.
- Brad Jacobs and Rachel Homan made easy work of the competition at the Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling’s Tour Challenge, which brought national coverage to Thunder Bay in November. Jacobs knocked off Alberta’s Brandon Bottcher in the men’s final and Homan edged Manitoba’s Tracy Fleury in the women’s championship. Thunder Bay’s Krista McCarville finished the week 1-3 and missed the playoffs.
- The Thunder Bay North Stars returned to their powerhouse days, ranked as high as second in the Canadian Junior Hockey League after sprinting out of the starting gate to start the 2018-19 season. It follows a trip to the Dudley Hewitt Cup last season, despite losing to Dryden in the SIJHL final.
- The Thunder Bay Border Cats made the news for all the wrong reasons, as one ownership group walked away from the team and a group of local hopefuls made their pitch to save the Northwoods League squad and bring it back to Port Arthur Stadium for a 17th season. The Cats struggled to a 22-50 mark in 2018, winning just nine games in the second half.
- The Thunder Bay Chill struggled out of the gate and wound up missing the playoffs for just the second time since 2006, finishing the campaign at 6-1-7 under coach Giovanni Petraglia, leaving them fifth in the Heartland Division.
- The St. Ignatius Falcons upset the heavily favoured Hammarkskjold Vikings to capture their fourth high school senior football title in five years. Nicholas Doucet rushed for 184 yards and three touchdowns in the 22-7 win.
Honourable mentions to to Eric Staal for scoring his 400th NHL goal; Carter Hutton signing a three-year free agency deal with the Buffalo Sabres and leading the NHL in goals against average and save percentage; Ryan Thomson takiong over the Thunderwolves men’s basketbal program, and Craig Barclay being named Lakehead's women's volleyball coach.
