- Robert Bortuzzo became the latest in a long line of Thunder Bay NHLers to bring the Stanley Cup back to his hometown. Bortuzzo had a pair of playoff goals to help propel the St. Louis Blues to their first NHL championship and then brought the Cup home in August for a celebration with fans, family and friends. He later visited the White House and U.S. President Donald Trump with the team.
- The Thunder Bay Kings hosted the national major midget championship at Fort William Gardens. The Telus Cup brought plenty of hockey to Thunder Bay, including former NHLer Felix Potvin, coach of the runner-up Cantonniers de Magog. Joseph Martino scored in double overtime to deliver the win for the Toronto Young Nationals. Kings alumni Nicholas DeGrazia was recently named to Team East at the World Junior A Challenge.
- The Thunder Bay North Stars completed one of the most dominating Superior International Junior Hockey League seasons by capturing their first Bill Salonen Cup with a six-game win over the Red Lake Miners. Led by Keighan Gerrie, Kyle Auger and Ryan Mignault, the No. 2-ranked North Stars were swept out of the Dudley Hewitt Cup.
- The Lakehead Thunderwolves men’s basketball team returned to the national top 10 for the first time since the Scott Morrison era ended in 2013. Under the guidance of third-year coach Ryan Thomson and powered by the stellar play of fifth-year guard Isaiah Traylor and shot-blocking wizard Lock Lam, the Wolves will enter 2020 at 9-3, ranked sixth in Canada.
- Bahamian import Leashja Grant was named OUA player of the year for a second straight season and helped lead the Thunderwolves women’s basketball team to a 20-4 record and a spot in the OUA semifinal. Grant led the OUA in scoring and rebounding.
- Curler Krista McCarville returned to the Scotties Tournament of Hearts playoffs, finishing 8-3 in round robin play. But the Thunder Bay skip’s run ended in the 3-4 Page Playoffs in Sydney, N.S., where the team of McCarville, Sarah Potts, Jen Gates and Kendra Lilly were edged 6-3 by Ontario rival Rachel Homan, who went on to lose the final 8-7 to Alberta’s Chelsea Carey.
- A season that began with much promise under new ownership didn’t exactly translate into wins on the field for the Thunder Bay Border Cats. The Cats combined to finish 24-47 under manager Eric Vazquez, the second-worst record in the Northwoods League. The team hired former manager Mike Steed to return to skip the team in 2020. Former Border Cat Ryan Court made his major league debut with the Seattle Mariners, hitting his first MLB homerun on Aug. 9 against Tampa Bay’s Emilo Pagan.
- The Thunder Bay Chill struggled at times to score and wound up settling for third place in the newly named United Soccer League 2’s Heartland Division standings, finishing with a 6-6-2 record to miss the playoffs for a second straight summer. Marco Kuemmerle led the team with four goals.
- The Westgate Tigers stunned the high school football world by knocking off the St. Ignatius Falcons in the senior final to win their first title in six years. The Westgate defence picked off Falcons QB Jordan Maki four times and went on to an 18-0 triumph. They’d go on to win the Simcoe Bowl 28-13 over Barrie’s St. Joan of Arc CHS.
- Wrestler Marco Palermo took home a gold medal at the USports wrestling championship and captured a second straight male athlete of the year award for Lakehead University. Later in the year he travelled overseas to take part in the world championship in Hungary.
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