THUNDER BAY - The Stanley Cup Final between the Boston Bruins and St. Louis Blues marked the eighth consecutive season a Canadian team failed to qualify for a chance to win hockey's Holy Grail, despite having seven Canadian franchises that have a shot at it every year.
For the National Basketball Association, the hopes of an entire nation rest solely with one franchise out of 30.
For the first time in its 24-year history, the Toronto Raptors will step on the court to contest an NBA Finals series when they host Game 1 on Thursday against the two-time defending champion Golden State Warriors. The Raptors' run to the final, which included a second-round Game 7 buzzer beater by the franchise's brightest star in Kawhi Leonard to advance past the Philadelphia 76ers and four straight wins to oust probable NBA MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks in the Eastern Conference Final, has captivated Canadian sports fans.
It’s a moment Eric Manzini has been anticipating since 2006, when he became a Raptors fan at the age of nine.
“For me personally.... I’m not that anxious," he said on Thursday. "This is new ground for me. I’m happy with whatever happens. I just want to see them represent the country and ball out.”
Manzini considers himself one of the biggest Raptors fans in Canada. While there’s no way of empirically measuring, one trip to his basement would leave no doubt.
The space is decorated with Raptors memorabilia from many different eras. There’s a Raptors foam finger; a DeMar DeRozan-signed picture frame; multiple “We The North” banners hang from the ceiling, as do the jerseys of Kyle Lowry, Pascal Siakam, and Leonard, the newest addition who was acquired in a summer trade with the San Antonio Spurs that was controversial at the time, but has seemingly paid off in spades.
As usual, everything is set up for Game 1.
“Like Kawhi says, ‘Living in the moment. I’m just going to embrace whatever happens and just enjoy it.”
Manzini was one of the millions of Raptors fans reveling in excitement after watching the Raptors take down the Milwaukee Bucks in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals. The game drew an average viewership of 3.1 million in Canada, with a peak of 5.3 million viewers in the final minute.
Canadian TV ratings for the NBA Finals are expected too surpass the Stanley Cup ratings for the first time.
Thunder Bay’s basketball growth
In every sense of the word, Thunder Bay is a hockey town.
From Alex Delvecchio’s illustrious NHL career in the 1950s and 1960s en route to a place in the Hockey Hall of Fame, through to the Staal brothers, to the current Stanley Cup Finals which features Robert Bortuzzo, Thunder Bay’s most beloved sport leaves little room for competition.
But while hockey holds the undisputed title, there’s no denying the growth of interest in basketball in recent years.
Cory Keeler, president of Blaze Basketball, said they’ve expanded in numbers every year.
In 2006, when Blaze (then called Wolfpack) began as the city’s first development program for boys basketball, no more than 50 kids registered across all ages. That number is now somewhere around 240.
“We’ve expanded so much that it’s difficult to find space," Keeler said. "Difficult to get access to courts for all our kids.”
Keeler says the growth can be attributed to many factors, the success of men’s and women’s basketball at Lakehead University being chief among them.
But Keeler said awareness of the Raptors, and the NBA in general, has played a huge part.
“I think a lot of that is access. You’ve got TSN and Sportsnet broadcasting every game so the kids are watching and interacting with it,” Keeler said. “There’s no doubt the Raptors have helped basketball grow in Canada. It’s a national team.”
In Blaze’s infancy, it was a different Canadian sensation that captured the imagination of young basketball players: two-time NBA MVP Steve Nash.
“I was a Phoenix Suns fan when Steve Nash was playing,” says Jared Kreiner, a homegrown basketball talent who plays for the Lakehead men’s basketball team.
“When he retired… that’s when I shifted over to the Raptors. I actually had a Chris Bosh jersey and Raptors ball I played with. They definitely influenced my decision (to play basketball) a lot.”
While Kreiner was destined for a life in basketball, as his father coaches Lakehead University's women’s basketball team, he’s noticed through coaching and playing Blaze that the Raptors have become increasingly popular.
“With Blaze, there’s so many more kids watching it. ‘Did you see the game last night. Did you see Kawhi play?’” he said.
This wasn’t always the case.
“Even people at my work are starting to talk to me about the Raptors,” said Manzini.
A long time coming
Manzini remembers the days when only his close circle of friends would go through the agony of Raptors games featuring the likes of Aaron Gray and Andrea Bargnani.
“I just remember the excitement around having an Italian basketball player, being Italian myself,” Manzini said.
While Bargnani’s legacy turned the Raptors into the laughing stock of the league, players such as Chris Bosh, and DeMar DeRozan gradually improved the team’s reputation.
However, it was never enough come the spring. Successful regular seasons were capped off by humiliating postseason exits. It seemed the Raptors would never get over the hump.
But that all changed after the Raptors acquired Leonard.
“Disbelief," Manzini said. "The Raptors don’t get players like Kawhi. They just don’t.”
Leonard’s brilliance this postseason has already produced moments that will be considered historic for the franchise.
Manzini was in the building for one of them - Kawhi Leonard’s series-winning shot in Game 7 against the Philadelphia 76ers.
“I was down (in Toronto) that weekend to become a professional accountant. When I figured out there was going to be a Game 7, I changed everything. Booked a hotel. Changed my flights,” he said.
“I think there is basketball gods, and I think I was rewarded for the leap of faith.”
Ready to get some shots up while waiting for his heros to take the court, Raptors fan Nic Coppola headed to Sherwood Park before tip-off while wearing a Kawhi Leonard jersey.
He and his friends intend to watch the game at Cineplex SliverCity, where Raptors games will be broadcast throughout the country.As for Game 2, he intends to be closer to Scotiabank Arena
“Me and my buddies are going to Toronto for it. We want to be at Jurassic Park,” Coppola said.
