Top 10 sports

It was a bit of an oddity in Thunder Bay in 2011, with the Stanley Cup coming nowhere near the city, after Jordan Staal and Patrick Sharp won the prestigious trophy in 2009 and 2010.

Uncharacteristically the Lakehead Thunderwolves hockey squad was unceremoniously bounced from the postseason in the first round, a first in team history, a story in its own right. But there was plenty to like about the Thunder Bay sports scene this past year, starting with a hoops squad that showed once and for all it belonged with the big boys. Here is our look back at the top 10 sports stories of 2011.

1. Proving 2010 was no fluke, the Lakehead Thunderwolves men's basketball team returned to nationals, winning an OUA championship in a stunning upset of the No. 1 Carleton Ravens. The trip to Halifax marked the end of the road for guard Jamie Searle, where the Wolves lost their opener, but won their two consolation matches to finish fifth.

2. For the third time in four seasons, the Thunder Bay Chill made their way to the Premier Development League's final four weekend. Led by Brandon Swartzendruber, Gustavo Oliveira, Nolan Intermoia, Wilson Neto and local boy Stephen Paterson, the Chill proved once and for all, even with a semifinal loss, that they're the circuit's model program these days.

3. Michael Somppi, Andy Shields and Erin Tribe showed they belonged on the national stage, earning their way to world ski championships at the national time trials held at Lappe this past January. Somppi and Tribe made the under-23 team, while Shields, with wins in three of four races at the trials, captured a bid on the national junior team. All three ski for the National Training Development Centre Thunder Bay squad.

4. Cold weather aside, Thunder Bay proved an excellent host for some of the province's most underrated athletes. Special Olympians couldn't say enough about the city and its people, as they competed at the Ontario Winter Games in skiing, snowshoeing, curling, figure skating and speed skating at a variety of venues throughout the city.

5. Sault Ste. Marie's Brad Jacobs had all but resigned himself to runner-up status at the Northern Ontario men's curling championship, but got the surprise of his life when Thunder Bay skip Joe Scharf sailed his final 10th-end stone through the house, giving Jacobs a steal of three and a trip to the Brier. Scharf only needed a draw to the eight-foot for the win.

6. Tasia McKenna may or may not be the best basketball player to suit up for the Thunderwolves women's team. But one thing's for sure, she is the most prolific scorer. McKenna, now an assistant under Jon Kreiner, broke Kathy Harrison's two-decade-old career mark of 1,968 in February, against the Brock Badgers in her final regular season contest.

7. Multi-sport athlete Robbi Weldon and partner Lyne Bessette took home four visually impaired tandem cycling gold medals at the 2011 Parapan American Games in Guadalajara, Mexico. As a result of their success, the duo were named Canada’s flag bearers in closing ceremonies. Weldon is a former cross country skier who took part in the 2010 Paralympic Winter Games in Vancouver.

8 Like her brother Joe Scharf, curler Krista McCarville came up one game short in her quest for another trip to the Scotties Tournament of Hearts. The Thunder Bay skip, who curls out of the Fort William Curling Club, couldn't get past Ottawa's Rachel Homan in the provincial final, denying her foursome a fifth berth at the national championship.

9. After nine years of playoff success, the Lakehead Thunderwolves were ousted by Waterloo in the opening round of the playoffs, bringing to a close what might have been the team's most disappointing season yet. The Wolves also said goodbye to a number of veterans, including captain Jordan Smith, forwards Brock McPherson and Kris Hogg and goalie Kyle Moir, to name just a few, ushering in a new era for the perennial powerhouse.

10 Marc Staal's hockey career appears to be on hold, thanks to a hit from brother Eric. The New York Rangers defenceman finished the 2010-11 season, but recurring headaches and other concussion-like symptoms have shelved the former first-round draft pick for the entire current campaign. The Rangers moved Staal, who got married this summer, to the long-term injured reserve list to clear up cap space, further clouding when he might return. Staal has resumed skating on his own.