Canada Sports Power Rankings

Hello and welcome to the Canadian Sports Power Rankings!

The goal here will be to (semi-seriously) rank Canadian athletes - both those born in Canada and occasionally those playing for teams located in Canada - in order of percieved "power" in the Canadian sports landscape. Since we are in the midst of Peak Sports Season (NFL, NHL, NCAAFB and MLB (and CFL, I guess) are all still playing games, NBA and NCAABB are just days away from tip-off) there's no better time to start then now!

Like most sports power rankings columns, this will consist of a completely arbitrary rating not based on any actual standings or statistics. Since we'll be spanning the entire sporting world and not just focusing on one particular league, these rankings will be even MORE arbitrary than any other power ranking you'll have seen before. In fact, the main factors in these rankings will be a combination of popularity, media hype, and on-field/court/ice performance.

So without any more up-front BS, lets start the rankings:




The Top Five:

1.  P.K. Subban - Pernell Karl is the NHL's brightest young star on Canada's best team. He just signed a big-ass contract extension. He's featured in commercials. He's charismatic in a sport that is dying for a marketable star. He is the current King of Canadian sports.
2.  Steven Stamkos - Stammer already has a Hatty under his belt this season. His team looks to be improved after a season down the crapper. Plus, the media located in the Big Smoke are already circling like vultures should he make it to free agency just two short seasons from now. Another season leading the league in scoring would push him past P.K.
3. Andrew Wiggins - The kid has his own team, a supporting cast with upside potential, and no real expectations to win this year. Sprinkle in a dash of "disrespected" in there and you may have the recipe for an NBA Rookie of the Year.
4. Eugenie Bouchard - Canada's tennis princess may have had a disappointing second half of the season after promising performances at three Grand Slams, but she's still the top young player in the women's circuit. Oh, and she really knows how to use the Instagram machine.    
5. DeMar Derozan - The Kid from Compton is the biggest hope for the Raptors this year. After a promising season where he and PG Kyle Lowry carried the team to the playoffs, he was ranked he 35th best player in the league by ESPN (2nd among shooting guards). Lowry likely isn't getting better, but another step towards stardom from DeMar could make him a household name.

Rising:

Tristan Thompson - The oldest member of the Young Canuck Baller club looks like he may be the starting Centre (yes, Centre, not Center) on a team featuring LeBron James and Kevin Love - AKA the best squad in the league. He'll get to play defense and dunk some putbacks while LBJ and K-Love handle the rest. Oh, and he 'bout to get paaaaaaaid.

Nik Staustkas - NBA Three Point Specialists of a pale complexion taken in the lottery of the Draft do not have a great track record in the league, but Nik (No 'C') hopes to break the mould in Sac-town. He has sneaky-good handles, athleticism, and is a great fit on a team that needs outside shooting.

Anthony Bennett - He may have been the worst 1st Overall Pick in over a decade, but he's OUR Worst 1st Overall pick, dammit!  A change of scenery combined with some reported weight-loss could bring back the promising PF we saw for a flash in the NCAA tourney a couple years ago.

Dalton Pompey - Another bright-eyed, bushy-tailed young buck that hopes to make his Home and Native Land proud. Pompey - born in Mississauga, if you haven't heard - is a 21 year old CF on the Toronto Blue Jays. After September roster expansions, he was called up and had soon scooped up the starting job from Colby Rasmus and Anthony Gose. He made some amazing plays in centre, showed a good eye (and bat) at the plate, and he may have locked up the starting job for the foreseeable future with his performance. If the season weren't over, he'd be in the Top Five.

Falling:

Milos Raonic: Like Eugenie, he had a hot start to Grand Slam Season, but has really fallen off. Unlike Eugenie, he doesn't have a really intriguing Instagram account.

Daniel Nestor: The old grizzled vet of Canadian tennis has fallen on hard times. After a couple minor victories and many disappointing performances this season, he and Doubles partner Nenad Zimonjic split up for the second time. Nestor, who's 42, surprisingly announced he'll play in 2015 with Rohan Bopanna of India, so it doesn't look like retirement is on the horizon. Hopefully he and Raonic can recapture some momentum when Canada meets Japan in Davis Cup play early next year.

The Edmonton Oilers: The Oilers suck, what else is new? Years and years of high draft picks aren't paying off, and the horns are sounding for the poor widdle Oilers to shake things up. But the problem is this may be the best season for them to suck, what with a nice, shiny McDavid being the possible prize at the end.