The top 15
A look at the most influential people in Canadian sports
Keith PelleyCharla Jones/The Globe and Mail
3. Reggie Fleming -- By donating his brain to science, Fleming allowed researchers at Boston University to prove that concussions sustained during his professional hockey career led to degenerative brain disease and ultimately, his death. The discovery, coupled with ample reporting about dementia in football players, has everyone from NHLers to parents of atom players looking for direction.
Head trainer Richard Stinziano of the New Jersey Devils goes to the aid of Patrik Elias of the Devils who lies motionless on the ice after being checked by Ryan Wilson of the Colorado Avalanche during NHL action at the Pepsi Center on January 16, 2010 in Denver, Colorado.David Zalubowski
5. Gord Nixon -- Sports can no longer operate at an elite level without corporate backing. Under its CEO, RBC is partnered with VANOC, and national sponsor of Hockey Canada, the Canadian Snowboard Federation, the Canadian Freestyle Ski Association, Athletics Canada, the Canadian Paralympic Committee and Canadian Open golf tournament. RBC also became an official patron of the PGA of America yesterday, at a time when other sponsors are running for the hills.Fred Lum/The Globe and Mail
6. Mark Cohon -- The CFL commissioner has struck the deal to play the first regular season game in Atlantic Canada this season and will oversee negotiations on a new collective bargaining agreement with CFL Players Association before start of 2010 season. Meantime, there’s a wee ownership problem in Toronto to resolve - again.Nathan Denette
7. David Braley -- This time next week, the B.C. Lions owner will own 25 per cent of the CFL’s franchises if able to acquire the Toronto Argonauts. The most powerful member of the board of governors, he was revealed by the Globe and Mail last year to have provided the financial support underpinning the current ownership of the Argos by Howard Sokolowski and David Cynamon.CHUCK STOODY/The Globe and Mail
8. Stacey Allaster -- The most powerful female executive in professional sport, Allaster, of Welland, Ont., is commissioner of the Women’s Tennis Association. Having pierced the glass ceiling in a male-dominated industry, she is confronted by an international sponsorship challenge and lack of North American stars on the circuit, save the aging Williams sisters.Julian Finney
9. Phil King -- King, right, is running the show as TSN dominates the television and Internet sports markets in Canada, controlling the CFL and its Grey Cup, the world junior hockey tournament and certain NHL rights. After having launched TSN-2 in 2009, what’s next? (TSN is owned by ctvglobemedia, also owner of The Globe and Mail).Greig Reekie/The Globe and Mail
10. Nancy Greene Raine -- As a transplanted Ontarian, Greene personifies the coming out party that the Vancouver 2010 Games represent for Western Canada. She learned to ski-race in Rossland, won an Olympic gold medal, got in on the ground floor of development at first Whistler then Sun Peaks. A former Reform Party member and now a Senator, Greene Raine is positioned to influence federal financial support of Olympic sports after the Games have been and gone.CHUCK STOODY
11. John Furlong -- The tough slogging all but done, VANOC's head fades now into the background, unless something goes terribly wrong.Lyle Stafford
12. Nadir Mohamed -- As CEO of Rogers, the lingering mystery is what becomes of Sportsnet, a network of sports radio stations and the faltering Toronto Blue Jays: does he prop them up, or take them down?Peter Power/The Globe and Mail
13. Marcel Aubut -- Takes over the Canadian Olympic Committee chair as all the money that comes with a home Games drifts elsewhere, potentially.JACQUES BOISSINOT
14. Mike Babcock/Steve Yzerman -- Yzerman assembled the Team Canada hockey roster, and Babcock is charged with guiding it to a gold medal as coach. At stake: four years of national sporting pride.Nathan Denette
15. Chris Bosh -- A pending free agent with the seemingly revitalized Toronto Raptors, does he boost basketball's appeal in this country by staying, or follow the path taken by Vince Carter and Tracy McGrady.Nathan Denette