2025-26 becoming a painful chapter for Canadian, and Blue Jays, sports fans

It has been a brutal stretch for Canadian sports fans. It really has. The last year has felt like one long buildup to a celebration that never actually happens. For a country that ties so much of its identity to its teams, this run of almosts has been exhausting. From hockey to baseball, the pattern is starting to feel a little too familiar.

A Year of Heartbreak

It started last spring with the Toronto Maple Leafs. A regular season that gave people hope. A roster that looked deep enough. And then, once again, a Game 7 loss to the Florida Panthers. At this point, it is not even shocking. It is just deflating.

Then the Edmonton Oilers made their push. They fought all the way to the Stanley Cup Final, and for a minute it felt like the entire country was behind them. It did not matter if you cheered for them in October. In June, they were Canada’s team. And still, the Panthers ended it for the second year in a row. Close, but not close enough.

International play was supposed to be the reset. That is usually where Canada reminds everyone what it does best. Instead, there was a quarterfinal loss to Denmark at the World Championship, a bronze medal at the World Juniors, and then the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan, Italy. Both the men’s and women’s teams reached the gold medal game. Both lost to the United States in overtime. Watching that celebration from the other side twice in one tournament was a tough pill to swallow.

For Toronto Blue Jays fans, the World Series loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers might be the one that lingers the longest. Game 7, extra innings, two outs away at Rogers Centre. You could almost see it. In fact, if it were not for video replay, we thought we did see it. And then just like that, it was gone. It was an incredible run, no question. But the ending felt like a summary of the year. So close, yet so far away.

Canada Looking for Redemption

As we move from heartbreak to heartbreak, we look ahead to some of the tournaments coming up. The World Baseball Classic is right around the corner. That is another chance. Then there is the FIFA World Cup, which is not far behind, and there is no bigger stage to flip a narrative than that one.

Maybe it happens there, or maybe it takes something smaller like the 2026 World Hockey Championship in the summer. Regardless, Canada needs a win, badly. Especially with the recent losses to American teams, whether in league play or internationally, it hits hard. The political state of the world is not great overall, and tensions between Canada and the United States have not helped. That only makes the losses sting even more.

It has been a rough year. There is no point pretending otherwise. At times, it looked like Canada was going to come out on top on many different occasions. Unfortunately, it was not meant to be. Most Canadians would say none hurt more than the Blue Jays’ loss because of how close they were.

Isaiah Kiner-Falefa was inches away from being called safe at home plate. If he had taken a stronger lead off third base, Canada would have erupted and been riding that high ever since. Sadly, it did not go that way, and the Dodgers came out on top, breaking the hearts of millions from coast to coast to coast. That said, if there is one thing Canadian sports fans are good at, it is convincing themselves the next one will be different. And sometimes that is all they have.