Movers and Shakers: Top 25 most influential people in Canadian Sport (15-6)

Welcome to Yahoo Canada Sports’ 2015 Movers and Shakers – the 25 people who, in the judgment of the Yahoo Canada Sports editorial team along with input from former executives and current insiders, wielded the most influence over Canadian sport this year.

Over the next three days we’ll count down our choices, starting with Nos. 25-16, continuing with six through 15 Wednesday and releasing the top five on Christmas Eve. We invite you to offer your thoughts on our Movers and Shakers by reaching out to us on Twitter (@YahooCASports), using the hashtag #MoversShakers, or in the comments below. Over the next seven days, we’ll also present our top 25 athletes of the year, the 'Unsung Heroes' of the past 12 months, and a look at the Sports People to Watch in 2016.

Earlier in the week we began with entries 25-16. We continue with our Movers and Shakers series with entries 15-6.

15. Brendan Shanahan

Since his playing career ended six years ago, Shanahan’s stayed in the game in ever-more pressurized positions, but always retaining a position of calm authority. None of those earlier roles with the league office compare with the Leafs’ presidency he took over in April 2014, though, and after a year of assessment he pounced with a makeover swift and deep (and deep-pocketed), highlighted by his surprising win in the Mike Babcock sweepstakes and then hiring Lou Lamoriello as the Leafs' new general manager.

14. Andre De Grasse (world bronze medalist in 100 metres and 4x100 relay)

In a sport buffeted this year by considerable turbulence and scandal at the governing body level, De Grasse at 21 years old is being groomed as the next big thing. Canada hasn’t had a top-ranked sprinter since Bruny Surin a decade and a half ago, but De Grasse’s third-place finish at summer’s IAAF world championship 100 metres, Pan Am Games gold in the 100 and 200, and another sweep of the two sprint races at the NCAA track championships sent waves of optimism through the country’s resurgent athletics program. It also led to De Grasse giving up his final year of college eligibility at USC to turn pro, signing a deal with Puma that, at a reported $11.25 million-plus, U.S. was hailed as the largest initial contract a track athlete has ever signed.

13. John Tory

The Toronto mayor, in his first year leading Canada's largest city, was a constant at this summer’s Pan Am Games and Parapan Am Games, even buying his own tickets. But it was after all the dust settled that he wielded the biggest influence, announcing that the city would not be following up with a 2024 Olympic Games bid. And for a change, nobody complained.

[ Related: Movers and Shakers – Top 25 most influential people in Canadian Sport (25-16) ]

12. Brooke Henderson

The teenager from Smiths Falls, Ont., has been tabbed for big things inside the golf community for some time as an elite program regular and 2013 national amateur championship, and in August she simply exploded. Her LPGA Tour victory in Portland, after qualifying for the event the previous Monday, caught everyone by surprise and put her in the biggest of headlines at just 17 years old. Fast tracked to a tour card off that result, she finished the year with nearly $800,000 in earnings and will take high hopes into a full LPGA schedule and a Summer Olympics berth for Rio de Janeiro as golf returns to the Games menu for the first time since 1904.

11. Michele O'Keefe

Named Canada Basketball CEO this year to replace Wayne Parrish, O’Keefe heads up a national body that had a notable smash this year via a women’s senior team which under head coach Lisa Thomaidis followed up their Pan Am Games triumph by clinching an Olympics berth at the FIBA Americas tournament in Edmonton, the most high-profile international basketball event Canada’s hosted in over 20 years. A little less successful was the men’s team, but given the game’s explosive growth, especially in the Greater Toronto Area that O’Keefe knows well, and with CB’s youth basketball arm buoyed by a deal this year with Tangerine, the curve remains pointed up.

10. Connor McDavid

The McDavid watch was among the country’s longest-running stories up until June’s NHL draft, with the young forward the most touted prospect since Sidney Crosby. That he was headed to Edmonton didn’t slow down the express, with a promotional deal with Rogers tied up shortly after the selection to follow on an earlier CCM-Reebok equipment renewal and a Canadian Tire deal later on – all told, the Next One is making more money off the ice on endorsements than on it with hockey, and a broken collarbone has at least for now curtailed his ascension, and the Oilers’.  

9. Michael Medline

The Canadian Tire CEO and the company’s senior marketing executive Duncan Fulton have over the past half-decade or so gone in big for sports, including their 2011 acquisition of SportChek and this year, a campaign matching their sporting goods retailer with Raptors’ Kyle Lowry (and even a day off for employees to watch the Blue Jays). Other 2015 additions included Wayne Gretzky and Connor McDavid to go with ongoing involvement with the Canadian Olympic and Paralympic Committees, MLSE and a number of national sports bodies, and on through its JumpStart sports charity.

[ Related: Movers and Shakers – Top 5 most influential people in Canadian Sport ]

8. Jacquie Ryan

As vice-president of sponsorships for Scotiabank, Ryan oversees a number of sports marketing and advertising initiatives, including community hockey programs and its title sponsorship of the annual Hockey Day in Canada that reinforce its proclaimed branding as “Canada’s hockey bank.” But the bank’s influence was more pointed in 2015 with partners CONCACAF, the soccer body whose last three presidents have been arrested as part of ongoing criminal investigations in the U.S. and Switzerland into FIFA dealings. Scotiabank threatened turning the taps off on a marketing deal that has them as title sponsor for a number of regional tournaments unless CONCACAF cleaned up its act -- it’s started to move in that direction, proclaiming its commitment to transparency and accountability and putting off the election of a new president until May.  

7. Geoff Molson

Eyebrows were raised when Molson and two of his brothers paid about $575 million six years ago to return Les Canadiens to under the family banner, along with the team’s Bell Centre home and a concert promotions company. Now, the 44-year-old CEO Molson runs Canada’s most successful NHL operation – according to Forbes’ annual valuations, the CH is worth $1.18 billion, dethroning perennial national leaders MLSE thanks to a country-best 18 per cent rise over last year. A $100 makeover of the arena is planned, and a condo development, though these Habs – despite their current struggles – have something quite unique right now beyond all those indicators of robust health: the country’s best shot at a Stanley Cup.

6. Larry Tanenbaum

The MLSE chairman owns a quarter-stake in Canadian sports’ biggest octopus, but beyond approving a record $50 million contract to bring in hockey coach Mike Babcock, the most noteworthy sports move was football-related, as Tanenbaum and 37.5 per cent MLSE partner Bell Media partnered in a deal to take the CFL Argos off David Braley’s hands and attempt to restore them to relevance at Toronto FC’s BMO Field stadium. For a guy who’s nursed a near 40-year dream of bringing the National Football League to Toronto, it was a curious turn. And oh yes, that Pan Am Games athletes village? Tanenbaum’s investment company helped build it.

More on Movers and Shakers

Tuesday: Nos. 25-16

Wednesday: Nos. 15-6

Thursday: The Top 5 Movers and Shakers of 2015

Thursday: 2015's Top Athletes in Canadian Sport

Monday (Dec. 28): The Unsung Heroes of 2015

Tuesday (Dec. 29): Who to Watch in 2016