sa¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½

It was another eventful year in rinks, stadiums, gyms and pools around the world for local athletes. Here are the top-10 Island-related sports stories of 2015:

1. BENN THERE, DONE THAT: Jamie Benn became the first player from the Island to win the Art Ross Trophy as NHL scoring champion. He’s on quite a run — his gold medal with sa¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½ at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics topped last year’s list.

2. NASHTY RETIREMENT: After two NBA MVP awards, eight NBA all-star game appearances and rising to No. 3 on the all-time pro basketball list with 10,335 assists, one of the great careers in Island sport came to an end when Steve Nash announced his retirement on March 21.

3 END/BEGINNING OF ERAS: After all the national championships won and Olympians produced over 40 years, fans counted down the final moments last spring of the final UVic Vikes basketball playoff game to bid McKinnon Gym a heart-felt farewell. In October, the new UVic CARSA gym opened to rave reviews and ushered in a new era for hardwood sport on the Island.

4. ICE ROYALTY: It was a big year for the Royals on the international stage. No, we don’t mean Kate, William and George, but Dave Lowry and Joe Hicketts. The WHL pair from Victoria won gold, Lowry as assistant coach and Hicketts as a blue-liner, at the 2015 world junior championship. Now, they end the year heading sa¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½â€™s charge into the 2016 world juniors.

5. SHAM SHOWCASE: After two seasons of biting around the edges in the final, the Victoria Shamrocks finally gobbled the main course, winning the 2015 Mann Cup national Senior A lacrosse championship in front of packed and passionate audiences at The Q Centre.

6. IT’S A WONDERFUL HOCKEYVILLE: It was like a storyline lifted right out of a Frank Capra movie as the good folks of North Saanich got the puck moving, and an entire nation to rally behind them, in winning the balloting to bring Hockeyville 2015 to the Island — complete with the Canucks, Sharks and Don and Ron in a special Coach’s Corner.

7. PAN-AMANIA: Local sports fans got a preview of what to expect at the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics when Island athletes — from gold-medallists such as swimmer Ryan Cochrane, the Langford-based men’s and women’s rugby sevens teams and the Elk Lake-based rowers — accounted for 20 medals, including 13 golds, at the 2015 Pan Am Games in Toronto.

8. STRAITH AHEAD: sa¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½ got off to an encouraging start this year in men’s soccer World Cup qualifying for Russia 2018, and an Islander played a key role. Defender Adam Straith of Victoria was on the pitch for more minutes than any other player as sa¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½ is currently 5-0-1 in its bid to finally eclipse the stigma of not having been to the World Cup since the unlikely qualifying heroics of Victorian George Pakos in 1986.

9. SWIM INHERITANCE: Much of sa¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½â€™s recent success in the pool was attributable to the coaching brilliance of Victoria’s Randy Bennett and what he created at Saanich Commonwealth Place. His death at 51 from cancer in April was a huge loss, but his legacy will be felt for years.

10. RUGBY FEVER: Langford, home to the national teams, was again the Canadian epicentre for the sport. A 2015 of highs and lows was marked by the women’s sevens team finishing No. 2 in the world and qualifying for the 2016 Rio Olympics while the men’s XVs showcased some moxie despite going 0-4 in the World Cup.

HONOURABLE MENTIONS: Oh, those summer nights, as the Victoria HarbourCats led the West Coast League in attendance for the second consecutive season in 2015 with a per-game average of 1,910. . . . If it’s an oblong ball, the Island dominated again this year in high school sports with Mount Douglas winning its fourth provincial football title in five years and Shawnigan Lake School its sixth sa¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½ rugby championship in seven years. . . . The top Island sports brightener of the year was when the Lower Island Soccer Association players were selected to walk onto the field with the U.S. and Japan players at the start of the 2015 FIFA women’s World Cup final at sa¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½ Place.