There's no clear Canadian athlete of the year, but here are some good candidates

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This Monday, a bunch of Canadian sports media VIPs will gather to pick the winner of the Northern Star (formerly Lou Marsh) Award for Canada's athlete of the year. With no obvious choice on the board, it'll be an interesting vote.

Here's who I (a non-VIP) think should be the top candidates, plus some others who deserve recognition:

Summer McIntosh

It was another banner year for the swimming phenom. Before turning 17 in August, McIntosh became the first Canadian swimmer to win four world titles when she repeated as the gold medallist in two events at the world championships in Japan. Earlier in the year, she set a pair of world records at the Canadian trials. And last week, McIntosh capped off her terrific 2023 with two dominant wins at the respected U.S. Open Championships, including a victory over American rival Katie Ledecky.

McIntosh's athlete-of-the-year credentials are very strong. But she's poised to be Canada's biggest star at next year's Paris Olympics, and no one has won this award back-to-back since (gulp) Ben Johnson in 1986 and '87. So some voters may decide to hold off on Summer this time.

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Shai Gilgeous-Alexander

Last spring, the young guard completed the best regular season by a Canadian NBA player since Steve Nash's heyday. Gilgeous-Alexander finished fourth in scoring with 31.4 points per game and placed fifth in MVP balloting while helping the rebuilding Oklahoma City Thunder land a surprising play-in spot. This season, he's still averaging more than 30 points while his assist and