Canadian Crossing

Marc Trestman fired after 2 seasons with the Chicago Bears

The Chicago Bears tried an unusual experiment in hiring Marc Trestman. That experiment didn't last very long.

Trestman was fired this morning after 2 seasons as Chicago Bears head coach. The Bears went 8-8 in his first season in 2013, but the team lost its last 2 games. This season, the team finished 5-11 for their worst record since 2004.

• Chicago Tribune editorial sings praises of Canada

• Marc Trestman leaves Montreal Alouettes for the NFL Chicago Bears

The play of Jay Cutler did factor into the decision, but Bears fans would circle December 1, 2013 as the beginning of the end. In overtime against the Minnesota Vikings, Trestman called for a 47-yard field-goal attempt on second-and-7. The field goal was missed and the Bears lost 23-20. The "smart" coach had been out-smarted.

The Bears started 3-0 in 2013, but with that loss to the Vikings and the last 2 losses, including the final game against the Green Bay Packers, didn't endear Trestman to Bears fans.

2014 has been about too many defeats, including some humiliating ones. The Chicago Bears gave up more than 50 points to the Green Bay Packers, the team's biggest rival, and the New England Patriots. The 2014 Bears joined the 1923 Rochester Jeffersons as the only teams to give up 50 or more in back-to-back games.

Jay Cutler, who can take some of the blame for the Bears woes, signed a 7-year, $126.7 million contract that included $54 million guaranteed early in 2014. Easier to fire the coach than the quarterback. Then again, the GM who gave Cutler that deal also got fired on Monday.

The view of Trestman in Chicago isn't as much about the record as the perception of Trestman. The bold experiment was picking a "nerdy" offensive-minded coach in a city where Mike Ditka is king. Bears fans love the idea of a 12-7 win where defense rules.

We compared Trestman to Marv Levy at the time of Trestman's hiring. Levy didn't make the playoffs in his 5 seasons in Kansas City. However, Levy's teams improved from 4-12 in his initial season to 7-9 in the sophomore year. The team finished 8-8 and 9-7 before a 3-6 record in the strike-shortened 1982 season that led to his dismissal.

Trestman didn't do well in Chicago, but that had a lot more to do with the Bears than his CFL experience. He wasn't well-suited for this franchise, and the expectations were too high given the talent.

I would point out to Bears fans that Trestman had the best ever quarterback (in terms of yards) in Anthony Calvillo. Makes a big difference.

Return to CFL?

Would the Montréal Alouettes be interested in bringing back Marc Trestman? Would another CFL team be interested?

The BC Lions just hired Jeff Tedford to replace Mike Benevides. We know Anthony Calvillo will be on the Alouettes coaching staff.

Tom Higgins had a horrible start and numerous issues on offense even when the Als played better. The team lost the final regular-season game to finish second. That lack of home field did play a role in the loss to Hamilton in the East final.

Montréal has Higgins, Calvillo, Jeff Garcia, Ryan Dinwiddie, and Turk Schonert into the mix. Trestman's name could bring some stability.

Trestman could also find a home in Toronto under his old offensive coordinator, Scott Milanovich.

NHL the week in preview December 26, 2014

Happy Boxing Day to all on both sides of the border. Maybe those in the States have the day off (like your humble narrator).

The NHL Network will have a lot of World Juniors games from Toronto and Montréal courtesy of TSN. So this is a good week to catch up on non-hockey viewing.

For Canadians and those on the U.S. side that get a CBC feed, you'll be treated to the Ottawa Senators as they host Detroit in the early slot on Saturday night. Then again, Toronto and Montréal have Saturday night off. The Battle of Alberta in Calgary is the late Saturday game on CBC.

City TV will show the Winnipeg Jets at their closest geographic rival in St. Paul in the early slot on Saturday. The Hometown Hockey game will feature Vancouver in Anaheim Sunday night on City TV.

New Year's Eve will be rocking with a doubleheader. Rogers Sportsnet will have the Maple Leafs in Boston and Sportsnet One has the Battle of Alberta in Calgary 4 days from the last meeting in the same city.

The NHL Network goes hardcore with the World Juniors, so the rebroadcasts are affected as well. My idea of carrying more Canadian games on CNBC would prove fruitful this time of year.

We'll also miss our first Hometown Hockey pregame on Sunday. Some of the highlights from Peterborough, Ontario should be available on HometownHockey.com.

The NHL starts up Saturday after the holiday break.

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CBC

Saturday
Detroit @ Ottawa, 7p
Edmonton @ Calgary, 10p

City

Saturday
Winnipeg @ Minnesota, 7p
Sunday
Vancouver @ Anaheim, 8p

Rogers Sportsnet

Wednesday
Toronto @ Boston, 7p

Rogers Sportsnet One

Wednesday
Edmonton @ Calgary, 9:30p

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As I predicted, Don Cherry joined Ron MacLean in Kingston, Ontario for last Sunday's Hometown Hockey telecast. The show ran for an hour, a nice treat for all.

The proximity made the transition from Toronto a lot nicer close to the holiday season.

I'm honestly a fan of Sarah Harmer (didn't know she was Canadian) and was fun to hear her sing a song about hockey.

City Toronto takes a news break during the 1-hour telecast, so U.S. viewers get extra footage not available to the City Toronto audience. This also impacts Canadian viewers without a regular City signal who likely get the City Toronto signal as the de facto source.

Of course, next week, U.S. viewers won't get any Hometown Hockey programming thanks to World Juniors coverage.

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The NHL Network blew off the Vancouver game on Monday night. Adding insult was the fact that the Canucks dominated the contest 7-1. Would have made for a sweet holiday present that was promised to us months ago.

 

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Calgary put the puck in the net, just the wrong net. The Flames were heading for an early power play and pulled their goaltender. The pass went off the boards and sailed down into the Calgary net.

The Flames and Vancouver Canucks have struggled of late heading into Saturday's game. Vancouver took advantage of the break of getting a very easy goal, winning the game 3-2 in OT. Of course, Calgary would have won the game in regulation without that goal. At least both teams got at least 1 point from the contest.

People ask me if I root for a Canadian team when 2 Canadian teams play each other, my pat answer is "let's have a 3-point game and no major injuries."

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Holiday time brought Chris Cuthbert down to the United States to work for NBCSN. Cuthbert teamed up with former NBC partner Peter McNab in Denver for the St. Louis Blues game Tuesday night. McNab is the TV colour analyst for the Avalanche; if Cuthbert had worked with the St. Louis colour guy, that would have been a TSN reunion with Darren Pang.

Cuthbert will also work for NBCSN in a rare Saturday night game in Pittsburgh. Gord Miller and Ray Ferraro will be doing World Juniors games for TSN, and Saturday night belongs to Rogers.

Canada has Christmas too and Boxing Day, so hopefully, Cuthbert will also get non-holiday assignments.

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The pattern of taking the home feed worked out well for Anaheim games in Montréal (Friday afternoon) and Ottawa (Saturday afternoon). The TSN5 feed was nice since we haven't heard Chris Cuthbert call a hockey game in ages. The Habs game aired on City Montréal, its last Canadiens telecast of the season.

We don't know which feed was used for the Toronto @ Chicago rebroadcast Monday afternoon.

The dreaded Capitals feed was used for the Ottawa rebroadcast Tuesday afternoon. The Rogers Sportsnet Pacific feed was used for the 'Yotes-Canucks contest.

2015 World Juniors will be held in Toronto and Montreal

2015 World Juniors Schedule for Canada
Date	Opponent	Time	Home/Away
December 26	Slovakia	8 pm	Away
December 27	Germany	8 pm	Home
December 29	Finland	8 pm	Home
December 31	United States	4 pm	Away
Times are Eastern.

The 2015 World Juniors has an extra Canadian connection since the entire tournament is in Canada.

Air Canada Centre in Toronto and the Bell Centre in Montréal will host the 2015 World Juniors tournament. So unlike in past years, the starting times will be relatively normal to North American audiences. Canada has previously hosted the WJHC 10 times. This will be Toronto's debut as host, and Montréal's second stint, previously hosting the World Juniors in 1978.

Canada and the United States are in Group A playing their games at the Bell Centre. Group B — Russia, the Czech Republic, Switzerland and Denmark — will be at the Air Canada Centre.

Gord Miller and Ray Ferraro will call the tournament for TSN with a simulcast on the NHL Network in the United States. Count on the usual procedure where the channel picks up the TSN feed except for games involving the United States. NHL Network will also feature rebroadcasts of the games; check your listings.

The quarterfinals will be held on January 2 in Montréal and Toronto. The semifinals will be January 4 and the gold and bronze medal games will be January 5, all in Toronto.

Seth Rogen and 'The Interview': we all lose out in North Korea threat

 

"The Interview" looked to be a silly take on North Korea and its leader Kim Jong-un from Canadians Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg along with James Franco.

The hack against Sony did enough damage, but the threat against movie theatres was enough for Sony to cancel the Christmas Day release of the film.

"Team America: World Police" — released in 2004 — also dealt with the North Korean leader at the time, Kim Jong-il. Though, as difficult as this might seem, Kim Jong-un is more sensitive than his father. After all, Kim Jong-un had one of his uncles killed for insubordination.

The hack against Sony also revealed the script for the next Rogen film "Sausage Party."

Despite a plot that revolves around North Korea, most of "The Interview" was shot in Burnaby, British Columbia, in the area where Rogen and Goldberg grew up.

We don't know what will happen to the film, whether "The Interview" gets a delayed theatre run, goes on-demand, or goes straight to video. As a lover of film, free speech, and a fan of Rogen and Goldberg, this terrorism is an outrage to artists and society. Hopefully, "The Interview" gets a chance to be judged on its own merits instead of by people who haven't seen the film and are too afraid of that film.

video credit: "The Interview"

NHL the week in preview December 19, 2014

The holiday week is light on overall games, but the NHL Network will have a couple stocking stuffers before play stops after Tuesday's games.

The U.S. channel will carry the intense Ottawa-Montréal rivalry via the City TV feed.

CBC will have 3 other Canadian teams Saturday night with Philadelphia at the Air Canada Centre in the early game and 2 of the best teams in the West as Calgary comes to Vancouver.

The NHL Network will also have its final City TV Hometown Hockey game of the season with the Maple Leafs in Chicago. Once again, I will suffer a blackout. Speaking of blackout, Canadians who normally get WGN might be blacked out of the WGN telecast Sunday night.

The NHL Network dumped the scheduled Vancouver Canucks game Monday night against Gary Bettman's current favorite desert team. Vancouver is doing well this season — all the more reason to show the Canucks, but the NHL Network would rather show 3 more hours of "NHL Tonight."

The NHL Network will show older games in rebroadcasts from 1 pm Wednesday through 3 pm Friday when the channel begins showing World Juniors games.

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NHL Network

Saturday
Ottawa @ Montréal, 7p
Sunday
Toronto @ Chicago, 7p

Tape delayed
Friday Anaheim @ Montréal, 4p (1-hour)
Saturday Anaheim @ Ottawa, 2p (1-hour)
Monday Toronto @ Chicago, 4p (1-hour)
Tuesday Ottawa @ Washington, 2p (1-hour)
Arizona @ Vancouver, 3p (1-hour)

CBC

Saturday
Philadelphia @ Toronto, 7p
Calgary @ Vancouver, 10p

City

Saturday
Ottawa @ Montréal, 7p
Sunday
Toronto @ Chicago, 7p

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Great idea: talk to 3 NHL owners. Rogers promoted the segment well. The problem is the delivery.

We have 3 owners (Boston, Toronto, and Calgary) who are not household names and faces. Rogers made no attempt to identify the owners. We literally had answers but no perspective about those answers. Eventually, you could figure out which team matched the face, but if you were watching it live, you lost value to the interview.

In the teaser to promote more of the interview during the late game, Rogers identified Toronto owner Larry Tanenbaum. Too late.

In trademark fashion, George Stroumboulopoulos thanks his guests for doing the interview. While doing this interview is unusual for the owners, they know that a) the NHL and Gary Bettman want more of these interviews, and b) Stroumboulopoulos won't ask them tough questions.

Calgary owner Murray Edwards disappears in the middle of the interview. Strombo needed to bring his voice back into the conversation.

Stroumboulopoulos is the perfect host for Gary Bettman because he treats interviews with hockey people like the celebrity interviews that made Strombo famous. With celebrities, you get insight with that method. In hockey interviews, you don't learn much.

The owners were nudged to do the interview but they also knew no harm would happen. An interview that sounds like a good idea but doesn't amount to much: the Rogers way heavily endorsed by Bettman.

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A few Strombo moments this week …

• Stroumboulopoulos told us 3 times in the first few minutes what channels the early games were located. Organize your initial thoughts. A little scripting won't hurt.
• He promoted the late HNIC game (NY Rangers in Vancouver) as being in Punjabi on Omni. That was the first mention I can recall about the Punjabi service since maybe the beginning of the season (if then). Stroumboulopoulos should mention that more often.
• Strombo made a crack about the World Juniors not being televised. Even though Rogers isn't carrying the tournament, the tournament is on TSN. The CBC never had an issue in mentioning the World Juniors even though the tournament is on another channel. Stroumboulopoulos came across as tacky/Rogers employee (same thing). Even though Rogers controls virtually everything, it still isn't happy. How sad. Strombo should rise above that pettiness.

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We don't blame Rogers for sending Elliotte Friedman to talk with the prospective Las Vegas owner (Black Knights?). We are greatly disturbed about the prospect of another lame desert NHL team.

The argument for Western cities such as Seattle and Las Vegas is that the East is already full. Well, all but one of the truly struggling NHL teams are located in the East (2 if you count Dallas). Any of the struggling Eastern teams, especially Florida, could go to Quebec. You wouldn't even have to change the divisions.

Moving Florida to Quebec and Phoenix to Seattle would take care of 2 good markets without expansion. Unfortunately, Gary Bettman's greed will likely be stronger than the push for real hockey markets.  

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Poor Sophia Jurksztowicz probably had better plans than coming in on a Saturday night to do a live commercial during 2nd intermission for GameCentre Live. Hopefully, she stayed later for Hockey Central so her night wasn't a complete waste. Rogers gave us a break by not drowning us in reminders, though Strombo was doing a fine job of letting us know.

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CBC is in holiday mode so the on-air promos reflected the season. Each holiday special got 2 promos within a period. "Home Alone" (1st period); "CCMA Holiday Special" (2nd period); "Michael Buble's Christmas in New York" (3rd period).

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2 straight weeks talking about a fired Canadian team head coach. The Edmonton Oilers will eventually be led by Oklahoma City Coach Todd Nelson following a transition with former coach and current GM Craig MacTavish after the team fired yet another head coach in Dallas Eakins.

Eakins joined the list of recent former Oilers head coaches, along with Ralph Krueger (2013), Tom Renney (2010-12), and the late Pat Quinn (2009-10).

Yes, the Oilers are playing really poorly this season but the players have played under so many head coaches, no wonder they don't know which way to go. These players need help on defense and consistency on the bench. Unless Nelson stays for awhile, the players will continue to search for that elusive consistency.  

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Sudbury and St. Catherines, Ontario were the homes for Hometown Hockey the last 2 weeks. The Hometown Hockey pregame is the best part of Rogers coverage by far.

Feel like I'm learning a lot about these cities, such as St. Catherines being a huge Buffalo Sabres town.

This week, Hometown Hockey will be in Kingston, Ontario. Maybe Don Cherry will make an appearance.

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To spotlight how long it has been since the Detroit Red Wings had missed the playoffs, Glenn Healy mentioned a #1 song from that time: "Black Magic" by Toronto singer Alannah Myles. The song is actually "Black Velvet" named after the whisky.

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Both feeds on Monday that I had access to were Canadian feeds: New York Rangers at Edmonton as well as Los Angeles at Toronto. The Calgary at Chicago feed wasn't available in my area.

The NHL Network went with the Devils feed against Ottawa in the Thursday afternoon rebroadcast. The Sportsnet feed got the nod for the Dallas Stars in Vancouver.

Canada plays host to U.S.-Cuba talks

"Learning about Cuba, having some food." -- Jeff Spicoli

The United States and Cuba wanted to get together and talk about normalizing relations. But the leaders of the countries were concerned about meeting in each other's country. So they needed a secret tree clubhouse where they could comfortably meet without people finding out.

So they picked Canada.

Canada hosted about seven secret meetings from June 2013 and November 2014 in Ottawa (6) and Toronto (1).

"Canada was pleased to host the senior officials from the United States and Cuba, which permitted them the discretion required to carry out these important talks," Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper said in a statement.

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper played down Canada’s contribution, pointing out in an interview that Canada did not mediate or direct the talks. Given the buildup to Canada's federal election in 2015, rare these days to hear the prime minister be so humble.

We learned about the secret meetings when U.S. President Barack Obama announced that his country would normalize relations with Cuba.

"I think it's very clear that the Liberal Party and Canadians in general have had very positive friendships with both the United States and with Cuba, and to see the welcome steps of building ties between the two countries appear today is a very good piece of news," Liberal Party leader Justin Trudeau said in Vancouver. "I look forward to Canada playing a positive role in bringing together those two countries."

“Today is a great day for those who believe in engagement as the most effective tool of diplomacy. We should see more of this constructive approach in Canadian foreign policy,” NDP foreign affairs critic Paul Dewar said.

Canada was one of only 2 countries from the hemisphere not to break diplomatic relations with Cuba. The trade and travel advantage that Canada had in the hemisphere is about to disappear.

Travel restrictions will be lifted to travel to Cuba from the United States.

Licensed American travelers to Cuba can bring back up to $400 in Cuban goods, including tobacco and alcohol under $100. As for importing Cuban cigars, we still need to learn more information. Short term, Canada will be a great source for Cuban cigars. Why fly to Havana when you pick up some cigars in Toronto.

Again, we'll have more when those rules are more clear about Cuban cigars. The economic embargo is under the lid of Congress. Given that the GOP controls both houses, the embargo will likely stay until at least 2017.

Canada has had a traditional role of peacemaker, a country that could be trusted to solve world problems in a low-key manner. This is a great example of where Canada has been, which is why you saw the NDP and Liberals as pleased if not more than Stephen Harper.

This act of diplomacy should be a talking point in next year's debates leading up to the 2015 federal election. This should be an example of where Canada should be on the world stage.

Glad to see Canada play a role in a significant diplomatic mission in the Western Hemisphere. The impact on Canada, United States, and Cuba will be a delicate path that we will see unwind in the months to come.

Saying au revoir to the Colbert Report

Stephen Colbert and the "Colbert Report" love and appreciate Canada. Like many other targets on the program, you can't always tell that is true.

Colbert is ending the Colbert Report tonight to take over for David Letterman on CBS sometime in 2015.

• Colbert Report coverage on CanadianCrossing.com

• The Daily Show with Jon Stewart coverage on CanadianCrossing.com

In the 9 years on the air, the Colbert Report had lots of fun at Canada's expense. Colbert put Canada on notice, threatened to take the Hockey Night in Canada theme, had a rivalry over Olympic speedskating and then broadcast from Vancouver during the 2010 Olympics. Colbert told his audience that Santa Claus didn't exist in Canada.

The show brought Rush back to U.S. TV for the first time in over 3 decades. Potshots at Rob Ford and Windsor came a little too easy.

Colbert had some really nice praise for Kevin Vickers in the tragic Ottawa shooting. Years ago, Colbert even showed a Canadian political ad to his audience.

Here are some other highlights we covered about Canada on the Colbert Report.

Canadian identity

• Ellen Page comes out as 'openly Canadian' on Colbert Report

• Richard Ford talks Canadian sensibility on 'Colbert Report'

• James Cameron admits he's Canadian on 'Colbert Report'

• Colbert Report spotlights Canadians Jennifer Granholm and David Frum

• 'The Beaver' gets a name change

Canadian economy

• Stephen Colbert having 'trouble' handling that Canadians are richer than Americans

• 'Colbert Report' riffs on Canadian currency

Stephen Colbert in Vancouver 

• Colbert Report collection of 2010 Vancouver Olympics coverage

Stephen's eagle in Canada

• Stephen Jr. back in the States

• Stephen Jr. hanging out in Vancouver

• Stephen Jr. is still in Canada

• Stephen's eagle finds home in Canada

The "Colbert Report" has aired on the Comedy Channel throughout its existence. The program also aired on CTV until September 2013. 

We'll still have The Daily Show with Jon Stewart to make fun of Canada. Perhaps the new "Nightly Show" will take some shots. But Stephen Colbert was a master and his take on the Great White North will be sorely missed.

Feel free to share your funniest Canadian-related "Colbert Report" moment in the comments section below.

photos credit: Colbert Report

NHL the week in preview December 12, 2014

The NHL Network has a HNIC game on Saturday and a City TV Hometown Hockey game on Sunday. The U.S. version of the channel will show the CBC simulcast of Detroit at the Air Canada Centre on Saturday and the Calgary trip to the United Center in Chicago on Sunday.

Being blacked out really stinks since you only get 30 minutes of the Hometown Hockey pregame. Sniff.

Alain Vignault is back in British Columbia as the New York Rangers are in Vancouver for the CBC Saturday nightcap.

City TV's Saturday night game will have the Ducks in Winnipeg.

Rogers Sportsnet has a pure Wednesday night doubleheader with the Ottawa Senators in New Jersey followed by the Vancouver Canucks hosting Dallas.

The Edmonton Oilers will be in San Jose for the late game on Thursday on Sportsnet 360.

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NHL Network

Saturday
Detroit @ Toronto, 7p
Sunday
Calgary @ Chicago, 8p

Tape delayed
Monday NY Rangers @ Edmonton, 3p (1-hour)
Calgary @ Chicago, 4p (1-hour)
Los Angeles @ Toronto, 5p (1-hour)
Thursday Ottawa @ New Jersey, 3p (1-hour)
Dallas @ Vancouver, 4p (1-hour)

CBC

Saturday
Detroit @ Toronto, 7p
NY Rangers @ Vancouver, 10p

City

Saturday
Anaheim @ Winnipeg, 7p
Sunday
Calgary @ Chicago, 8p

Rogers Sportsnet

Wednesday
Ottawa @ New Jersey, 7p
Dallas @ Vancouver, 10p

Rogers Sportsnet 360

Thursday
Edmonton @ San Jose, 10:30

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The final Maple Leafs telecast on NBCSN this season was as listless as the Toronto offense in the beginning. The Leafs went over 11 minutes in the 1st period, and managed to go the first 7 minutes of the 2nd period without a shot. The team had 3 shots in the 2nd period, including a 5-on-3 chance.

We aren't seeing nearly as many mistakes but the coverage isn't terribly exciting.

NBCSN usually interviews the home coach in the 1st period, visiting coach in the 2nd period. Pierre McGuire interviewed Mike Babcock, but not Randy Carlyle. We don't know how many times NBCSN messes that up, but it happens quite often involving Canadian teams, and the Canadian team is missing in 100% of the samples we see.

Doc Emrick made a joke about the Leafs' Jake Gardiner being the namesake of Toronto's Gardner Expressway. Ed Olczyk thought that was funny. A decent joke, but sadly the only Toronto reference in the whole game.

Emrick did point out that the chants from crowd were equal, but didn't go into the geography.

Mike Milbury is entertaining when he is a) angry and b) correct. Milbury deservedly slammed the Toronto power play, especially on that 5-on-3 opportunity. The intermissions aren't that great but they have been better about presenting issues from both teams.

NBCSN has 2 more Canadian team telecasts this season, both involving the Habs. Neither game is on a Wednesday. The Canadiens will be at Madison Square Garden on Thursday, January 29 and in Boston on Sunday, December 8 in Boston.

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I like Paul MacLean. The Ottawa Senators players like him. Ownership and management? Not so much.

The criticism of MacLean was a system that allowed for too many shots against Ottawa. Coaches don't usually get fired for such things.

MacLean had to juggle the league's lowest payroll. 3 captains in 3 years have not helped. How good would the Senators be if they still had Ben Bishop in goal?

The Sens hope assistant coach Dave Cameron has better luck behind the bench.

The Ottawa Senators have talent, but the team is playing with one hand tied behind its back in terms of salary and subsequent personnel moves. Maybe the team will be better without Paul MacLean, but the Sens won't be that much improved to make a difference.

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The NHL Network gave us a "free" tire ad in the middle of the Saturday pregame. The bumper played for "Pro's Views" that is followed by the actual segment. The board operator picked that time to run the ad. The ads allow for programming to air, but let the commercials run when scheduled and not sooner.

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We got U.S. feeds from the previous Thursday for the Wild-Habs game and Friday's rebroadcast of the Canucks in Pittsburgh. We could assume the Canadiens game in Chicago was also a U.S. feed for the Saturday rebroadcast, but we were blacked out.

The City TV feed was used for the Monday rebroadcast of the Hometown Hockey game with Vancouver in Ottawa, though the first 3 minutes of the game were missing.

Rogers Sportsnet East feed was used for the all-Canadian matchup of the Canucks in Montréal. The feed was delayed for the Jean Béliveau funeral coverage. Funny how Ron MacLean and not Strombo was anchoring the funeral coverage.

The NBCSN feed was used for the Leafs-Wings rebroadcast. To finish the theme, the Anaheim feed was used for the Oilers rebroadcast on Thursday. So every single rebroadcast (that I could monitor) that involved a U.S. team took the non-Canadian feed.

Bills Toronto series is done

Buffalo Bills in Toronto (regular season)

Date	Winner	Loser	Attendance
December 7, 2008	Miami 16	Buffalo 3	52,134
December 3, 2009	NY Jets 19	Buffalo 13	51,567
November 7, 2010	Chicago 22	Buffalo 19	50,746
October 30, 2011	Buffalo 23	Washington 0	51,579
December 16, 2012	Seattle 50	Buffalo 17	40,770
December 1, 2013	Atlanta 34	Buffalo 31 (OT)	38,969

 

The end of the Bills Toronto series wasn't a surprise. The fact that the announcement was made around the time the game has been played lately is worth no more than an ironic look.

The Bills Toronto series had been suspended for 2014 after Rogers and the Buffalo Bills signed a second 5-year deal in January 2013.

The last straw was that Toronto was an afterthought when the Buffalo Bills were forced out of the city after a gigantic snowstorm last month. The Bills ended up at Detroit's Ford Field.

The argument at the time was that a Buffalo Bills game out of the hands of Rogers where the prices would not be obnoxious would show people that Toronto would support a NFL team under reasonable circumstances.

4 of the 6 games were in December, a time when casual fans aren't interested in a losing team. A game in November would have been a better opportunity for those NFL fans in Toronto.

• Bills Toronto series suspended for 2014

• Buffalo Bills back in Toronto for 5 more years

• CanadianCrossing.com NFL coverage

Having a preseason game in Toronto would be a way to give thanks to a considerable portion of the fan base without sacrificing a regular season game. There are several problems with that plan. Passports would be an issue for players of both teams who might not even make the squad. August is already a busy time for Rogers Centre with the Blue Jays and squeezing in some Argonauts games.

The Argonauts should have a home at BMO Field but that stadium wouldn't be able to help the Bills in future possibilities. Rogers Centre was the smallest NFL home even when the crowds were over 50,000. While many in Toronto have talked about a NFL team, nothing in reality points to that prospect.

Rogers Centre wants the Argonauts out as soon as possible to convert the playing surface to grass. The Bills could have fit into the new Rogers Centre since fewer dates would overlap between the seasons. But an ineffective Bills team and Rogers greed were a fatal combination to end the Bills Toronto series.

The city would be well-suited to host various NFL teams in the way London, England does. So would Montréal (depending on the status of Olympic Stadium) or Vancouver. Canada has a lot of NFL fans; hopefully, the country will get a better way to showcase the NFL fan base.

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In other Canadian football news, the Grey Cup drew 189,000 viewers on ESPN2. That number feels really low compared to some regular season numbers. Then again, the late Sunday slot has been a problem. 

Hopefully, ESPN will find a way for all the playoff games to be on TV, getting U.S. viewers in a rhythm for the Grey Cup.

Strange Empire is a prime example of where CBC needs to go

 

"Strange Empire" really stood out on the CBC fall TV schedule. Dark, unusual, though still a Western — we really wanted to see if this show delivered.

We were able to get the first 2 episodes of the show, so we got to see for ourselves.

CBC viewers are used to dramas such as "Republic of Doyle" or "Heartland" or "Arctic Air" — nice dramas that don't require a lot of thought to follow the action. "Strange Empire" is a program where you need to pay attention — and you want to pay attention.

• Analyzing the 2014 CBC fall schedule upfront

Cara Gee, whom I enjoyed in "Empire of Dirt," is the leader on the screen and she is well-suited for the part. Gee could give a few lessons on being a true Mama Grizzly to Sarah Palin. Melissa Farman plays one of the more complex television characters as a woman previously institutionalized and who now works as a doctor. Tattiawna Jones rounds out the group as the wife of the bad guy in our story.

Creator Laurie Finstad Knizhnik has given us a world of intriguing, complex characters set in a time where we traditionally see things in black and white terms. And the most interesting of those complex characters are women.

Being a dark Western means murder is coming. You will lose track of how many died in the pilot episode. The idea of the show is that the 3 women are survivors, and you get to see who died to make that happen.

The drama is engaging; you don't feel like you have to like the show because it's Canadian.

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The show draws about 300,000 viewers, based on the last numbers I've seen. Those numbers are comparable to "The Honourable Woman" and about 40% of what "Heartland" draws. "Strange Empire" airs Monday nights at 9 pm after the popular "Murdoch Mysteries" but may not be the most compatible mix of shows.

"Strange Empire" hasn't finished its run quite yet. New episodes return January 12 and run until February 2.

"Republic of Doyle" is leaving the airwaves after this season. Even with new dramas coming, there should still be room for "Strange Empire" to continue to find a home at the CBC.

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Many Canadian films take chances and get rewards, though most of us are French-Canadian films. Canada and other countries have a market for a well-done Canadian TV drama such as "Strange Empire."

As much as we concentrate on Canadian film here at CanadianCrossing.com, we also want to spend some time on Canadian TV shows. Though our access to Canadian TV shows is more limited than film.

We give odds on the likelihood of Canadian film crossing the border. "Strange Empire" is a show that easily would cross over, maybe even beyond the United States.

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As for the other 3 new shows on the CBC fall schedule, 2 of them are foreign to North America. "The Honourable Woman" is a one-shot deal, and in fact, ran in the United States before the program aired on CBC. "Janet King" is a drama from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation as the debut of the "CBC Selects" series.

"Canada's Smartest Person" fills a financial need for a reality-based program.

If the CBC is running foreign programs, then Canada could certainly produce TV that can cross borders as well. "Strange Empire" would be a fine export to other countries.

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Speaking of other shows that can cross borders, we are very curious to see the debut of "Schitt's Creek," coming to the CBC on January 13 with back-to-back episodes Tuesday at 9 pm.

The familiarity of SCTV veterans Eugene Levy and Catherine O'Hara should be enough firepower for the show to see other markets. We hope to get some episodes of that show and let you know how well the program turns out.

We'll have a CBC Winter Preview early in 2015.

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video credit: Strange Empire/CBC