Canadian Crossing

NHL the week in preview February 27, 2015

Stupid fu&%$ng NBC.

The U.S. OTA network decided to take a Saturday night for an all-U.S. game. So the NHL Network won't carry the Toronto-Montréal game as scheduled Saturday night.

Toronto-Montréal is a better matchup than the U.S. game. Maybe NBC is afraid of another NHL telecast that might outdraw its game.

This means the NHL Network goes at least 2 weeks without a game with a Canadian-based team.

The CBC will carry the Toronto-Montréal game in the early slot with St. Louis at Edmonton for the late game.

Unlike last week's heavy early schedule, City TV sits out Saturday night (carrying the U.S. game), but will have Sunday's Hometown Hockey game as the Maple Leafs travel to the U.S. capital to meet up with Alex Ovechkin. The Hometown Hockey festivities are in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, just across the Michigan border.

Rogers Sportsnet has a Saturday game in the late slot as Ottawa finds the way to San Jose. The channels will have 3 Canadian teams Wednesday night as the Senators travel to Winnipeg in the early slot and Les Habs are in Anaheim in the nightcap.

By my count, this is Bob Cole's first week off this season. His best possible slot this week would have been San Jose, a long trip from St. John's. Cole had more weeks off in the CBC schedule. So Mr. Cole, enjoy your week off.

The NHL Network will simulcast TSN's TradeCentre on Monday. Coverage starts at 8 am Eastern and runs 10 hours straight. We thought the Rogers deal would force the channel to usethe Rogers feed. TSN's coverage is so much better, though this year, Rogers will have former CBC people as resources.

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NHL Network

Tape delayed
Friday Philadelphia @ Toronto, 2p
St. Louis @ Winnipeg, 3p
Tuesday Montréal @ San Jose, 4p
Wednesday San Jose @ Vancouver, 4p
Thursday Montréal @ Anaheim, 4p

CBC

Saturday
Toronto @ Montréal, 7p
St. Louis @ Edmonton, 10p

City

Sunday
Toronto @ Washington, 7p

Rogers Sportsnet

Saturday
Ottawa @ San Jose, 10p
Wednesday
Ottawa @ Winnipeg, 7:30p
Montréal @ Anaheim, 10p

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We missed the first 13 minutes of the Hometown Hockey pregame, our first interruption all season. The delay was due to a minor league hockey game. The game ended 11 minutes in but the NHL Network still ran a 2-minute ad break before joining the program in progress. That is not cool.

Hometown Hockey aired from Boischatel, Quebec, in the Quebec City area just northeast of the city.

In the time shown on the NHL Network, the show had a segment on Marie-Philip Poulin and her relative anonymity as a student/athlete at Boston University. Given that she has scored the winning goal in the last 2 gold medal games in the Winter Olympics, Poulin should be more famous.

We missed on TV but I watched online about the story of Manon Rheaume, the first and only woman to play in the NHL. Now her sons are involved in hockey, including her older son who is also a goalie.

We realize interruptions happen, but the NHL Network would benefit from a rerun airing to get the full program on the air. We also could get the pregame portions that air after the 30-minute mark. The NHL Network could use up an hour and throw in more commercials to fill the timeslot: more money for the channel, better programming for the viewers.

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No game also meant no Coach's Corner. Don Cherry went on about stars not fighting, because Sidney Crosby actually got into a fight. Cherry showed other stars fighting to prove his point. Then again, the segment celebrated Steve Montador's life, dying tragically at the age of 35. If fighting had something to do with his early death, then maybe non-stars shouldn't fight either.

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The U.S. outdoor game forced changes in a couple of local Rogers games. Jim Hughson called last Friday's Maple Leafs game against Carolina on Rogers Sportsnet Ontario. Hughson replaced Paul Romanuk. Garry Galley worked Friday night in Calgary on Rogers Sportsnet West to replace Kelly Hrudey.

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Tim Thompson, the genius behind the Hockey Night in Canada montages on CBC, was let go by Rogers. Thompson also announced that he is going back to work for CBC.

Rogers had hired Thompson more as a PR move. Clearly, Rogers had little to any intention of using Thompson. If Rogers let him do 2 montages, I missed the 2nd one.

The montages Thompson will do for CBC will be likely non-existent to the U.S. audience, though they could end up on YouTube. They belonged on Hockey Night in Canada, especially come playoff time. But that won't happen now.

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The kids introduced the night's games. In the teaser from last week about this week, the kids left out the Edmonton Oilers game. Sure enough, in the teaser for the week, the kids also left out the Oilers. Adding insult was a mention both times of the U.S. outdoor game.

Edmonton was forced to play in the early slot but was ignored when listing the night's games.

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Winnipeg is one of 11 teams that have not played an outdoor game. The plan is to eventually rectify that omission so that each Canadian team has had at least one outdoor game. While Edmonton hosted the first regular season outdoor game, the gap is 12 years and running.

Montréal is the only Canadian team to be outdoors twice (both in Alberta), and the Habs have a 3rd scheduled in Massachusetts in 2016.

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U.S. feeds dominated the Friday rebroadcasts. We were not subjected to Joe Beninati on the Caps feed against Winnipeg since Beninati was out with laryngitis. Whew. The NHL Network used the MSG+ feed for the Canucks at Madison Square Garden.

The MSG feed came up for the Hometown Hockey from Long Island. The move proved egregious when the original look showed an Islanders player hitting Jannik Hansen into goalie Ryan Miller yet the MSG replays left out that part of the play.

Using the NESN feed is a sign of weakness and neglect, especially with a Canadian feed carried nationally. The Canucks in Boston as well as the Habs in St. Louis both used U.S. feeds Wednesday afternoon.

More MSG+ was in play on Thursday afternoon with the Flames rebroadcast in New Jersey. Using the Anaheim feed for the game against the Senators in southern California gave the U.S. feeds a clean sweep.

Jason Jones to leave the 'Daily Show'

Leaving "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" for a TBS comedy might not seem a permanent move. Jason Jones leaving the program has more to do with the fact that Jones and his wife, fellow TDS correspondent Samantha Bee, are writers and executive producer of the new TBS family sitcom.

Jones will be starring in the sitcom, set to air late this year. He will remain with the Daily Show for awhile until shooting starts for the sitcom.

The Daily Show has used the correspondents less often in recent years, giving Jones and Bee time to work on other projects.

Jones has been with the show for the last 9½ years. Bee has been a correspondent since 2003.

• Jason Jones, Samantha Bee 'share' Daily Show chair

• A Canadian gets to grace the host chair of 'The Daily Show with Jon Stewart'

• 'Daily Show' points out that 'anchor babies' can be Canadian, too

• Daily Show coverage on CanadianCrossing.com

The fact that Bee is staying with the Daily Show speaks more to her being a candidate to take over for Jon Stewart. The couple also had to consider what role they might have had with a new host.

The Canadian duo are the 2 most long-standing correspondents in the show's history. Stephen Colbert is 3rd all-time; Colbert actually started under Craig Kilborn and flourished when Stewart took over in 1999.

The idea of Jones and Bee, real-life spouses, being co-anchors on a revamped Daily Show was a nice dream, but wasn't likely to happen. Each of them had a shot at being an individual anchor. For now. Bee is the only one who still has a shot.

We'll have October 7, 2014 in our memory of Jones (and Bee) hosting the Daily Show.

We'll have more on Jason Jones contribution to the Daily Show closer to the time when he leaves. Feel free to leave your memories in the comments section below.

photo credit: Twitter @thedailyshow

Stratford bringing Shakespeare productions to the big screen

There is a new breed of Canadian film: Canadian actors being filmed in Canada. The setting is indoors. The writer: definitely British.

The Stratford Festival in Stratford, Ontario is putting some of Shakespeare's greatest works on the big screen.

We got a chance to see Colm Feore as King Lear as the film is working its way through major cities.

The stage at Stratford is set up similarly to the original Shakespeare stage in England. The stage offers an amazing intimacy when you see a play live in person.

Watching King Lear on stage on film offers a few advantages. The play is much more fluid. You get close-ups and a myriad of angles. You still get the sense that you are watching a live play.

During the performance, I noticed that I understood Feore's lines better than his counterparts. In the Q&A after the film, Feore talked about his approach where he writes out the lines in long hand to make them his own. His philosophy clearly works on the screen.

You get the fine Stratford cast as well. They work on several shows at the same time, keeping things fresh.

For those who struggle with Shakespeare, you have my sympathies. King Lear has quite a few subplots but you can pretty much follow the story. Unlike an English production, you don't have to deal with British accents. The Canadian accent is easier for "Americans" to follow.

If nothing else, you can enjoy the pageantry of the Stratford cast doing the works of Shakespeare.

King Lear is the first of the initial 3 releases, opening in theatres today. King John (April 8) as well as Antony and Cleopatra (May 21) are up next. The Stratford Festival's HD series hopes to record all its productions over the next decade.

Of course, the Stratford Festival wants the films to inspire you to come out to see the plays live. After seeing King Lear, you just might want to do so. 

Stratford is in southern Ontario, northeast of London and west of Kitchener.

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Colm Feore is very charming in person talking about Shakespeare and acting. I couldn't resist asking about Bon Cop, Bad Cop. Feore said there would be a Bon Cop, Bad Cop 2 (or Deux). There were no specifics involved, so we don't know if it's the planning stages or further along.

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photo credit: Stratford Festival/me

'Mommy' wins Cesar for Best Foreign Film

"Mommy" didn't get an Oscar or a Golden Globe nod, but the French-Canadian film did win the César for Best Foreign Film. The César is the French equivalent of the Oscars.

The film did well at Cannes this year, taking the Jury Prize. So perhaps Xavier Dolan appeals to the French.

Canada has only had 6 nominees for the César award since it was formed in 1976, and 4 of them belong to Dolan. "Tom at the Farm" is the only Dolan film not to be nominated. The non-Dolan films were "Eastern Promises" (2008) and "Incendies" (2012). Hard to believe but Denys Arcand, French Canada's most successful director (so far), has never had a César nomination.

The Best Foreign Film has one key difference from the Academy Awards Best Foreign Language Film: more than one film from a country can be nominated. Given that the U.S. is the dominant country, winning a César award is that much more impressive.

"Mommy" beat out "12 Years a Slave"; "Boyhood"; "Two Days, One Night"; "Ida"; "The Grand Budapest Hotel"; and "Winter Sleep" for the César.

• 'Mommy' playing in U.S.; 'Corner Gas' film review

• 2015 Oscars preview

• 2014 Windsor International Film Festival wrapup

• 2014 TIFF releases Canadian content list

• Xavier Dolan wins coveted Cannes Jury Prize for 'Mommy'

• CanadianCrossing.com film coverage

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"Mommy" was nominated for Best International Film in the Independent Spirit Awards held Saturday night. "Ida" ended up taking the win in that category and on Sunday night with the Best Foreign Language Film.

The other nominees were "Force Majeure" (Sweden); "Leviathan" (Russia); "Norte, the End of History" (Philippines); and "Under the Skin" (United Kingdom).

I finally saw "Ida" and am seriously puzzled why this film is getting this much acclaim. Minimalist dialogue and plot, but clearly made an impression. Perhaps "Mommy" is too much for some of the voters, but "Ida" is way too little.

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Craig Mann, who grew up in the Toronto area, won the Oscar for sound mixing for "Whiplash."

In the best animated feature Oscars category, "Big Hero 6" beat out 2 Canadian candidates. Dean DeBlois was up for "How To Train Your Dragon 2." DeBlois did win the Golden Globe. Graham Annable was nominated as co-director for "The Boxtrolls."

Norway-born, Montréal-raised Torill Kove was nominated for best animated short film for "Me and My Moulton." The film lost out to "Feast." Kove won the Oscar in 2007 for "The Danish Poet" and was also nominated in 2000.

Tegan and Sara did a wonderful job with "Everything is Awesome" from "The Lego Movie" — nominated for best original song. The song lost out to "Glory" from the film "Selma."

"Wild," directed by Jean-Marc Vallée, produced two major acting nominations. Reese Witherspoon was nominated for Best Actress but lost out to Julianne Moore. Laura Dern was nominated for Best Supporting Actress, but lost out to Patricia Arquette.

Moore won Best Actress at Cannes for David Cronenberg's "Maps to the Stars" and Best Actress Oscar for "Still Alice." Rather phenomenal.

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• Orphan Black, Tatiana Maslany score big in Canadian Screen Awards nominations

"Mommy" will pick up a few more awards on Sunday, given its 13 Canadian Screen Awards nominations. The Canadian Screen Awards airs Sunday night on CBC at 8 pm local time.

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photo credit: Mommy film

NHL the week in preview February 20, 2015

After tonight, if you don't have NHL Center Ice, this is a good week to catch up on reading or sleep. This is a very slow week, highlighted by a West Coast U.S. outdoor game on Saturday night. Therefore, the NHL Network will do pregame rather than show a Saturday night game.

CBC viewers will get Canada teams only in the first game with the Winnipeg Jets traveling to Toronto in the early slot.

City TV gets the Habs in the early slot as the Canadiens welcome Columbus to the Bell Centre. The Hometown Hockey game Sunday night features the Vancouver Canucks in Long Island.

Rogers Sportsnet has the Senators on Saturday night hosting Roberto Luongo and his Florida buddies. Wednesday, the channels carry Calgary in New Jersey for the only game of the night.

Sportsnet One gets a Saturday night game as Anaheim at Edmonton is forced into the early slot.

Sportsnet 360 gets a nice weekday matchup on Tuesday with the 2011 Stanley Cup final reunion with the Canucks in Boston.

The NHL Center Ice midseason free preview wraps up today with 4 games on tap.

While the NHL Network isn't carrying any live Canadian games, there are plenty of afternoon rebroadcasts.

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NHL Network

Tape delayed
Friday Winnipeg @ Washington, 2p
Vancouver @ NY Rangers, 4p
Monday Vancouver @ NY Islanders, 4p
Wednesday Vancouver @ Boston, 2p
Montréal @ St. Louis, 3p
Thursday Calgary @ New Jersey, 3p
Ottawa @ Anaheim, 4p

CBC

Saturday
Winnipeg @ Toronto, 7p

City

Saturday
Columbus @ Montréal, 7p
Sunday
Vancouver @ NY Islanders, 6p

Rogers Sportsnet

Saturday
Florida @ Ottawa, 7p
Wednesday
Calgary @ New Jersey, 7:30p

Rogers Sportsnet One

Saturday
Anaheim @ Edmonton, 7p

Rogers Sportsnet 360

Tuesday
Vancouver @ Boston, 7p

NHL Center Ice

Friday Toronto @ Carolina, 7p
Vancouver @ New Jersey, 7p
Anaheim @ Calgary, 9p
Minnesota @ Edmonton, 9p

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We covered our impressions of Hockey Day in Canada yesterday. Click here to read our take on Rogers first attempt to do the special Canadian hockey holiday.

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We got updates of the Jets-Detroit game during the Leafs-Habs game, even on the NHL Network. Went back to the studio to get updates from George. Didn't even get that in the later CBC days, since the feed would go silent when going back to the studio.

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The NHL Center Ice free preview gave us the first look at the HNIC postgame show. They did rerun a couple of features from earlier in the day for the Hockey Day in Canada celebration. Otherwise, there was very little interesting original content. The show even ran highlights of the "antics" in the studio.

They had time for that, but not even highlights or conversation about the matinee game.

Rogers had every right to dump "After Hours" and offer something else in its place. If that was typical of what Rogers is running after the late game, they should give back that half-hour back to CBC. A late-night version of "The National" would be better programming.

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Ottawa Senators fans can't be happy with Rogers. First they get the full Edmonton crew on a national game. Wednesday, Habs play-by-play guy John Bartlett called the national game in Ottawa. Garry Galley was the colour commentator and a former Sens broadcaster.

No one in Canada seriously objects to using a local crew when playing a U.S. based team on occasion. However, with an all-Canadian matchup, Rogers needs to think national, even if that means spending a few pennies.

CBC and TSN worked with a equality philosophy. Rogers hasn't taken that approach.

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Both TSN play-by-play announcers will be on the air on the NBC properties for Hockey Day in America.

Chris Cuthbert will be in Philadelphia in the first game on NBC. Cuthbert will work with Anson Carter. Gord Miller will be in St. Paul in the nightcap on NBCSN. Miller will work with Bret Hedican.

We haven't seen Ray Ferraro on a U.S. telecast yet though the playoffs could be a different story.

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The CBC promos pattern stayed strong throughout the day. Schitt's Creek starred in the 1st period; X Company featured in the 2nd period; Ascension with a big twist in the upcoming 2nd episode in the 3rd period.

In the prime-time game, the final Ascension promo came at the end of regulation, though with OT coming, fans were definitely tuned into the game. In the West Coast game, the Schitt's Creek promos got split between the 1st period and the 2nd period.

Nice to see that the CBC is trying to draw attention to their brand new dramas. The in-break promos featured Murdoch Mysteries, Ascension, and Heartland for the most part.

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We had a rare sweep of Canadian feeds in the NHL Network rebroadcasts. TSN3 was the feed for the Jets rebroadcast against Nashville Friday afternoon.

The channel took the Rogers Sportsnet East feed for the Habs in Detroit Tuesday afternoon. This was especially cool since I got a SD feed for the Center Ice free preview.

Of course, the channel took the Rogers Sportsnet feed for the Canadiens-Senators rebroadcast on Thursday afternoon.

2015 Hockey Day in Canada observations

The Halifax Commons was a wonderful setting for the 2015 Hockey Day in Canada. Beautiful sunshine, great visuals, and a safe environment (more on that later).

Ron MacLean was on top of his game, being able to skate and recall amazing memories all at the same time.

Teammates was the theme of 2015 Hockey Day in Canada from Halifax. So let's examine how teammates fit into the Rogers version of Hockey Day in Canada.

You certainly got the impression that the day was divided between Hockey Day in Canada and Hockey Night in Canada. Ron MacLean and George Stroumboulopoulos shared hosting duties during the daytime portion. George mostly transitioned to Sophia Jurksztowicz, who played the role of showing us pictures from viewers. Stroumboulopoulos said "selfies" and "self-wes" as if he were paid by the word.

We got a surprising amount of game analysis on Hockey Day in Canada during the intermissions. The CBC version could be faulted for ignoring the actual NHL games in the intermissions; Rogers went to the other extreme.

Once the evening games started, we had Coach's Corner and a segment in the 2nd intermission in the late game, a rebroadcast of the segment with Sam Gagner and John Tavares.

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Keeping the theme of teammates, let's give one example where Rogers shined and other that left us scratching our heads.

Goofus: Giving us the local Edmonton crew for the national matinee was a joke. Giving us Bob Cole and Greg Millen for a all-U.S. game that should have been sim subbed.

If Rogers felt like it needed a crew to cover the U.S. game, then send the Edmonton crew to cover that game. Even with Drew Remenda, the Oilers TV crew is the worst of the Rogers bunch.

Rogers should have come to Dean Brown and asked him if he would do the Senators game on Hockey Day in Canada with Remenda. A compromise crew that acknowledges Ottawa fans as being relevant. And add a impartial sideline reporter.

When Rogers acts like the CBC, they look classy. When Rogers tries to be Rogers, this is what happens.

Gallant: Rogers Sportsnet carried the Quebec Major Junior League game with Cape Breton at Halifax in the East Coast prime time slot. The ratings couldn't have compared to the Leafs-Habs or even the Jets in Detroit, but with the theme of Hockey Day in Canada, showing the game was a classy move.

The CBC always featured a local game and gave updates, but Canadians had the option of tuning in the entire minor league hockey game on Hockey Day in Canada.

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3 people allegedly were going to go on a shooting spree in a public venue in Halifax on Valentine's Day. The target was not Hockey Day in Canada but the Halifax Shopping Centre. One of the suspects is from the Chicago suburbs and was arrested at the Halifax airport.

Perhaps all of this was a coincidence with Hockey Day in Canada but we are glad for many blessings. The plot was thwarted and the many fans who came out to the skating rink where Hockey Day in Canada was happening were ultimately safe.

The Ottawa shooting, along with the constable in Quebec who was killed, was bad enough for Canada. This could have been incredibly horrible.

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Between the NHL Network and NHL Center Ice free preview, the U.S. audience got most of the Hockey Day in Canada coverage. The NHL Network gave us the first 2 hours (and then repeated them). We also got coverage in the Hockey Central slot from 5-6 pm Eastern. If I had known this, I would have been less harsh in the preview.

With the NHL Center Ice free preview, Comcast carried the matinee and the late game in beautiful HD as well as the 30-minute postgame coverage. We also got the Jets game in Detroit, though not in HD.

The only part the U.S. audience didn't get was the 25 minutes after the Edmonton-Ottawa game until 5 pm Eastern. That game ended really early so we did miss some of the programming.

Obviously, those with a CBC feed in the States could go wall-to-wall in watching.

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Even though identical twins Joe and Brian Drapluk are American kids, they are playing for the Surrey, BC Eagles. The story was covered by Carly Agro, who happens to also be an identical twin. After the piece, we saw Strombo along with Carly Agro and her identical twin sister, Charlsie. Both Agro sisters used to work at CBC; Carly on the national level and Charlsie with CBC Toronto. Carly jumped from CBC to Sportsnet.

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Canada doesn't have the level of racial issues that the United States has. However, Canada has certainly seen its share of racism. Saint Mary's University in Halifax, home of the Huskies, featured the only all-black line in Canadian university history in 1970. That line consisted of Bob Dawson, Darrell Maxwell, and Percy Paris. Wonderful that they were acknowledged; sad that it was and is a big deal.

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photo credit: CBC/Sportsnet/NHL Network

More Americans are keeping warm with Canada Goose jackets

Keeping warm is priceless especially with winter weather feeling rougher than usual. But the influx of Canada Goose jackets on the streets this winter asks the question, "Is keeping warm really worth spending that much money?"

Canada Goose jackets are very hot, and not just in the keep-you-warm kind of way.

You can spot the Canada Goose jackets by the signature red, white, and blue arm patch. While I haven't been in Canada this winter (except for a couple of evenings in Windsor), in the States, you see a lot of that patch.

The cost of keeping you warm runs about $600-$1,100 with these jackets. Yes, you look cool and hot and you may feel warm. But your wallet will be a lot colder without the money to keep you warm.

Besides showing off Canada, the Canada Goose jackets have one extra incentive to consumers: they are made in Canada.

Other than Russia, what country do people associate with winter? Canada. After all, this is the country where some Americans think polar bears roam in parts right near the U.S. border.

In a country where the most popular headphones cost $200, $900 for a jacket doesn't seem that much. Given the explosion of sales, enough people feel like they can make the sacrifice.

The celebrity factor (see above picture of Emma Stone) clearly has helped the company's popularity. While the coats have been popular in celebrity circles, the fact that private equity firm Bain Capital (think Mitt Romney) bought a majority stake of the company in December 2013 means more of a commitment for the jackets to be seen.

The most famous of these Canada Goose appearances might have been Kate Upton wearing a Canada Goose jacket on the cover of the 2013 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit edition, though you might not have noticed.

Wikipedia has a link here featuring celebrity sightings in real life as well as in television and film.

The non-celebrities I have spoken to love their coats and felt they were worth the investment. While the coats are out of my price range at the moment, if my weatherbeaten used-when-I-bought-it-for-$25 coat ever falls apart, Canada Goose will get my first call for help.

photo credits: Curtis Means — ACE/INFphoto.com/Corbis; Canada Goose; Sports Illustrated

Canada's maple leaf flag turns 50

It's the flag some Americans sew on their backpack to try to identify themselves as non-Americans when traveling to Europe.

The maple leaf flag — the red and white with the red maple leaf — might seem like it's been around for a long time, but many are surprised to realize that flag celebrated its 50th anniversary yesterday.

The Union Jack dominated the Canadian flag from 1868-1965. The above flag reigned from 1957-1965; the major difference from the flag that flew from 1921-1957 was that the red leaves at the bottom of the coat of arms were green.

The three-leaves pattern was suggested by Prime Minister Lester Pearson for the new flag with blue on the sides instead of the red in the current Canadian flag.

Ultimately, Canada ended up with a stylized 11-point singular red maple leaf in its center where the sides were red.

Urban legend: the points of the maple leaf were supposed to represent the 10 provinces, but there are 11 points and 10 provinces. At the time of the flag, there were 10 provinces and 2 territories (now 3).

The loss of blue was intriguing from a political standpoint. Red is associated with the Liberals, the dominant party in recent times until 2004. Blue is the Conservatives colour. The NDP, only now the opposition party, has orange for its colour.

The Canada flag was the subject of Final Jeopardy in an episode that aired in June 2011.

"'L'Unifolie' is one of the names popularly given to the new flag unveiled in 1965 by this country."

Full disclosure: I know one of the contestants in that episode.

The modern Canada flag is simple, memorable, and distinctly Canadian. Bon anniversaire, drapeau du Canada. Happy birthday, Canadian flag.

graphics credit: Wikipedia

My Canadian Valentines 2015

Canada is my valentine for 2015 since, well, I'm in love with Canada. I hope Canada likes me, too.

In 2012, I shared a tribute to Canadian women who I found attractive on multiple levels. Last year, Ellen Page came out on Valentine's Day, a great present to herself and the world. Page is definitely on my cool Canadians list.

• Ellen Page: still a cool Canadian role model

• Seeing the multiple layers of beauty of famous Canadian women

Unlike a certain sports magazine that suddenly features scantily-clad women this time of year, my list is full of cool Canadian women who happen to be visually beautiful as well. Let's add a few more to the list:

Tatiana Maslany

I saw a little known film in 2011 called "Picture Day." This young actress from Saskatchewan stole that film. Maslany came onto my radar, though many in Canada knew about her for years.

"Cas & Dylan" was, by every definition, a simple film with an obvious plot. Yet again, Maslany stole the show. Even a grumpy, dying Richard Dreyfuss (character, not him) couldn't resist the charms of the youthful energetic travel companion.

Fans on both sides of the border now know Maslany for her fine drama work on "Orphan Black." Seeing Maslany do comedy makes me appreciate more the numerous characters she brings to life in the sci-fi drama, returning for Season 3 on April 18 on BBC America.

If I had to pick an Orphan Black character to fall in love with, the answer ironically would be Cosima. There is a tenderness, a sweetness … okay, and the braids that make you want to hold her in your arms as she deals with that horrible respiratory illness. Doesn't hurt that Cosima is also really, really smart. You feel like Cosima is the closest character to Maslany, but she'll never tell.

Suzanne Clement

I have only seen Clement in the 3 Xavier Dolan films where she has appeared. (I still need to see "Fall.") Having just rewatched "Mommy" and still tearing up in some of her scenes, Clement made the valentine list relatively quickly.

Clement in "Laurence Anyways" absolutely takes your breath away as someone who is in love even when she can't be in love. She is strong and beautiful and tortured throughout the film.

Her nurturer character in "I Killed My Mother" clinched her for me. While there might be some similar characteristics with her role in "Mommy," her vulnerability and her ability to rise up from that literally brought tears to me eyes, even with a second showing.

Anne Dorval gets an honourable mention with her amazing acting in 3 of Dolan's films. But Clement melts my heart just a bit more.  

Alice Munro

I didn't know much about Alice Munro or "The Bear Who Came Down a Mountain" until Sarah Polley adapted her short story for the screenplay for "Away From Her." The fact that Polley, in her directorial debut, was nominated for an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay was a sign to pay more attention to Munro.

More around the world discovered this Canadian writer as Munro won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2013 as "master of the contemporary short story." She also won the 2009 Man Booker International Prize and a 3-time winner of Canada's Governor General's Award for fiction.

Munro gets people to care about Canadian literature, short stories, Canadian short stories, and Canada. And Sarah Polley loves her. That is more than enough to add her to the list.

Let's not forget Munro's other major legacy: co-founded the legendary bookstore Munro Books in Victoria, BC, in 1963.

Ellen Page

Page was in 3 films in the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival. I saw "The Tracey Fragments" and some film named "Juno." Still haven't seen "The Stone Angel," but the young actress from Halifax made a favorable impression.

Her acting chops include a film that I saw but is really difficult to watch. "Hard Candy" is disturbing in what it covers and how it's portrayed. Page is so good that you may not recognize the woman from "Juno" as being the same person.

Though Page has crossed over into huge U.S.-based international blockbusters (e.g., "X-Men: Days of Future Past), she still has a strong sense of activism. And she still loves Canada, as she noted to Jon Stewart (just not the tar sands).

• Jon Stewart shares love of Canada with Ellen Page

Page also gets a nod for being in "Marion Bridge," one of my favorite Canadian films.

Having come out of the closet a year ago, you might not think Page would work in a list of valentines pour moi. Doesn't matter. Page belongs on the list of cool Canadians, beautiful inside and out.

Samantha Bee

The longest-serving correspondent in the history of "The Daily Show," Bee has made us laugh and think over the years. Bee has even had a couple of attempts to sit in the anchor chair, though not enough time to fill an episode combined.

She is funny in every single role she takes on for the show: out in the field, in the studio, and yes, behind the desk.

Bee also brings her Canadian background in several stories, whether it's making fun of the government-owned beer stores or asking us deadpan if we know that Iqaluit is the capital of Nunavut.

She is fearless in her comedy; in the picture (at left) from the last time she sat in the Daily Show anchor chair, she wore handcuffs to show she wasn't getting moved from the anchor desk.

With Jon Stewart leaving the show later this year, Samantha Bee would make a great anchor for the show. Or perhaps fellow correspondent (and her husband) Jason Jones could team up with Bee to anchor. If Peter Jennings can do real news, why not have a Canadian at the anchor desk of a fake news show.

Cara Gee

Cara Gee stood out for me in "Empire of Dirt" as the middle of the 3 generations of women featured in the drama about the native people of Canada.

Gee dominates "Strange Empire" as Kat Loving, playing a character as tough as any man in any Western, except her character is fighting for good.

In the pilot episode, Loving loses her husband and her child and fights to protect 2 young women she adopted in order to protect them.

In watching Gee as Loving, you see someone who is beautiful but works hard to be known for everything else but that. Very cool. Kat Loving is a great role, but you would find it difficult to see someone else who could do the role as well as Gee does in the dark Western drama.

Gee was nominated for a Canadian Screen Award for best actress for "Empire of Dirt." There is every reason to think Gee will get a nod for "Strange Empire" next year.

Evelyne Brochu

Brochu has been infiltrating several Canadian films that I've enjoyed and one that still puzzles me. The bilingual Quebecois actress has been in "Inch'Allah"; "Café de Flore"; and "Tom at the Farm."

Of course, you might recognize Brochu as Delphine, Cosima's ma petite ami in "Orphan Black."

Brochu's performances are subtle yet memorable as she flows freely in between English and French with little trace of the other language.

Her portrayal of Delphine allows you to hate her and love her at the same time, depending on how helpful she is to Cosima and the fellow clones. That takes talent. You also want to root for the couple.

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photo credits: Orphan Black; Mommy; The Daily Show with Jon Stewart; Strange Empire/CBC

NHL the week in preview February 13, 2015

Welcome to Hockey Day in Canada Eve. Tomorrow is truly the biggest day in Canadian hockey in the regular season. All 7 Canadian teams plus the Detroit Red Wings will take part. Thanks to the new Rogers deal, all 4 games will be shown (in Canada) coast-to-coast.

CBC will show 3 of the 4 games on Saturday. Edmonton visits Ottawa in the Saturday matinee, simulcast on Rogers Sportsnet. The NHL Network will simulcast the Toronto-Montréal matchup in prime time from the Bell Centre. Vancouver at Calgary will be the late Saturday night game on CBC.

City TV gets the Winnipeg at Detroit game on Saturday night. Even with the game on U.S. soil, you can literally see Canada from Joe Louis Arena.

Rogers Sportsnet has a pure Wednesday doubleheader with the Habs in Ottawa early and the Edmonton Oilers hosting Boston late. Sportsnet One also has a late game on Wednesday as the Calgary Flames host Minnesota.

As for the Hometown Hockey game, this is the only weekend where the game is an all-U.S. matchup. The pregame, simulcast in the NHL Network, is from Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia, at Noon Eastern since City TV is carrying a day game.

CBC will run the traditional Hockey Day in Canada programming from Halifax, starting at Noon Eastern. The programming will break at 2 pm for the Oilers-Senators, and then return until 6 pm Eastern for a news break.

The NHL Network will simulcast the first 2 hours of Hockey Day in Canada programming, and then inexplicably repeat those 2 hours. The channel will carry Rogers Sportsnet pregame show at 5 pm Eastern rather than more Hockey Day in Canada programming.

We have unofficial confirmation of the NHL Center Ice free preview starting Saturday and running through Friday. Check this page and our Twitter feed for updates. If this is true, awesome timing to happen on Hockey Day in Canada.

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NHL Network

Saturday
Toronto @ Montréal, 7p

Tape delayed
Friday Winnipeg @ Nashville, 3p
Tuesday Montréal @ Detroit, 2p
Thursday Montréal @ Ottawa, 2p

CBC

Saturday
Edmonton @ Ottawa, 2p
Toronto @ Montréal, 7p
Vancouver @ Calgary, 10p

City

Saturday
Winnipeg @ Detroit, 7p

Rogers Sportsnet

Saturday
Edmonton @ Ottawa, 2p (CBC simulcast)
Wednesday
Montréal @ Ottawa, 7p
Boston @ Edmonton, 10p

Rogers Sportsnet One

Wednesday
Minnesota @ Calgary, 9:30p

NHL Center Ice

Saturday Edmonton @ Ottawa, 2p
Winnipeg @ Detroit, 7p
Vancouver @ Calgary, 10p
Monday Carolina @ Ottawa, 7:30p
Montréal @ Detroit, 7:30p
Edmonton @ Winnipeg, 8p
Boston @ Calgary, 9p
Minnesota @ Vancouver, 10p
Tuesday Florida @ Toronto, 7:30p
Wednesday Montréal @ Ottawa, 7p
Minnesota @ Calgary, 9:30p
Boston @ Edmonton, 10p
Thursday Vancouver @ NY Rangers, 7p
Winnipeg @ Washington, 7p
Florida @ Montréal, 7:30p

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Dave Strader is a talented, knowledgeable hockey person. Brian Engblom is too. But when NBCSN makes this talented people go through the tired, lame, pathetic opening, we almost would rather not have the network cover the Habs when they play Boston.

We got an ancient mention of the Zdeno Chara deliberate hit on Max Pacioretty. And Pacioretty is from Connecticut. P.K. Subban is an enemy of Boston; Milan Lucic is an enemy of Montréal. Yawn.

No matter our critique of Rogers' NHL coverage, still kilometres better than NBCSN.

As for the game, Engblom took on the Pierre McGuire role of trying to find ways for Boston to score (but not Montréal), though to Engblom's credit, he didn't oversell it as much as McGuire does. Engblom even pointed out that Zdeno Chara got away with a penalty against Max Pacioretty early in the game. That Chara got away with a penalty is not a shock, especially with Pacioretty involved. The surprise was a national U.S. crew mentioned it.

Both teams played on back-to-back nights. The gentlemen clearly watched Boston's game, but to be fair, they were already in Boston. They kept mentioning specific details from that game, which was good for analysis. But that analysis was mostly one-sided.

They praised Carey Price, P.K. Subban, and Pacioretty. They only briefly mentioned, and waited until the beginning of the 2nd period, to note than Subban's brother Malcolm was on the Boston bench as the backup goalie. That was a bigger story, though the younger Subban had very little hope of getting into the game.

Strader and Engblom had some very nice words about Bob Cole, who was calling the game for Rogers Sportsnet. Strader told the story of Cole's first HNIC game, a playoff game in 1969 when Jean Beliveau scored his only OT playoff goal, this one in double OT against Boston. The story also included that Cole later reminded Beliveau of that key goal down to the smallest detail. Beliveau was surprised that Cole knew the goal better than he did.

NBCSN has taken over the Montréal game on March 14 against the New York Islanders. For this, the NHL Network dropped the CBC game of Toronto at Vancouver. That is a bad trade, even with Gord Miller and Ray Ferraro, if they are invited. Let's hope NBCSN forgets about this Saturday night experiment.

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The Saturday pregame was more entertaining than usual. Elliotte Friedman went to Saskatoon to cover the Gordie Howe return/celebration. Friedman had a nice interview with Mark and Marty Howe, Gordie's sons.

Howe's stem-cell recovery has been rather amazing. As our population ages, especially in the U.S. and Canada, we need more of those kind of recoveries.

Was great to see NHL luminaries such as Wayne Gretzky and Brett and Bobby Hull there to honor Howe.

George Stroumboulopoulos sat down with Edmonton players Luke Gazdic, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, and Andrew Ference in the red chairs. The Oilers were in for their annual trip to Toronto. We got as much insight as we probably could get from this underachieving team. We did want Strombo to shake them and say "why can't you win with all that talent?"

P.J. Stock came out in a Evander Kane like track suit to exemplify why Kane's track-suit move went over so poorly among the Winnipeg Jets team. Kane was traded to Buffalo this week.

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Besides the CBC viewers in the States, those in New York City and Boston got to watch the Edmonton-Toronto game via the NHL Network. When Chicago is on, sometimes you get another HNIC game, sometimes not.

For the Hawks game in Winnipeg last week, Chicago got the Rogers Sportsnet West feed for the Penguins in Calgary. That game started 1 hour after the primary NHL Network game, but Chicago got the whole game.

We even got the Calgary intermissions. Too bad the Flames, a relatively hot team, couldn't score a goal on Marc-Andre Fleury.

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Last week, we talked about Rogers poor reaction to Rogers poor NHL ratings. The folks at A Rouge Point had a really nice article on that topic.

What struck my eye was this marvelous summary of fans frustrations with Rogers NHL coverage.

"… from sports and media forums to Reddit to Twitter, the general majority of commenters absolutely hate everything Rogers has done to hockey broadcasting in Canada — from the terrible play-by-play commentators to the channel-changing talking heads in studio."

If you are frustrated, you certainly aren't the only one. Nicely said.

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U.S. feeds were used for the Oilers rebroadcast on Tuesday afternoon in New Jersey and Vancouver's trip to St. Paul.

Got to hear Chris Cuthbert and Ray Ferraro and the TSN4 feed for the rebroadcast of Rangers-Leafs on Wednesday afternoon.

We don't know which feed was used for the Canucks in Chicago game yesterday afternoon.