Canadian Crossing

Jay & Dan were best thing on Fox Sports 1 sinking ship

Editor's note: TSN announced on March 1 that the network would welcome back Jay Onrait and Dan O'Toole.

Jay Onrait and Dan O'Toole were lured away from TSN to jump start Fox Sports 1 in 2013. Fox Sports Live was going to be the kingpin of an attempt to compete with ESPN.

Their contract with Fox Sports 1 was set to conclude at the end of March. Their last show aired last Wednesday.

Fans of the duo would correctly argue that the beginning of the end came about a year ago. Fox Sports 1 retooled the show by removing the tools and ripping the heart of the show.

Jay Onrait, Dan O'Toole move to Fox Sports 1 on Saturday

Jay and Dan were on TSN's SportsCentre from 2003-2013. The speculation is that the duo will head back to TSN. Let's suggest some options:

ESPN The channel has a minority ownership in TSN along with Bell Media. The channel likes personalities in its highlights show. But ESPN has had their money woes thanks in part to cord cutting. The ESPN of 5 years ago would have been very interested.

Rogers Sportsnet If ESPN doesn't have the money, Rogers is having more trouble but in an competitive market against TSN. We've seen with the dismissals of Glenn Healy and Mike Johnson that fun and interesting isn't a part of the Rogers way, so Jay and Dan wouldn't make sense.

CBC Jay and Dan wouldn't be able to do sports at the public broadcaster, but we did think they could be a part of a late-night show. They could summarize what is happening in sports to a broader audience. They could do interviews or perhaps do a variation of Dan Rowan and Dick Martin (think Laugh-In).

TSN Jay and Dan have a built-in audience. They didn't burn bridges at TSN. Their return would be seen as a goodwill gesture by TSN. To justify their money, they might contribute to ESPN through TSN, as opposed to the many shows on TSN that come straight from ESPN. After all, Jay and Dan are know entities in the United States.

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People like to put labels such as "success" and "failure" on those types of experiments. Or they ask questions such as whether "the Canadians were in over their heads."

Jay and Dan were offered a lot of money because Fox Sports felt like it could compete with ESPN. Fox Sports needed something different to make a difference and Jay and Dan were perfect.

The chances of the success of Fox Sports weren't great in 2013 even if Fox Sports did everything perfectly. ESPN had a lot going for it because of its established track record, rights to events, and personalities.

The state of sports media has changed in the 3 years Jay and Dan were in the United States. Regional and national sports outlets are moving away from doing highlights to inane sports argument shows. For non-sports fans, think Crossfire but more obnoxious.

Even up to that point, Fox Sports didn't utilize Jay and Dan to their potential, hardly promote them, and didn't give any of their ideas, which were bad, a chance to even work.

Given where the sports media market is in the United States, Jay and Dan took advantage financially and got some name recognition in a larger country. Even sports fans who might hate Jay and Dan can't blame them for the last 3 years of Fox Sports 1.

The best scenario, other than going back to Canada, would have been if ESPN has become jealous and tried to steal them from Fox Sports 1. The only reason that didn't happen is that Fox Sports 1 overall ratings are tiny and the marketplace changed dramatically in the U.S.

Did Jay and Dan fail? They got a lot of money that wouldn't be available now. They took a chance that isn't usually offered to Canadians. They burned no bridges on either side of the 49th parallel. They get no blame for an experiment that has no reason for long-term success.

While TSN will be the logical choice, Jay and Dan have shown they have the talent and options for continued success.

photo credit: Fox Sports 1

Ryan Gosling, Denis Villeneuve come up short at Oscars

"And Ryan Gosling. Thank you for making me laugh. And for always raising the bar. And for being the greatest partner on this crazy adventure."

Emma Stone acknowledged her La La Land co-star Ryan Gosling. La La Land won Best Actress, Best Director, and even Best Picture for about 4 minutes, yet Gosling didn't win for Best Actor. This was Gosling's second Oscar nomination.

Denis Villeneuve lost out on Best Director. The French-Canadian director had been nominated for Arrival. The film did win an Oscar for Sylvaine Bellemare for Sound Editing.

Looking at how Canadians have done at the Oscars

Ryan Gosling, Denis Villeneuve get Oscar nominations

Video review: Polytechnique

"This award by far is a collective award made by people from many countries around the world, led by the Quebec team," Bellemare said. "Salut Montréal."

Bellemare also addressed Villeneuve in his acceptance speech, "I love you so much. You bring love to us. All you need is love."

Canada had 3 representatives in Best Animated Short: Blind Vaysha, Pear Cider and Cigarettes, and the eventual winner Alan Barillaro for Piper.

CanadianCrossing.com film reviews

CanadianCrossing.com film coverage

Gosling and Stone presented for the 2 nominated songs from La La Land. Sara Bareilles performed Joni Mitchell's Both Sides Now for the In Memoriam segment. Dwayne Johnson introduced Lin-Manuel Miranda.

Seth Rogen and Michael J. Fox gave us a lovely Canadian moment at the Oscars. The theme was inspiration. Seth Rogen talked about being inspired by Fox in Back to the Future. They both came out of the DeLorean onstage, Rogen wearing "future shoes."

Rogen grew up in Vancouver; Fox's family ended up in Burnaby, a Vancouver suburb. Rogen was 3 when Back to the Future came out and wasn't even born when Fox starred in Leo and Me. While even I would doubt that Canada had something to do with this connection, both Fox and Rogen were unlikely stars coming out of Canada and Rogen could have been inspired by Fox's story as well. 

Xavier Dolan film makes top 9 Oscars cut

Breaking down 2016 WIFF Canadian films

Xavier Dolan's latest film is Canada's Oscars entry

Xavier Dolan wins Grand Prix at 2016 Cannes Film Festival

The Salesman from Iran won the Best Foreign Language film. It's Only the End of the World from Xavier Dolan made the Top 9 cut but not the final Oscars cut.

Dolan's film did quite well at the Césars, the French equivalent of the Oscars. Dolan won best director for It's Only the End of the World. The film also won for best actor for Gaspard Ulliel and for best editing.

"I am very touched by your recognition tonight, among all this shining talent, which is so impressive," Dolan told the César ceremony.

You might recall that Dolan's last true Quebecois film Mommy won the César for Best Foreign Film.

Breaking down 2016 WIFF Canadian films

"Bill Paxton absolutely steals this film as his own as Nelisse's cop father who had to quickly relocate the two of them to this new small town. You forget Paxton is acting in this film."

That is what I wrote last fall for Mean Dreams, where Paxton played Sophie Nelissé's father in the rural drama. He was dominant without being over the top. You forgot that mean can look like that on the big screen. What made Paxton's performance all the more amazing is that he wasn't like that in real life.

We express our deepest sympathies to Bill Paxton, who passed away due to complication from surgery at the age of 61. His extensive film library is too long to even try to list. He could have worked on anything but we are glad he took time for this small Canadian drama. We heard Colm Feore speak so highly of Paxton in interviews for the film, including his talk on Q.

photos credit: Oscars/Academy Awards/ABC except for Bellemare photo: AFP

Looking at how Canadians have done at the Oscars

Editor's note: A more updated version of this story is available to reflect updated Oscar nominations and, hopefully, Oscar trophies.

Sunday night, the Oscars might bring 2 more Canadians into a tiny list of Oscar winners from north of the 49th parallel. Ryan Gosling and Denis Villeneuve are up for major awards. The idea of having 2 nominations in the same year in the modern era is highly rare.

2009 was a banner year with 3 Canadian nominations. James Cameron (Avatar) and Jason Reitman (Up in the Air) were up for Best Director while Christopher Plummer was a Best Supporting Actor nominee for The Last Station.

James Cameron (Titanic) beat out Atom Egoyan (The Sweet Hereafter) for Best Director in 1997. Ellen Page and Jason Reitman was both nominated for Juno (2007).

In 1970, Chief Dan George was a Best Supporting Actor nominee for Little Big Man while Arthur Hiller was nominated for Best Director for Love Story.

Let's illustrate where Canada was in a bygone era versus success in the modern era.

Best Actor

Walter Huston received 2 nominations: 1936 for Dodsworth and 1941 for The Devil and Daniel Webster. Walter Pidgeon received back-to-back nominations in 1942 for Mrs. Miniver and 1943 for Madame Curie. Raymond Massey was nominated for Abe Lincoln in Illinois in 1940. Alexander Knox got an nomination for Wilson in 1944.

Canadian actors received 6 nominations in this category between 1936-1944. Ryan Gosling is the only Canadian actor in this category since 1944. Gosling was nominated in 2006 for Half Nelson and again this year for La La Land.

Best Actress

Canadian actresses really shined in this category way back in the day.

Norma Shearer won for The Divorcee (1929/1930). Shearer also was nominated for Their Own Desire (1929/1930), A Free Soul (1930/1931), The Barretts of Wimpole Street (1934), Romeo and Juliet (1936), and Marie Antoniette (1938).

Mary Pickford won for Coquette (1928/1929). Marie Dressler won for Min and Bill (1930/1931) and was nominated for Emma (1931/1932).

Since 1938, Canadian women have had 2 nominations in this category. Geneviève Bujold, the only French-Canadian actor with an Oscar nomination, was acknowledged for Anne of the Thousand Days (1969). Ellen Page was nominated for Juno (2007).

Ryan Gosling, Denis Villeneuve get Oscar nominations

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Christopher Plummer (finally) wins his first Oscar

Best Supporting Actor

Walter Huston won in this category and had 2 overall nominations. Huston won for The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948) and was nominated for Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942).

Canadian-born Harold Russell won for The Best Years of Our Lives (1946). Russell is one of 2 Oscars winners who wasn't a professional actor.

Other nominees from that era include Gene Lockhart for Algiers (1938); Hume Cronyn for The Seventh Cross (1944); and Canadian-born John Ireland for All the King's Men (1949).

Canada is reasonably represented in this category in the modern era.

Jack Kruschen played the neighbor in The Apartment (1960). Chief Dan George was the first native actor to get an Oscar nom for Little Big Man (1970).

Canada had back-to-back nominees. Dan Aykroyd is one of several Saturday Night Live alumni to get an Oscar nomination, in his case for Driving Miss Daisy (1989). No SNL alum have ever won an Oscar. Graham Greene was the second First Nations Oscar nominee for Dances With Wolves (1990).

Christopher Plummer had 2 nominations: The Last Station (2009) and an Oscar win for Beginners (2011). Plummer is the only Canadian-born and bred actor to win an Oscar in the modern era.

Best Supporting Actress

In this category, Canadians received little in the bygone era, but a decent amount in the modern era. Lucile Watson was nominated for Watch on the Rhine (1943).

Anna Paquin was born in Canada but raised in New Zealand. Paquin became the second youngest actor to win an Oscar at age 11 for The Piano (1993). Paquin currently stars in the CBC drama Bellevue.

The Tilly sisters, American-born but Canadian actresses, each have a nomination in this category. Meg Tilly snapped a 42-year Canadian drought in this category with Agnes of God (1985). Jennifer Tilly got a nod in the Woody Allen film Bullets over Broadway (1994).

Kate Nelligan got an nomination in this category for The Prince of Tides (1991). The only 21st-century nominee is Rachel McAdams for Spotlight (2015)

CanadianCrossing.com film reviews

CanadianCrossing.com film coverage

Best Director

The Best Director category is a bit easier for Canadians to assimilate. James Cameron is still the only director with an Oscar win for Titanic (1997). Cameron's other nomination was for Avatar (2009).

Norman Jewison was one of the first Canadian directors to cross over. Jewison got the nod for In the Heat of the Night (1967); Fiddler on the Roof (1971); and Moonstruck (1987).

Edward Dmytryk was the first Canadian nomination for Crossfire (1947). Mark Robson won back-to-back nods in 1957 and 1958 for Peyton Place and The Inn of the Sixth Happiness, respectively.

In the modern era, Arthur Hiller didn't have to say he was sorry for his nomination for Love Story (1970).

In both 1997 and 2009, the Oscars had 2 Canadian nominees in this category. Atom Egoyan was nominated for The Sweet Hereafter but lost out to Cameron for Titanic. Cameron was up in 2009 for Avatar and Jason Reitman had his second nomination in 2009 for Up in the Air. Reitman was also nominated for Juno (2007).

Paul Haggis received an Oscar nod for Crash (2005) not to be confused with the David Cronenberg film of the same name.

Denis Villeneuve is the first French-Canadian director to get an Oscar nomination for Arrival (2016).

photo credit: Jonathan Leibson/Getty Images for Landmark Vineyards

NHL the week in preview February 24, 2017

The NHL Network will have the Edmonton Oilers in the U.S. capital Friday night. Hopefully, the channel will pick up the Rogers Sportsnet feed since the Washington feed has the worst announcers.

CBC carries the classic Montréal-Toronto tilt from the Air Canada Centre; City TV will also carry the game. The NHL oddly scheduled the U.S. outdoor game on a Saturday night so the NBC insecurity kicks in with a 2-hour window where no other U.S. team can play until 10 pm Eastern. The CBC doubleheader concludes with San Jose in Vancouver.

Rogers Sportsnet has Hometown Hockey in Nanaimo, BC with a doubleheader. First, the Edmonton Oilers are in Nashville. Then, the Ottawa Senators visit their snowbird fans in southern Florida. Thursday night hockey has P.K. Subban returning to Montréal.

Rogers Sportsnet One has a Calgary home game against the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday.

The NHL Center Ice free preview is supposed to end on Friday. An extra day would give the U.S. audience a hockey option other than the Pennsylvania spectacle. Stay tuned just in case we get an extra day.

There are no Wednesday matinees since March 1 is the NHL trade deadline. Canadians will have choices between TSN and Rogers Sportsnet. The NHL Network will pick up the Rogers feed.

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NHL Network

Friday
Edmonton @ Washington, 7p

Tape delayed
Friday Calgary @ Tampa Bay, 1p
NY Rangers @ Toronto, 3p
Tuesday Ottawa @ Tampa Bay, 1p
Montréal @ New Jersey, 2p

CBC

Saturday
Montréal @ Toronto, 7p
San Jose @ Vancouver, 10p

City

Saturday
Montréal @ Toronto, 7p

Rogers Sportsnet

Friday
Edmonton @ Washington, 7p
Sunday
Edmonton @ Nashville, 5p
Ottawa @ Florida, 7:30p
Thursday
Nashville @ Montréal, 7:30p

Rogers Sportsnet One

Tuesday
Los Angeles @ Calgary, 9p

NHL Center Ice

Friday
Calgary @ Florida, 7:30p
Ottawa @ Carolina, 7:30p

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The Edmonton Oilers have had a good season. And the U.S. TV coverage has reflected that. Though your humble narrator was blacked out, we should appreciate that this was the first time Edmonton was on Hockey Night in Canada on U.S. television since we've covered this beat. Even when the NHL Network would carry the late HNIC game, the Oilers were shut out. The fact that Edmonton will be on again 6 days later has also never happened in that time span.

The Oilers were an interesting team even when they were losing. But they were ignored by U.S. television. There were too many Oilers games to remember that the NHL Network scheduled to carry that were cancelled. NBCSN scheduled its only Oilers telecast last year but managed to cancel that telecast. The 2/5 game against Toronto is the first time the franchise has had any exposure on that U.S. channel.

If Edmonton holds on to reach the playoffs, there will need to be a lot of education for U.S. hockey fans. This team is fun to watch. It's sad to watch how slow U.S. TV has been to recognize that reality.

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During Hockey Day in Canada from Kenora, Ontario, Bobby Ryan talked about being a kid growing up and standing on an imaginary blue line in his basement waiting to sing the national anthem.

"When you go into Vancouver into Canada, [the crowd] sings the entire thing. Most buildings have caught on and done it. But I think Vancouver is still the best at it. I've never heard anything quite like that. It's chill."

We do go out of our way not to single out anything in one particular Canadian city, but the anthem in Vancouver is the best in the NHL. Mark Donnelly brings tremendous energy without being too over the top.

Ryan plays for the Ottawa Senators, so he only makes a single trip to Vancouver. Ryan used to play for Anaheim, so he heard a few more anthems in Vancouver. But Ryan is American, though he did spend some of his childhood in Canada.

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One advantage to getting NHL Center Ice is seeing the Hometown Hockey pregame shows on Sunday nights. I taped what was supposed to be Hometown Hockey and NHL Center Ice didn't show the episode. They show plenty of pregame shows but Hometown Hockey should be guaranteed every week. Not a good sign when people are deciding whether to pay more for NHL Center Ice.

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The bemoaning was loud over the record NHL teams have in the first game from the new 5-day break. Then again, if most teams don't do well, then there is no advantage or disadvantage. If you are a fan of a team just back from break, you aren't likely to watch or attend a game knowing your team will probably lose. A more relevant statistic would be the 5-game record after the 5-day break. Or measure the amount of break by the other time: is the other team playing back-to-back or has a couple of days rest.

I will agree that the 5-day break might be like the All-Star Game: don't have it at the same season as the Olympics or the World Cup.

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Thanks to the NHL.Twitter.com, you can watch the Toronto Maple Leafs on your computer Tuesday night. The Leafs will be in San Jose at 10:30 pm. The house rule is to take the home feed, so the CSN-California feed will be used.

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Dave Strader is one of our favourite U.S. NHL announcers. Strader is battling cholangiocarcinoma (bile duct cancer). Strader has been given a 5-game respite during a Dallas Stars homestand, including a national telecast on NBC Sunday. Strader will work with his regular Dallas partner Daryl Reaugh, a Hockey Night in Canada alum, on the NBC telecast. Canadians and Americans will have a chance to see one of the best on NBC.

Gord Miller works with Pierre McGuire for NBCSN Sunday night in Chicago.

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The NHL Center Ice free preview finally gave us CBC promos. The NHL Network hasn't picked up a CBC feed since December 10, 2016. Hell, the channel hasn't run a HNIC matinee rebroadcast since that weekend.

Bellevue is the new drama starring Anna Paquin that began 2 days after the promos. True North Calling is a documentary series about what it's like to live in the north in Canada.

There were 0 goals in the 2nd period in the late game, yet not enough time for the promos. Have never seen that since we started tracking CBC promos. At least the late game got in all 6 promos. This bears repeating: the CBC gets $0 from ads during Hockey Night in Canada. CBC ran 13½ hours of programming on Saturday. While the network can run promos during the commercial breaks, the 12 on-air promos (none during the matinee game) is all the CBC got for 13½ hours of programming.

Early game: Murdoch Mysteries; Bellevue (1st); Schitt's Creek; Workin' Moms (2nd); Bellevue; True North Calling (3rd)

Late game: Murdoch Mysteries; Bellevue (1st); None (2nd); Schitt's Creek; Workin' Moms; Bellevue; True North Calling (3rd)

2017 Toronto Blue Jays spring training schedule

Warm sunshine and the smell of leather gloves can ignite the passion of baseball, even after back-to-back frustrating ends of the season in the American League Championship Series. The 2017 Toronto Blue Jays have a new look with some loved veterans gone but a young, up and coming starting rotation. The Blue Jays play in the Grapefruit League in Dunedin, Florida.

The March 7 game is an added bonus against the World Baseball Classic Canada team. Dalton Pompey ought to have some fun with that game as the Blue Jays outfielder will be on the WBC side while Russell Martin will be on the Blue Jays side looking to his native country team.

MLB Network will carry 4 live games but plenty of tape-delayed Toronto Blue Jays spring training games. At this point, the March 31 game in Montréal will air tape-delayed. That may be subject to change. If your desire is the Blue Jays feed, the Jays feed is available for those 4 games. Check the Blue Jays TV schedule to sync up possible games.

March 3 NY Yankees
March 7 Canada
March 24 Boston
April 1 Pittsburgh in Montréal

Rogers airs 9 Blue Jays home spring training games and 2 from Montréal. All but the March 31 telecast from Montréal will be at 1 pm Eastern. The broadcasters will be some combination of Buck Martinez, Jerry Howarth, and Dan Shulman on play-by-play with colour analysts Pat Tabler and Joe Siddall.

February 26 Philadelphia (SNE, SNO, SNP, Sportsnet One)
February 27 Pittsburgh (Sportsnet)
March 3 NY Yankees (Sportsnet)
March 5 Tampa Bay (Sportsnet)
March 7 Team Canada (Sportsnet, Sportsnet One)
March 18 Tampa Bay (Sportsnet)
March 24 Boston (Sportsnet)
March 25 Canadian Junior National Team (SNE, SNO, SNW)
March 26 Baltimore (Sportsnet)
March 31 Pittsburgh in Montréal (SNE, SNO, SNP)
April 1 Pittsburgh in Montréal (Sportsnet)

A number of games are exclusively available on Sportsnet.ca. These might be radio simulcasts with basic camera angles in the mix. Details aren't clear, but if you are desperate. Those likely aren't subject to geographical restrictions, but we don't know.

March 1 Detroit
March 2 Philadelphia
March 8 @ Baltimore
March 9 @ Philadelphia
March 10 @ Detroit
March 14 @ Boston  
March 17 @ Philadelphia
March 20 Minnesota
March 21 @ Baltimore
March 22 Detroit   
March 27 Philadelphia (6:07)
March 28 @ Philadelphia (6:35)
March 29 NY Yankees

Here is the overall 2017 spring training schedule

February 25 @ Atlanta
February 26 @ NY Yankees
February 26 Philadelphia
February 27 Pittsburgh
February 28 @ Pittsburgh
March 1 Detroit
March 2 Philadelphia
March 3 NY Yankees
March 4 @ Minnesota
March 5 Tampa Bay
March 7 Canada
March 8 @ Baltimore
March 9 @ Philadelphia
March 10 @ Detroit
March 11 Philadelphia
March 12 @ Tampa Bay
March 13 Boston
March 14 @ Boston
March 16 NY Yankees
March 17 @ Philadelphia
March 18 Tampa Bay
March 19 @ Pittsburgh
March 20 Minnesota
March 21 @ Baltimore
March 22 Detroit
March 24 Boston
March 25 @ NY Yankees
March 25 Canada Jr.
March 26 @ Detroit
March 26 Baltimore
March 27 Philadelphia (6:07)
March 28 @ Philadelphia (6:35)
March 29 NY Yankees

All starting times at 1:07 (home) and 1:05 (road) unless noted.

photo credit: Toronto Blue Jays

Canada takes in flood of refugee applicants from United States

If Americans could freely move to Canada in the way French people could move to Germany, the stories would be the long lines of people crossing into Canada. But unlike those imaginary border crossers, the flood of people leaving the United States for Canada are risking their health in crossing because they can't cross at regular border crossings.

In conventional times, the Safe Third Country Agreement would apply, where people claiming refugee status have to make that claim in the country where they first land. The rule, in place since late 2004, has given refugees in either country a shot at having that refugee claim status approved.

We don't live in conventional times thanks to Donald Trump and his policies. We are supposed to get tomorrow a revamped Trump travel ban, likely on the same 7 countries from the first travel ban. Somehow, certain refugees aren't feeling safe in the United States.

While there are several border crossing areas is that latest push, the two prominent locations are Hemmingford, QC and Emerson, MB.

It may be warmer than normal this winter in a lot of places, but these two points have plenty of cold and snow. We heard some stories of lost fingers and toes in trying to make the crossing.

Emerson has had trouble taking care of the extra influx of refugees.

So when these refugees get to Canada, they are arrested since, after all, they illegally crossed the border. But they know that they will get processed to determine their refugee status. The picture above illustrates how Canada has been handling this crisis.

We know there are stories of people risking their lives to come to the United States from the southern border though fewer of them than in recent years. After all, the numbers had been steadily declining while President Barack Obama was in office. Yet we hear lots of stories and focus paid on those crossings.

There are stories about high amounts of money being paid to get people close to the border.

CanadianCrossing.com Canadian politics coverage

CanadianCrossing.com Donald Trump coverage

The crossings from the United States into Canada should be a major story. We aren't talking about a story that has happening elsewhere in the world. This is happening in the United States, now.

We are starting to see some U.S. coverage citing this CNN report (with help from the CBC) but this needs to be a bigger story below the 49th parallel.

We laughed at the idea of a wall between Canada and the United States in part because they are so many decommissioned border crossings. People have crossed through these crossings in years past but the numbers have skyrocketed by comparison.

photo credit: The Associated Press/Google Earth

NHL the week in preview February 17, 2017

Hockey Day in Canada 2017 takes us to Kenora, ON for the festivities. For our new readers, Hockey Day in Canada is the birth mother of Hometown Hockey with a primary location and reports from other Canadian locations. This also means that every Canadian team is featured on Hockey Day in Canada. With an odd number (où est Ville de Quebec?), Chicago is the invited U.S. team in 2017.

The NHL Network takes the Rogers Sportsnet feed of the Edmonton Oilers in Chicago. For our Canadian viewers, WGN will also carry that game. Stunningly, the NHL Network will carry a U.S. matinee instead of the Hockey Day in Canada matinee.

CBC runs a tripleheader with the Winnipeg Jets in Montréal as the matinee game. The Battle of Ontario continues in the prime time slot from the Air Canada Centre that will also be on City TV. The Calgary Flames visit Vancouver in the nightcap. The Hockey Day in Canada coverage starts at noon Eastern on CBC.

Rogers Sportsnet has the Hometown Hockey festivities from Cranbrook, BC with the Maple Leafs in Carolina. Wednesday Night Hockey has the Edmonton Oilers in southern Florida in a somewhat last-minute change.

Rogers Sportsnet One has a late Sunday game with the Vancouver Canucks hosting Philadelphia. The channel also has Calgary Tuesday night in the country music capital.

For more on Hockey Day in Canada, click here for the details. NHL Center Ice will have Hockey Day in Canada coverage.

NBCSN was going to carry the Thursday game with the New York (Brooklyn?) Islanders in Montréal but chickened out. The good news is that the game is now available for the NHL Center Ice free preview (see below).

The NHL Center Ice free preview starts Saturday. Let's hope everyone has this set to go (Xfinity/Comcast, we are talking to you). If you are a recent reader, this used to be handled so much better. The puck is being dropped somewhere.

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NHL Network

Saturday
Edmonton @ Chicago, 7p

Tape delayed
Friday Philadelphia @ Edmonton, 1p
Thursday Edmonton @ Florida, 1p

CBC

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

City

Saturday
Ottawa @ Toronto, 7p

Rogers Sportsnet

Saturday
Edmonton @ Chicago, 7p
Sunday
Toronto @ Carolina, 7:30p
Wednesday
Edmonton @ Florida, 7:30p

Rogers Sportsnet One

Sunday
Philadelphia @ Vancouver, 10p
Tuesday
Calgary @ Nashville, 8p

NHL Center Ice

Saturday
Winnipeg @ Montréal, 2p
Ottawa @ Toronto, 7p
Calgary @ Vancouver, 10p
Sunday
Winnipeg @ Ottawa, 5p
Toronto @ Carolina, 7p
Philadelphia @ Vancouver, 10p
Tuesday
Ottawa @ New Jersey, 7p
Montréal @ NY Rangers, 7p
Winnipeg @ Toronto, 7:30p
Edmonton @ Tampa Bay, 7:30p
Calgary @ Nashville, 8p
Wednesday
Edmonton @ Florida, 7:30p
Thursday
NY Rangers @ Toronto, 7:30p
NY Islanders @ Montréal, 7:30p
Calgary @ Tampa Bay, 7:30p

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The Montréal Canadiens are not enjoying their time on NBCSN this season. Les Habs have been outscored 11-1 in 2 appearances so far. The Canadiens were scheduled to have 5 games, all in the second half, on NBCSN. The game on Thursday in Brooklyn was shifted to an all-U.S. matchup. The 2 remaining games are home games with Chicago on March 14 and Tampa Bay on April 7.

Normally, the Chicago date would be a co-exist with Comcast Sportsnet Chicago, but I'm hearing rumblings otherwise. The April 7 date is unusual in that the game is the only one of the night.

The 2 games the Habs have played so far were travel situations where Montréal was at a distinct disadvantage. True, the Canadiens are playing like tired crap but the telecasts were set up for Les Habs to fail.

NBCSN had enough interest early in the year to carry 1.4 Toronto Maple Leafs games. Even with the prospect of several Canadian teams in the Stanley Cup playoffs, the network has blown off all other Canadian teams. If you ask Montréal fans in the United States, they might suggest a few Ottawa Senators games instead of their team on the air.

Admittedly, the Sunday night game played second fiddle to the big network game in the afternoon, but the NBCSN coverage was mostly unwatchable. The studio crew spent 0 seconds on the Canadiens in pregame and the intermissions. John Forslund and Brian Boucher came with a lot more homework on the U.S. team but not the Canadian team. On a positive note, Michel Therrien was interviewed on the bench, something NBCSN occasionally "forgets" to do. And Boucher did note times when the Boston Bruins committed penalties but were not called.

The pretty crappy telecast still drew 495,000 on a Sunday night. When they say Canadian teams don't draw, use this number as proof.

I hate the NESN feed with a passion, but honestly even NESN would have covered this game better than NBCSN.

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The tired crap that the Montréal Canadiens were playing led to the firing of coach Michel Therrien. The Habs brought in recently fired Boston coach Claude Julien to replace Therrien. This was Therrien's 2nd stint as coach of the Montréal Canadiens. Julien previously coached Les Habs from 2003-2006. Who did Julien replace as the Habs head coach? Therrien.

I like Therrien but the second-half collapses this team suffered were a grave concern. Yes, you can look at the irony of a first-place team firing its coach, but this was not the same team. Julien knows what it is like to coach in this division and with Montréal. Maybe Therrien would have kept his job if Julien had stayed in Boston. If Therrien had to go, Julien was the first choice.    

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The U.S. audience got Paul Romanuk and Garry Galley on the City TV feed. I would put them up against any crew that the NHL Network has featured in the previous 56 days. We realize the announcers aren't the reason most fans are watching a game, but the Hockey Night in Canada telecasts, even under Rogers, far exceeds what most, if not all, U.S. telecasts can do.

This kind of crew and production had been sorely missed. NHL Center Ice will put a dent in my wallet but the NHL Network isn't doing its job anymore. Plus I could get the long lost CBC feeds.

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We do know that Bob Cole and Garry Galley will cover the matinee. Jim Hughson and Craig Simpson handles the Battle of Ontario with the Edmonton local announcers on their game. Dave Randorf works with Louie DeBrusk on the late game.

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The NHL Network picked up the Root Sports Pittsburgh for the Valentine's Day game. Ugh. Yes, home feeds, but the Penguins feed is an odd combination of pompous and dull. With the Pittsburgh and Boston shutouts, Canadian teams were outscored 12-2 in the 3 national games. Glad to see them on TV but better with goals scored and wins.

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NBCSN refused to use Chris Cuthbert or Gord Miller for the Canadiens but had no problem using them this past week. Cuthbert worked with his old TSN partner Pierre McGuire Monday night in Columbus. Miller will work on Sunday for Hockey Day in America in Buffalo.

Good to know that the New York Rangers and Columbus Blue Jackets get a much better crew than Montréal-Boston.

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photo credit: Rogers Sportsnet

Brian Williams exemplifies why Canada doesn't get covered well by MSM

"I'm always intrigued by the fact that opportunities like this are used to talk about the issues of the day as opposed to the issues of the relationship. It's a press conference with the prime minister of Canada and the president of the United States. I know the convention is to whenever the president is available, ask him any question that's possible.

"I actually hoped there would be more questions about the Canada-U.S. relationship as opposed to what are our international crises. We know what they are. We hear about them daily. We'll hear about them tonight, I'm sure. I would have liked even more conversation about the relationship, which I thought was the subject of the meeting."

Gordon D. Giffin was the second U.S. Ambassador to Canada under President Bill Clinton from 1997-2001. Giffin was a guest on MSNBC's coverage of the press conference on Monday afternoon with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Donald Trump.

As someone who writes about Canada, who has covered politics on both sides of the border, I had wondered about the huge gap in knowledge of Canadians who know too much about the United States and Americans who only knows stereotypes about maple-syrup-covered polar bears who play hockey and speak French.

The news story was right in front of them and on live TV. Canada, the largest trading partner of 35 states, with an above-average looking prime minister was being tossed aside for the same stories that would be talked about ad nauseum on a 24-hour cable news cycle.

MSNBC anchor Brian Williams proceeded to pompously defend the obsessive direction of the coverage. Williams wasn't indignant at Giffin or Canada. In fact, Williams blew off the content of the question entirely along the lines of "we have to be obsessed at repeating the same stories over and over." Williams dragged in Andrea Mitchell, who agreed with Williams' point.

After Giffin said "the Canada-U.S. relationship," MSNBC reporter Katy Tur said off-mic and off-camera "that would have been something as well."

Unlike her MSNBC colleagues, Tur was willing to defend the notion of sticking to Canada in the conversation. She played a bit from all sides, thoughtful and closer to journalism than Williams or Mitchell.

Tur pointed out the lack of journalism depth in the 2 reporters picked by Trump for questions. The Daily Caller, a right-wing Web site, and WJLA-TV Washington, an ABC affiliate owned by Sinclair, a openly right-wing TV stations owner.

Mitchell agreed on that the U.S. questions were much weaker than the Canadians, adding that in the previous news conference that the 2 questions came from Rupert Murdoch owned properties: the New York Post and Fox 'News.'

Justin Trudeau wins round 1 over Donald Trump

In the spirit of the moment, the Michael Flynn story was significant as this press conference came less than 24 hours before his resignation as national security adviser. Flynn has been part of the conversation all week in the U.S. news cycle. Except for Sean Spicer thinking of Trudeau long-lost cousin Joe Trudeau and The Daily Show with Trevor Noah poking fun at Ivanka Trump's schoolgirl-crush reaction to the Canadian prime minister, Canada had disappeared from the news radar.

Williams made this out to be a battle between government vs. journalism. In his mindset, Williams thought focusing on Canada was the "government" side and obsessing over the same easy-to-handle stories was the "journalism" side.

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Justin Trudeau goes high as Donald Trump goes low

MSNBC brought in Richard Stengel, former undersecretary of state and a former Time magazine managing editor. Williams introduced him hoping he would jump in on the "journalism" side instead of the "government" side.

Stengel took the "government" side, noting that you "can't make governing hostage to the news media." Stengel had a beautiful summary of what is wrong with cable news. "There's a little bit of an aspect in cable television of a 6-year-old's soccer game where everybody follows the ball all the time."

Cable news can't think too much about Canada that matters more to average Americans than chasing its proverbial media tail over and over. The news becomes the news and those few stories are all that can be discussed. That isn't journalism, that is bullsh-t.

The European Union approved the trade agreement this week between the EU and Canada. NAFTA and the United States might become less relevant to Canadian trade with that deal, even if the Keystone XL pipeline ever gets built. About a year ago, the EU-Canada deal was seen as a template for a similar U.S.-EU trade deal. Between Brexit and Trump, that won't happen anytime soon.

The EU-Canada deal was worth headlines in Canada; maybe page 18 in major U.S. newspapers but certainly nothing on U.S. cable news.

Trade and trade partnerships have become a focus in U.S. news but more about political allegations not actual trade policies.

You would think that given 24 hours, cable news would have time to talk about trade or Canada or Canadian trade. But the cycle can only handle shallow discussions of the same topics ad nauseum.

Tur made the point that if Trump had asked members of the standard press e.g., The Associated Press, NBC News, the questions from the U.S. side would have been more substantial. While I agree with Tur, there is no guarantee that the questions would be germane to the trade talks between the two countries.

Giffin's original point wasn't invalidating the Michael Flynn coverage but wanting to know why Canada and trade couldn't be a part of the 24-hour cable news cycle for awhile. Williams' response was to invalidate anything that didn't follow the rhythm of the 24-hour cable news cycle. For lack of a better term, Canada and international trade are too boring and not sexy enough for TV news.

CTV's Brian Williams is not in any trouble

Taking a potshot at the journalism reputation of Brian Williams would be too easy. Williams is the messenger, albeit a pompous one, of the MSM cable news mentality that the only news that can be covered is easily digestible, leaving out somewhat complex or quieter concerns and issues. The American people deserve better news coverage of its Canadian neighbour. You can find a good list on the right-hand side of our blog or you could keep reading CanadianCrossing.com. We are inquisitive and curious, never pompous.

CanadianCrossing.com Canadian politics coverage

CanadianCrossing.com Donald Trump coverage

You can read the transcript to judge the quality of the Canadian vs. American questions in the press conference. The Canadian reporters are Tonda MacCharles. Ottawa bureau reporter for the Toronto Star and Richard Latendresse, White House Correspondent for Groupe TVA. The American reporters are Kaitlan Collins, White House Correspondent, The Daily Caller and Scott Thuman, Chief Political Correspondent, WJLA-TV, Washington, DC.

photo collage: MSNBC

Justin Trudeau wins round 1 over Donald Trump

Justin Trudeau was down in the first of 3 rounds with Patrick Brazeau in the charity boxing match. The first round really didn't go well for Trudeau. As Canadian politics fans know very well, Trudeau outlasted the much-larger Brazeau where the fight was stopped in Trudeau's favour in the 3rd round.

The Canadian prime minister knows that the fight on NAFTA and trade is a long battle. Prime Minister Trudeau is up against Donald Trump, known for short-term, not well-thought-out thinking. Even with Trump's bombastic nature, expect Trudeau to outlast Trump in a trade fight.

The best takeaway from the initial meeting had little to do with policy but everything about a handshake. Several people, including world leaders, were taken off-guard by Trump's abnormally aggressive handshake. Justin Trudeau went on offence in anticipation and grabbed Trump's shoulder with his left hand to prevent his arm from being yanked by Trump.

The Canadian prime minister got a little extra mileage yesterday when Sean Spicer referred to a long-distant family connection named "Joe Trudeau."

But let's get down to issues.

The purpose of the meetings and to take trade. Trudeau emphasized the line about Canada being the #1 exporting country to 35 states. In the press conference, Trump talked about tweaking the relationship, though he conceded that both countries would win in a revised trade deal.

Trump spent most of his time during the press conference on terrorism. Like with trade, there were no specifics.

Canada may be worried about softwood lumber or the eggs and dairy industries, but we're not this U.S. government has a game plan to this point. Even if Trump sounded conciliatory, what is said today isn't always backed up by the same words the next day.

The Canada-United States Council for Advancement of Women Entrepreneurs is the most intriguing element to come out of the talks in Washington. 5 female CEOs each from the 2 countries will make up a board to give recommendations.

In Canada, this makes more sense. Trudeau is a known feminist and his government, including a 50% female cabinet. is friendly to women. In the United States, Trump's reputation with women is rather poor on a number of issues. Even with female business entrepreneur/daughter Ivanka Trump as part of the event, women and the Trump brand feel like there is a wall in between them. Even if you somehow think Trump is female-friendly, the GOP-led House and Senate are just as hostile.

Progress on this issue, even if that is only on the Canadian side. is long overdue.

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Justin Trudeau showcases Canada's new way on '60 Minutes'

Unfortunately, this was not a discussion on travel bans, immigration, or the fact that people are running and risking their lives to go from the United States to Canada. Ronald Reagan had a throwaway line about how they are coming here, not in the other direction. Well, they are running for the border to get out. If it was easier for Americans to leave, large Canadian cities would get even larger.

From Statistics Canada on the 2016 census: "The three largest CMAs in 2016 — Toronto, Montréal, and Vancouver — were home to more than one-third of all Canadians (35.5 per cent), with a combined population of 12.5 million." Montréal now has 4 million people.

CanadianCrossing.com Canadian politics coverage

CanadianCrossing.com Donald Trump coverage

One casualty of the Trump reign that is becoming apparent is that in a year where Canada is a tourism draw, tourism in the United States, especially from Canada, may significantly drop. Short-term traffic from Windsor is dropping, and even The New York Times is paying attention.

With the low Canadian dollar, Canadians were less likely to do cross-border shopping anyway. The 4 Moroccans who were turned back were just going shopping in Burlington, VT. The only thing that would have saved that is if the U.S. dollar dropped dramatically. While that hasn't happened yet under the Trump reign, a tariff war would accelerate the possibility.

If Canadians pull their money from shopping destinations such as Burlington, VT and Bellingham, WA, that will hurt U.S. local economies. Don't be fooled thinking this will only apply to people in specific categories. You could be asked at the border about Trump, and if that perception is seen as negative, your chances of crossing get reduced.

Canadians don't have a special take on what is happening. International tourism has a likely chance of dropping as well into the United States. But Canadians do make up a significant portion of U.S. tourism.

Business travel should keep up at normal paces but only because businesses tend to move slower on trends. If you aren't sure your employee will make it to a meeting in Chicago or New York, you might just cancel that trip and uses services such as Skype.

We will be able to tell if tourism numbers drop, if the Trump reign doesn't try to stop those numbers from being posted (U.S. government numbers have been disappearing left and right since January 20).

photo credit: Twitter/@realdonaldtrump
screen grab: MSNBC
video credit: The Daily Show with Trevor Noah

Canadian film review: Better Than Chocolate

I love writing about Canadian film and I love love. So where can you turn on Valentine's Day for a love film that is Canadian?

If you Google "Canadian love films," you don't get too many well-known options. I don't even know most of the films in the search. The first one in the search is When Night Is Falling, a beautiful love film we have reviewed. The one on the list you are more likely to find is The F Word. I have not seen the film but that film looks more along the lines of a traditional love film. Then, there is Love in the Sixth, but that might be harder to find.

Love in the Sixth highlights Canadian films in 2016 CIMM festival

Canadian film review: When Night Is Falling

So if you asked me on this Valentine's Day for the one love Canadian film to recommend, I would offer up Better Than Chocolate.

The love story centers around Maggie who starts a new relationship with Kim. Maggie's mother and brother end up moving into her loft but don't know she is a lesbian. Maggie works in a bookstore that keeps running into problems with Canada customs over the material the store is trying to sell in Canada.

Maggie and Kim are in love with each other. Judy, who is trans, is in love with Frances, the bookstore owner, but Francis isn't sure. Maggie's mother just came out of love. Maggie's brother discovers love.

Better Than Chocolate is about love, friends, freedom, and acceptance. The characters go through discovery and learn about themselves and each other along the way. The characters invite you into their world and make you feel at home, even if they are people you might not see at the local mall.

CanadianCrossing.com film reviews

CanadianCrossing.com film coverage

The 1999 film gives perspective to the issues of the gay community at the time. The bookstore battle with customs is based on a real-life story. This was before gays and lesbians could get married in Canada. Maggie has trouble explaining to her mother that she is a lesbian.

In the end, the subplots of love are about love, regardless of the human beings involved. That 1999 message still rings true today.

The film satisfies the requirement for love on Valentine's Day but also has enough going for it as a film in case you are alone on Valentine's Day.

My Canadian Valentines 2016

My Canadian Valentines 2015

Ellen Page: still a cool Canadian role model

Seeing the multiple layers of beauty of famous Canadian women

I wish they all could be … Canadian girls

If you are recently new to CanadianCrossing.com, you might not be aware that we treat Valentine's Day as very special. The cool Canadian woman is a treasure that I like to give praise to on February 14. Click on any of the above links to take you to a previous Valentine's Day tribute.

Full disclosure: Anne Wheeler, who directed Better Than Chocolate, is a friend of a friend. I have never met Ms. Wheeler. I did meet Karyn Dwyer at a Toronto party last summer. She was very nice and let me go on about how much I loved the film. I also know the director and several cast members of Love in the Sixth.

video credit: YouTube/Lesbian Lips
screen grab: Google