Canadian Crossing

2018 Stanley Cup notebook: Winnipeg Jets get split in Nashville

The Winnipeg Jets still came out of Nashville with a split, gaining home-ice advantage in the second round of the 2018 Stanley Cup playoffs. Still, a reversal in overtime in Game 2 would have made the series a lot sweeter.

Mark Scheifele scored the game-tying goal with under a minute in regulation in Game 2, continuing his hot scoring hand.

Game 1 proved successful on the scoreboard for the Jets despite Nashville dominating the shot chart over Winnipeg 48-19, 20-4 in the 1st period. Connor Hellebuyck had a career-high 47 saves, though his 163-minute shutout streak was snapped.

Winnipeg went the first 70 minutes of the playoff series without a power play. Even in an "everything goes" mentality, that falls short of good officiating.

Vancouver and Edmonton didn't make any drama on Saturday night. Calgary had traded its 1st round pick but that pick stayed in its original position.

Montréal got some temporary drama jumping into the Top 3 picks of the Rasmus Dahlin sweepstakes aka the 2018 NHL Draft Lottery. However, the Canadiens only went from 4th to 3rd.

The biggest Canadian loser was the Ottawa Senators, the team that entered the night with the 2nd pick but fell back to 4th, the worst possible pick for the Sens, assuming Buffalo did and got the top pick.

Ottawa could send the pick to Colorado in the Matt Duchene trade but should send the 2019 1st-round pick instead.

The biggest winner was Carolina, the team that went from 11th to 2nd, a team that should have been in Quebec City.

The artificial drama might have been good TV to the casual fan. I took my own advice and had a good time on Saturday and caught up the next morning.

2018 Stanley Cup notebook: Toronto Maple Leafs come up short in Game 7

2018 Stanley Cup notebook: Winnipeg Jets win first playoff series since 1987

Chris Cuthbert, AJ Mleczko, Brian Boucher called Games 1 and 2 on NBCU. Cuthbert helped out a lot with anything Winnipeg related, a good thing since Boucher chased the yellow lights of Nashville. He did pour on praise for Hellebuyck, but still does very little homework on Canadian teams. Patrik Laine hardly came up in Game 1. They talked about Laine a bit more in Game 2 but still never mentioned being second in goals this season.

Mleczko brought solid analysis. She follows a little too close to Boucher at times deferring to his broadcast experience, not his expertise.

We were hoping for CBC feeds in the NHL Network rebroadcast matinees, but got the NBCU feed instead. That may be a second-round rule. The U.S. audience deserves a comparison. Even those rebroadcasts will be limited since the U.S. channel will carry the IIHF World Hockey Championship from Denmark. Look for a lot of TSN simulcasts.

2018 Stanley Cup notebook: Winnipeg Jets thrown off by Minnesota blizzard

2018 NHL Stanley Cup playoffs preview

Brian Burke just left his role as president of hockey operations for the Calgary Flames. So what is Burke going to do now? He'll be a studio analyst for Rogers Sportsnet. Burke is entertaining and straightforward so that should be fun for the Canadian TV audience.

CanadianCrossing.com NHL coverage

The NHL Network gave us a 2-hour CBC matinee rebroadcast for Game 7. That allows for more CBC promos, though as we've noted, the promos are wafer-thin.

There were only 4 promos in Game 7. The 3rd period promos might have been edited out but that is sadly doubtful.

2 of the 4 promos went to apps. The track and field is being streamed on May 4. The National being streamed on Facebook is relevant beyond Canada's borders since Americans can watch The National via Facebook.

Game 7: CBC news app; IAAF Diamond League track and field (1st); CBC TV app; CBC The National via Facebook (2nd)

Twitter capture: @canadian_xing

Toronto sports cornucopia is a small portion of what makes Toronto a worthy destination

It’s like the Sharknado of sports in #Toronto today!!#Leafs #Raptors #TFC #Marlies #Jays #the6ix pic.twitter.com/0I7z7OqQg2

— Geoff Conant (@geoffconant) April 25, 2018

Having 4 major Toronto sports teams play on the same day would be a most trivial moment: the moment rarely happens and most people don't care about it. The sports angle was a bit heightened with key playoff implications in the NHL and NBA and a championship in April for soccer that would have to be explained by a squad of soccer lovers for the average person to understand.

A stats geek would love the fact that in the previous 5 moments, there wasn't a time where all 4 won or all 4 lost. The average (2 wins, 2 losses) has been done 3 of the 5 times with a time each for all but one win and all but one loss.

Toronto is a city of frustrating sports experiences. The Maple Leafs are the only Original 6 team that hasn't even made it to the Stanley Cup in the modern era, stretching back to 1967. The Winnipeg Jets are the only current Canadian team that has never been to the Stanley Cup.

The Raptors are in a stretch of good teams but has never made the NBA final.

The Blue Jays won back-to-back World Series in the early 1990s but the modern group hasn't made it to the World Series.

Toronto FC are the defending MLS champions. Toronto Argonauts are the defending Grey Cup champs. The Toronto Marlies reached the AHL finals in 2012 and are currently in the playoffs. To most Toronto sports fans, the Maple Leafs and Raptors count in that order.

On Wednesday night, the major teams went 1-3, 1-4 if you count the Marlies. Both the Blue Jays and Maple Leafs lost to Boston teams. The Reds lost the CONCACAF Champions League final on penalty kicks. The Raptors came from behind to win Game 5 in the NBA playoffs. No offence to the Raptors, but many Toronto sports fans would have wanted the Leafs to win if only a single Toronto team could win.

To a lot of Canadians, Toronto is a source of scorn in ways that most countries have a love/hate relationship with the largest city in their country. The sports angle helps that image. The Vancouver Grizzlies and Montréal Expos were grand exceptions for major North American sports leagues: for a number of reasons, Toronto is the only Canadian city that could approach this level.

If you are a MLB fan and want to root for a Canadian team, you have one choice. The same goes for the NBA. You have 3 choices in MLS and surprisingly only 7 choices in the NHL.

"We need to continue to reflect on the changing situations in which we're in and do everything we can to keep Canadians safe. But we cannot, as Canadians, choose to live in fear every single day as we go about our daily business." — Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau after Monday's attack in Toronto.

#TorontoStrong focuses on the tragic event in Willowdale with 10 dead and 14 injured after a van drove onto the sidewalk off Yonge Street. Sports can be an escape, especially in tough times.

2018 Stanley Cup notebook: Toronto Maple Leafs come up short in Game 7

We saw the dynamic on Monday night as people were headed to the Air Canada Centre and Maple Leaf Square for Game 6 of the Toronto Maple Leafs playoff series. Some of them hadn't heard about what happened to their neighbours a few kilometres north of them. Others knew but felt compelled to stay strong and not live in fear. Those in the Air Canada Centre, outside in Maple Leaf Square, and those watching on CBC did participate in a moment of silence for those dead and injured in the attack.

This is not one of those stories about sports overcoming personal tragedy. If all 5 Toronto teams had won Wednesday night, there wouldn't have been a single change in what happened in Willowdale.

Canada rose to the occasion in the tragedy of the Humboldt Broncos bus crash. Canada will rise to the occasion in Toronto like the country did after the Ottawa and Quebec shootings in 2015. When the momentum has subsided, Canada will go back to making fun of Toronto once again.

If you have been to Toronto and have only seen downtown, take some time to come back and explore some really cool neighbourhoods. Kensington Market, Leslieville, the Danforth. High Park, Bloor West, Chinatown, the Distillery District, Cabbagetown, the Annex: these may be some of the more obvious spots.

Horrific News back home in #Toronto.
Having lived in that part of North York for 16 years - my heart goes out to all our Neighbors,Patrons,Community Members and First Responders. Can’t believe this happened on Yonge St, the longest Street in the World.
Prayers Up 🙏🏿😢

— Kevin Weekes (@KevinWeekes) April 23, 2018

Willowdale might not been high on that list. One bright spot in this tragedy is listening to people tell us how great their neighbourhood is, even with the decimation from the attack on Monday. Kevin Weekes, former Hockey night in Canada analyst, shared with the U.S. audience on the NHL Network the virtues of that neighbourhood having lived there for 16 years before recently moving to the United States. His words were very moving about the connections he had with that area.

You might still make fun of Toronto even if you see a few of these neighbourhoods, but you will find that you have more in common with the people in Toronto than you might have realised.

Twitter capture: @geoffconant; @kevinweekes
Photo credit: Google Maps

2018 Stanley Cup notebook: Toronto Maple Leafs come up short in Game 7

It’s a night unlike any other in Toronto sports. A 3-game viewing party for the world’s greatest city. @Raptors Game 5@MapleLeafs Game 7@torontofc CCL Final

Gates open 5PM.#StandWitness | #TeamToronto pic.twitter.com/b0JFg7uId9

— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) April 25, 2018

If Nazem Kadri had received a 1-game suspension, consistent with other playoff suspensions in 2018, do the Toronto Maple Leafs advance out of the first round? Does the 3-game suspension represent a way for the NHL to interfere in the Toronto Maple Leafs playoff success?

You could argue that even if the Toronto Maple Leafs had won Game 7 in Boston last night that the excessive suspension severely interfered with the series. You could argue that the refs hiding their whistles at key points also interfered with the outcome of the series. Boston has consistently been given the gift of whining excessively and not getting crucial penalties called against them.

If only the Referee had a better vantage point of this shot to the head of Frederik Andersen.#TMLTalk pic.twitter.com/KjAAR6yYqJ

— Leafs Hub (@LeafsHub) April 26, 2018

If the Leafs had played a better Game 4, Toronto might have advanced in 6 games. Would have been nice to see the two teams play a fair match over 7 games without any crap or interference and see which team would have come out on top.

Surprised #MikeMilbury making the trip to #Toronto @MapleLeafs for Game 6 on @NHLonNBCSports. He hasn't crossed the #Canada border in this series before now. Maybe he'll say hi to his old buddies at @cbcsports https://t.co/P9xfpGasIM

— Chad Rubel (@canadian_xing) April 23, 2018

Mike Milbury "conveniently" went to Stamford, Connecticut (the NHL on NBC home) while the Toronto Maple Leafs series was in Canada. Milbury returned to Toronto for Game 6 along with Doc Emrick and Pierre McGuire. Ed Olczyk is entitled to as much rest as he needs, but he should have been there for Game 7 with Emrick and McGuire instead of Milbury.

NHL notebook: Mike Milbury gone from CBC, but not why you think

Unlike the network itself, Milbury used to go to Toronto all the time when he provided studio analysis for Hockey Night in Canada on CBC. Milbury was on Hockey Night in Canada from the 2008-2009 season until December 2011.

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Doc Emrick did a really nice job getting the NBCSN audience ready for the moment of silence before Game 6 at the Air Canada Centre.

I haven't spent too much time in the Willowdale area of North York in Toronto, but I felt a commonality with that neighbourhood after the horrific attack on pedestrians in that area on Monday. Toronto is a resilient city but that doesn't do much for the heartache of the lost and drastically changed lives as well as the relatively normal peace of mind.

Staying strong and going on with life is a message I firmly get behind whether the attack has been someplace where I've been such as Brussels and London and other places such as Nice, France.

#TorontoStrong is not just a hashtag. Often, Toronto gets dismissed as not being as cool as Montréal. Toronto is not as cool as Montréal. But I have discovered in my recent adventures that Toronto has a more going than you might see on the surface. Willowdale is just one great example.

2018 Stanley Cup notebook: Winnipeg Jets win first playoff series since 1987

2018 Stanley Cup notebook: Winnipeg Jets thrown off by Minnesota blizzard

2018 NHL Stanley Cup playoffs preview

CanadianCrossing.com NHL coverage

The team that scored first won the first 5 games of the Maple Leafs series. Boston scored first in Game 6 but Toronto furnished the comeback. The Leafs scored first in Game 7 but couldn't hold on to the lead.

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Nashville has a 3-2 edge in regular season play against Winnipeg. The idea that the 2 best records in the NHL regular season go head-to-head in the second round is a bit sad.

We had hoped the NHL would stop listening to NBCU on late starts in the Central time zone. Game 4 in Winnipeg runs at 8:30 pm local time. NBCU can't punish me like the organisation punished Pat Foley for objecting to horrible start times. Since the first game won't be over yet, count on that time being extended.

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Calgary made a very quick decision going with Bill Peters as the new Flames head coach. Peters opted out of his contract with the Carolina Hurricanes after 4 seasons.

Peters is coaching the Canada team again at the cover the 2018 IIHF World Championship. Calgary General Manager Brad Treliving has a good relationship with Peters. So Peters will be the fourth Flames coach in the 9 years along with Glen Gulutzan (2016-18); Bob Hartley (2012-16); and Brent Sutter (2009-12).

The NHL draft lottery is Saturday night. 4 of the 7 Canadian teams have a healthy shot at being in the top 3 picks.

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We only have the Game 1 U.S. crew for the Jets in the second round: Chris Cuthbert, AJ Mleczko, and Brian Boucher.

AJ Mleczko worked a couple of playoff games (Games 1 and 5) for NBCU in the Nashville-Colorado series. Mleczko and Cassie Campbell-Pascall could swap notes, though Campbell-Pascall was limited in the first round to intermission analysis in the Winnipeg Jets series on Rogers Sportsnet.

Mleczko worked with Kenny Albert and Brian Boucher in the first round. Boucher has a pattern of being against Canadian teams, and this series won't change that. Mleczko has been a good influence on Boucher in that he doesn't get to speak as often.

Gord Miller will call one final NHL playoff game for NBCU after he originally thought he was done. Miller will call Game 1 in Tampa. Yes, that could have been with the Maple Leafs in prime time on Saturday night. Miller and Ray Ferraro will be off to cover the 2018 IIHF World Championship in Copenhagen and Herning, Denmark for TSN.

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Winnipeg: Jim Hughson/Craig Simpson/Cassie Campbell-Pascall/Scott Oake
Adams: Paul Romanuk/Garry Galley/Kyle Bukauskas
Patrick: Rick Ball/Greg Millen/Christine Simpson
Smythe: Dave Randorf/Louie DeBrusk/Dan Murphy

Rick Ball gets to do a second-round series while Bob Cole takes an unexpected hiatus from the Stanley Cup playoffs. We knew the first 2 crews would have switched had the Maple Leafs advanced to the second round.

Every game that is produced on CBC will have a Canadian crew. Here is the CBC schedule for the first 4 games of each series:

April 26 Pittsburgh at Washington, 7p // San Jose at Las Vegas, 10p
April 27 Winnipeg at Nashville, 8p
April 28 San Jose at Las Vegas, 8p
April 29 Pittsburgh at Washington, 3p // Winnipeg at Nashville, 7p
April 30 Boston at Tampa Bay, 7p // Las Vegas at San Jose, 10p
May 1 Nashville at Winnipeg, 8p
May 2 Tampa Bay at Boston, 7p // Las Vegas at San Jose, 10p
May 3 Nashville at Winnipeg, 9:30p
May 4 Tampa Bay at Boston, 7p

Twitter captures: @mapleleafs; @leafshub; @canadian_xing

Canadian ads from 2017-2018 NHL Center Ice free previews

The NHL Center Ice free preview normally gives the U.S. audience 3 hearty time periods to sample Canadian ads. We only had a week in October instead of 3 weeks. The midseason preview was hidden during the Olympics so we don't know when the preview started and thanks to glitches, have no idea when it officially ended. Springtime brought 8 days worth with a glitch on the last day of the season.

So we decided to combine bits of ads from all 3 previews. The CBC Comedy Tuesday promo ran last fall but seeing the promo does give fans a chance to honour the "I'm not retiring" Rick Mercer Report.

McDonald's made a pair of ads that are artistic but have little to do with its fast food core. We saw an ad for milk that still leaves us scratching our heads.

The newest Tim Hortons Roll up and Win ad (above) is the latest reincarnation of a game Canadians know where Americans have no clue.

The Smirnoff Canada ad promotes that Canada is for everyone. Canada prides itself as a multiculturalist country. Drinking spirits is not the usual path for a common denominator, but I love the spirit (pun intended) of the ad.

Swiss Chalet reminds me of restaurants growing up where you got fed a lot of food, even if it wasn't gourmet. The idea that a fairly boring family would get excited about Thursday ribs at Swiss Chalet might be a friendly poke within by the chain.

Cross-promotion is rarely funny even with funny people. If the CBC Comedy Tuesday team were going to convene, they would meet at Kim's Convenience. The folks from This Hour Has 22 Minutes are buying a gift for Shaun Majumder. Mr. D is sampling a bottle of water. Appa is yelling at Rick Mercer because he can hear Mercer's rants behind the store.

The winter version would have Schitt's Creek looking for gourmet mustard and Workin' Moms trying to find a more adult type gift.

I don't know Kelsey Roadhouse or its food. Being around 40 years is nice but not a big deal. I do love the time travel back to 1978. The time travel feels Canadian, though I can't say why.

McDonald's Canada offers a Big Mac with Bacon. We've seen ads before but these avant-garde ads in black and white are outstanding and totally irrelevant to the product. Adding bacon always sounds better than it is, especially coming from a mainstream fast food chain. Why are McDonald's Canada ads so much more interesting than the ones from McDonald's in the United States?

McDonald's Canada picked up the cowboy theme when promoting Angus beef in earlier ads. To introduce Montréal Steak Spice BBQ Angus, the cowboy is on a horse moving the puck down what looks to be a frozen St. Lawrence River in Montreal. The goalie has Montréal on the mask though he is definitely not a Hab. The Montréal goalie stops the cowboy's shot with a great save. I want this to be a short film instead of a commercial for a burger I will never likely eat.

CanadianCrossing.com advertising coverage

We love the humour of previous Dairy Farmers of Canada ads, but this kiss cam ad feels weird but not in a good way. This ad seems racist in that the large woman prevents a mixed-race couple from kissing for the kiss cam. But the ad seems to be about the woman preventing young people from kissing in public. Because the young man kisses the large woman as does the young girl, you have enough indirect kisses to probably still be okay except that the kisses are non-consensual. What does this have to do with milk? Can't solve that dilemma. The other ads from the Dairy Farmers of Canada are sharp and on point. Tried to find this ad on the Dairy Farmers of Canada YouTube page. To no one's surprise, the ad isn't there.

Sidney Crosby and Nathan MacKinnon are back together to help out Jeff from Kelowna in the latest Tim Hortons ad. Jeff from Kelowna just netted the OT winner in Game 7. The three of them are in the locker room. MacKinnon gives him the A for alternate to the captain. Crosby gives him the C for captain. Then Jeff from Kelowna wakes up at Tim Hortons.

Dad was a Molson brewer. Now his son is a Molson brewer. Dad says you should work hard. Dad is proud of his son.

Springtime is a good time to plant the seeds for summer travel in places such as Newfoundland and Labrador as well as Prince Edward Island. They don't look this good now but in a few months, they will be beautiful and peaceful.

video credits: companies and organisations in the ads

Super Troopers 2 brings jokes about Canada across the border

The time is MEOW for the #SuperTroopers2 Red Band Trailer.

Only In Theaters 4.20.18 pic.twitter.com/bWwnluGxtP

— Super Troopers 2 (@SuperTroopers) January 19, 2018

As we've seen with Kevin Smith, a love for Canada doesn't translate to a decent portrayal onscreen of Canada on film. The Broken Lizard troupe, known for Super Troopers (2001), took on Canada in Super Troopers 2. They brought the jokes and let Canadians respond in kind.

The policemen in the original film were Vermont state troopers who kept getting demoted. Years later, they are doing construction when given the opportunity to put on the uniform. The premise is that part of Quebec belongs to Vermont and the troopers will run the transition.

There are a lot of jokes about the metric system taken to the extreme. After all, Canada doesn't measure people in centimetres. One of their duties is changing highway signs from kilometres to miles. One of the Canadian Mounties says you just need to multiply by 2, add 32, and join the rest of the human race.

The film is full of pranks, true to Broken Lizard style. When they prank the Canadian Mounties, they call them during Hockey Night in Canada. "Who calls people during Hockey Night in Canada?" The teams playing on the ice are the Halifax Bear-Eaters vs. the Banff Beavers.

The mayor Guy LeFranc (Rob Lowe) explains the origin of his nickname Halifax Explosion after the actual Halifax Explosion. Lowe told Jimmy Kimmel on Jimmy Kimmel Live that he wanted to talk about the actual Halifax Explosion. As has been noted in various stories, some of what LeFranc says is true, other parts aren't. No one ever accused the Super Troopers of being completely historically accurate.

At one point, the Ontario Provincial Police gets mentioned. This leads to the obvious joke that they are down with OPP.

All the troopers Thorny (star and director Jay Chandrasekhar) sample illegal drugs from a seizure. Thorny ends up on a female libido enhancement drug called Flova Scotia.

Even though they are converting this part of Canada to the United States, the exit signs in the station house all say "Sortie."

Will Sasso, Tyler Labine, and Hayes MacArthur play the Canadian Mounties. Sasso and Labine are Canadian. We even get a cry of "tabarnak" from one of the mounties. Canadian actress Emmanuelle Chriqui plays French/Canadian cultural attaché Genevieve Aubois. Bruce McCullouch has a cameo as the border guard when the troopers first enter Canada.

The Mounties point out that Canada gained its independence in 1982. The American troopers are surprised they can say queefing on Canadian television. You can say and see a lot more on Canadian TV.

Super Troopers 2 has the spirit of a passionate exchange between the two countries. The response from Quebecers is relatively light compared to how they would really react if the United States threatened to take their land.

CanadianCrossing.com film reviews

CanadianCrossing.com film coverage

The Canadian jokes, for and against, were mostly well-thought and constructed. Some of them were cheap and a little weird. Given what most American films say about Canada, Super Troopers 2 rank as one of the most authentic American films about Canada. Not where Scott Pilgrim Saved the World rests but above Yoga Hosers, which to be fair to Kevin Smith was way better than Tusk.

Fans of the first Super Troopers film will remember a syrup (probably not real maple) chugging contest. That would have fit in well in Super Troopers 2.

Videos credit: @SuperTroopers; YouTube/q on CBC
Photos credit: Super Troopers 2

2018 Stanley Cup notebook: Winnipeg Jets win first playoff series since 1987

The Stanley Cup playoffs prove that goals are important but when those goals come are crucial. Through the first 3 games, Winnipeg and Minnesota had the same numbers of goals, though the Jets had a 2-1 edge. The Wild scored 6 goals in Game 3 but not enough goals to make up the difference in the first 2 games.

The Jets outscored the Wild 7-0 in the final 2 games to win the series.

This was the first Winnipeg playoff series win since April 16, 1987. The Jets beat the Calgary Flames 4-2 before losing 4-0 to the eventual Stanley Cup champion Edmonton Oilers.

The Winnipeg Jets will face Nashville in the second round to determine the "Norris" winner. The Jets concede home ice to Nashville.

Patrik Laine wasn't much of an offensive force in the first round. Minnesota focused on Laine opening up room for other Winnipeg players. That offense versatility will help the Jets in the playoffs. Connor Hellebuyck has been very strong in goal, especially with back-to-back shutouts.

Due to dangerous conditions following this weekend's ice storm, please note tonight's @CanadianTire Tailgate Party in Maple Leaf Square is cancelled. #TMLtalk pic.twitter.com/LXkdaUDndw

— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) April 16, 2018

The winter weather in April played havoc with Game 3 of the Winnipeg Jets series in St. Paul. The weather was also treacherous in Toronto for Game 3. Their Blue Jays neighbours at Rogers Centre had to postpone a baseball game inside a domed stadium since ice pellets from the CN Tower poked a hole in the roof.

Though the Maple Leafs did well in Game 3, the fans couldn't join them in Maple Leaf Square. So when you didn't see crowd shots on NBCSN, that was because there was no crowd.

The crowd was out there for Game 4 in Toronto, but you wouldn't know this from watching NBCSN. The NHL Network matinee rebroadcast allowed U.S. viewers to see the CBC feed with plenty of outside shots. Surprisingly, Game 5 from Boston on NBC showed a few shots of Maple Leaf Square.

All the anthems have aired in the Toronto series but NBCU only shown the Game 1 anthem in the Winnipeg Jets series. The U.S. audience showed the outside crowds in all 3 Winnipeg home games but NBCU refused to show us the Toronto crowd in the only game available in Game 4.

The Jets were up 1-0 in the 2nd intermission in Game 4 but the NBCU intermission didn't even pretend to acknowledge the Jets. NBCU treats the intermissions with a stop watch but the one-sided presentations show clear bias. Say what you will about the Rogers intermissions but both teams always get mentioned.

John Forslund wasn't supposed to be in Toronto for Game 3 but was summoned away from his scheduled assignment in New Jersey. Doc Emrick took the game off and Mike Milbury went back to the studio. Pierre McGuire was in Toronto. Gord Miller and Joe Micheletti hopefully got some good sleep before covering Game 4 from St. Paul.

The #1 crew in various incarnations have stuck with the Toronto series. Ed Olczyk, who did play for the Toronto Maple Leafs, joined Doc and Pierre for Game 4. Interesting that Milbury called the games in Boston but didn't set foot in Toronto. Milbury could have hung out in his former haunts with his former CBC buddies since Sportsnet operates out of the CBC building. NBCU shouldn't have had Milbury doing analysis on this series. This reinforces their Boston bias and bias against Toronto.

We were treated to the Rogers Sportsnet feed for the Jets Game 5, a brilliant move. However, Kathryn Tappen pulled the same crap that Paul Burmeister did for Game 2 and talk up to the point and beyond where the game actually went.

We are thrilled to welcome @HumboldtBroncos player, Matthieu Gomercic, to tonight's game. #HumboldtStrong pic.twitter.com/atgN0F0uiJ

— Winnipeg Jets (@NHLJets) April 21, 2018

NBCU covered up transitions back to Rogers Sportsnet programming. This was a meaningful moment that the U.S. covered up. The GoFundMe fund is now up to $15 million. Lots of warm and wonderful generosity from multiple countries to a very sad community.

2018 Stanley Cup notebook: Winnipeg Jets thrown off by Minnesota blizzard

2018 NHL Stanley Cup playoffs preview

Even with a win in Game 5, the Maple Leafs should have played better in Game 4. When your only goal comes from Tomas Plekanec, your offence is struggling. Plekanec does a lot of small things but getting his first goal with the Maple Leafs was long past due.

If Toronto can get past Boston, Tampa Bay awaits on the other side to decide the "Adams" championship.

We've also seen an alarmingly low number of penalties called in the Toronto series, especially at the Air Canada Centre. Fewer penalties favour the Boston team since refs tend to look the other way for Bruins roughplay.

Josh Morrissey got a 1-game suspension for a bad cross-check on Minnesota's Eric Staal in Game 4. That was a fair call. That perspective makes you wonder why Nazem Kadri received a punishment 3 times more severe for a lesser hit. Morrissey didn't receive a penalty for his hit while Kadri had a major and a game misconduct.

NBCU sends out press releases. often very late, about the upcoming announcers. For Game 2 and Game 5, both releases said the announcers were "Dave Randorf, Louie Debrusk," who called the desert series for CBC. Paul Romanuk and Garry Galley called the Jets series for Rogers Sportsnet along with Cassie Campbell-Pascall and Scott Oake. NBCU should also know that in the DeBrusk's name, the B is capitalised.

People make mistakes but are supposed to learn from those mistakes.

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We haven't made note of the CBC telecasts in the first round since there hasn't been an deviation. Rogers Sportsnet will more than likely handle a Game 7 in the U.S. capital if there is one. In this first round of the 2018 Stanley Cup playoffs. 2 series were 4-0 sweeps. 5 of the 6 remaining series were at 3-1. Of those 5 series, 3 of them went to at least a Game 6.

CanadianCrossing.com NHL coverage

When we mentioned the firing of Alain Vigneault, I put out there that a Canadian team should sign up Vigneault. One of my close Twitter followers suggested the southern Alberta team. Well, the Calgary Flames now have an opening, having fired head coach Glen Gulutzan along with assistants Dave Cameron and Paul Jerrard. Guy Boucher has been left hanging by Ottawa Senators management. Vigneault would be a fit in Ottawa. The Senators played so well for Boucher in his first year and so awful in his second year.

The Flames crash and fall was linked to injuries but still can't be ignored. Vigneault can help a few clubs and now Calgary is officially in the mix for a better fit.

While there was a tail end of a CBC promo on screen for Game 3 during the NHL Network matinee rebroadcast, we can't count the promo. Based on the first 2 games, the CBC promos are focusing on apps. April is a difficult time to promote shows since there isn't a regular lineup until June.

We got CBC rebroadcasts for the first 4 Maple Leafs games but not for Game 5.

Game 4: CBC TV app (2nd)

photo credits: RogersSportsnet/NHL; NBC Sports; CBC/NHL

Twitter captures: @MapleLeafs; @NHLJets

How much closer is Canada to getting legal marijuana?

This should be the last 4/20 Day where marijuana is not legal in Canada. There have been some bumps and bruises along the way with the unelected Canadian Senate to passing C-45, the marijuana legalization bill.

The final vote is scheduled in the Canadian Senate on or before June 7. Given the tone and pace of the Senate, you can count on June 7 being the date. A passed bill does not mean instant legal marijuana.

• Governor General Julie Payette has to sign the bill by royal assent to make the law legal.
• Health Minister Ginette Petitpas Taylor has said there will be a transition of 8-12 weeks after royal assent to get the retail system going.
• The bill will likely stipulate that the law needs a fixed date to come into force.

So that date will be sometime in summer 2018 but no specifics yet.

Canada goal: Legal marijuana by Canada Day 2018

What a Justin Trudeau government might mean to the United States

Canadians need to be smart if coming to Washington state for pot

Conservative senators have said they need answers to pass C-45. They are getting answers but not ones they like from the Trudeau Government. A trio of Conservative senators made their way to Washington earlier this month to get what they say are answers they aren't getting in Canada.

Canadian Conservative Senators Denise Batters, Pierre-Hugues Boisvenu, and Claude Carignan made the trip to find out about the impact legalization will have on the Canada-U.S. relationship. Such a trip would be elaborate to interview pro- and anti-legalization people. Who are we kidding: they went to visit Donald Trump people.

"Canadians have reasons to be worried!" the senators said in the statement. They would know this even if they never left Canada.

There will be issues for Canadians coming to the United States but they won't be much different than the issues they have now in crossing the border. Canadians often get asked if they have ever taken drugs and some Canadians know that they can be denied entry into the United States for any admitted past drug use.

The conservative senators also talked to Jeff Sessions, the most paranoid public person on marijuana. This is like being scared and talking to someone who will scare you and then saying, "see, I told you I had a reason to be scared."

This Washington trip came shortly after the close vote of the second reading of the bill. The fear was there might not be enough votes to keep the debate going. The Trudeau Government had to rally Liberal and independent senators to make sure they were there for the March 22 vote.

None of this has to do with the autonomy of Canada to pass its own laws without permission of a neighboring country.

CanadianCrossing.com Canadian politics coverage

CanadianCrossing.com Canadian society coverage

In an environment where former Speaker of the House John Boehner — a Republican — has joined the board of a cannabis company, this international crisis talk might seem a little silly. After all, several states have done what Canada is trying to do.

There is a considerable amount of power in the hands of those fighting this losing battle on the U.S. side. There are enough Senate votes to pass C-45 assuming the amendments don't go too far with the bill.

Canadians have legitimate questions: toking-and-driving; limited availability (we're looking at you, Ontario); edibles; cross-border traffic and customs. Most of the discussion has been about delay instead of addressing those issues.

We should point out that the June 7 date for the final vote is the same day as the Ontario election that might be won by Doug Ford, an alleged drug trafficker.

Canada Day 2018 will be toke-free but Canada won't be that way for much longer.

photo credit: me

Celebrating National Canadian Film Day 2018

Canada Screens. Netflix. Hulu. Kanopy. And yes, sometimes YouTube. Finding a Canadian film to watch isn't that difficult.

You can celebrate that fact today on the 5th annual National Canadian Film Day.

Encore +, one of the sponsors of National Canadian Film Day, has an outlet for older classic Canadian films.

Getting more classic Canadian content online

The 2018 spotlight series focuses on accomplishments of women in Canadian film.

We've certainly written about women in Canadian film, including our look at how Canadian film measures up to the Bechdel test.

Schools are involved in National Canadian Film Day 2018 with a film and live chat with Canadian stars.

The Grand Seduction is available for all high school students while The F Word is an option for Grades 11-12.

If you live in Canada, you can find events that may be near you.

Pick a favourite actor, actress, writer, director. Pick a favourite setting. French, English, indigenous: you have many languages to choose from to find a Canadian film.

Find a great music documentary whether that be Long Time Running, We're the Weakerthans, We're From Winnipeg, or Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked The World.

You can get inspired by recent Canadian TV crossovers to find films from those same people. Evelyne Brochu (X Company) and Caroline Dhavernas (Mary Kills People) have done Canadian films in English and French. Jason Priestley (Private Eyes) directed a film called Cas & Dylan with Tatiana Maslany and Richard Dreyfuss.

The Canadian film site offers you a chance to pick a Canadian film based on answers to questions.

Celebrating National Canadian Film Day 2017

Celebrate the 2016 version of National Canadian Film Day

Celebrating National Canadian Film Day 2015

See a Canadian film on National Canadian Film Day (2014)

Use your desire to travel in Canada as an incentive to watch Canadian film. Want to go to Nova Scotia someday? Find a film that was shot there, such as Weirdos or Cloudburst. Is Vancouver on your list? Everything's Gone Green, Meditation Park, and Better Than Chocolate are a few examples.

2017 WIFF Canadian films in review

Breaking down 2016 WIFF Canadian films

Breaking down 2015 WIFF Canadian films

2014 Windsor International Film Festival wrapup

Reviewing the WIFF 2013 Canadian films

Reviewing the WIFF 2012 Canadian films

Reviewing the WIFF 2011 Canadian films

The new Xavier Dolan film The Death and Life of John F. Donovan should be out in 2018. You can impress your friends by knowing his earlier work. Any of the Quebecois 5 will do but starting with J'ai tué ma mère is smart or go straight to Mommy.

Here are a bunch of Canadian films that pass the Bechdel test

CanadianCrossing.com film coverage

CanadianCrossing.com film reviews coverage

You can gather more information about National Canadian Film Day 2018.

photo credit: National Canadian Film Day

Canadian film review: Stardom

After Jesus of Montréal but before The Barbarian Invasions, Denys Arcand went through a time experimenting with English-language films. Stardom was the second of those films.

The film focuses on Tina Menzhal (Jessica Paré), a female hockey player from Cornwall, Ontario turned model. The film is shot in a documentary style as part of an ongoing film about Menzahl. Often, Menzahl talks to the camera, which is good for the audience but also good for her, because her character gets ignored or cut off when trying to communicate. Arcand's last film An Eye for Beauty shows the director is still curious about the perspective of beauty. Menzhal is more capable of speaking but gets ignored because she is so beautiful.

Dan Aykroyd plays a Montréal restauranteur who is smitten with Menzhal, follows her to New York City, and goes completely overboard. Aykroyd is clearly more than just a comedian and shows a vulnerable man in midlife crisis with striking accuracy. Frank Langella plays an UN ambassador smitten with Menzhal who ultimately wants to model her to the image he needs. Most of the people in Tina's world come across as wanting to attach their tentacles to her beauty and ride her successful coattails.

The father figure issues are amplified since we find out Menzhal's father had run away 7 years before she was discovered. The tension of a reunion on a talk show feels very painful.

CanadianCrossing.com film reviews

CanadianCrossing.com film coverage

The film has some parallel to Paré in that stardom comes quickly to both the character and actress. For someone who is young and inexperienced, Paré lends a core strength that older actresses still haven’t mastered. Menzhal is charming and awkward and confused, a whirlwind of emotions successfully juggled by Paré.

Stardom also features Thomas Gibson, who had the lead role in the Arcand film Love and Human Remains. Arcand's good friend and fellow Quebecois director Robert Lepage plays the documentarian within the film. Patrick Huard as a small role as a Montréal talk show host.

Menzhal has to learn to communicate within the system. Menzhal had a lousy time in her first visit to Paris as a model. She admits the next time in Paris was better. Later, Menzhal tells a TV reporter she always loved Paris but now more than ever.

The 2000 film feels ahead of its time and may seem more relevant in more modern times, minus the lack of social media awareness. With a Twitter account, Tina Menzhal might be able to speak her piece. Then again, like the film, people put their own spin on what she would say.

Video credit: YouTube/Fraghe Rap
Photo credit: Stardom

2018 Stanley Cup notebook: Winnipeg Jets thrown off by Minnesota blizzard

The joy that has been downtown Winnipeg has been the best thing about the 2018 Stanley Cup playoffs so far. Streets closed down. Fans jumping and screaming when Winnipeg scores a goal at home.

Gord Miller has called the only NBCSN regular season game in Winnipeg back in the first season. So Miller spent some time pointing out that Bell MTS Place is the smallest NHL arena but also the loudest.

Darren Pang actually calls more games in Winnipeg each year. Pang used to be part of the national crew with ABC and ESPN but limits himself mostly to St. Louis Blues games. Pang is one of the best in the United States and worked well with Miller.

Unlike the Maple Leafs series last spring, NBCU had some nice shots of the fans watching outdoors in Winnipeg. Kudos to showing the anthem in Game 1. The crowd performed in True North spirit and added a cheer when they showed a picture of Len Kropioski, better known as Kroppy. The World War II vet, who passed away in 2016 at age 98, was famous for his salute during O Canada at Jets home games.

NBCU tradition is to talk to a home team player before a game but went with Eric Staal before Game 1 in Winnipeg. Then again, Staal is from nearby Thunder Bay, ON.

NBC smartly went back to Rogers Sportsnet for Game 2 on a simulcast with USA, even though we were told a couple of years ago that USA couldn't run simsubs. USA didn't run the anthems. Also, Paul Burmeister kept interrupting interesting analysis and observations as well as live hockey in Winnipeg for obsessive Pennsylvania series updates.

The Twin Cities blizzard make traveling really difficult. The Winnipeg Jets tried flying in on Saturday; the team got to Duluth before going back to Winnipeg. The Jets arrived late Sunday morning into the Twin Cities.

Step six, after a long taxi to the gate, in the car fighting through traffic to get to the arena ✅

T minus 48 minutes pic.twitter.com/xwSlS2tpZ1

— Gord Miller (@GMillerTSN) April 15, 2018

Pat Micheletti, brother of Joe Micheletti, was the only member of the broadcast crew on site with an hour before the telecast. Gord Miller spent most of Sunday in Chicago waiting to get out to the Twin Cities. Joe Micheletti arrived a couple of minutes after the start of the telecast. The brothers Micheletti grew up in Minnesota and Pat lives in the area.

Shades of Barry Pederson filling in for Garry Galley in Boston last month due to weather.

Miller started in Tampa and got to Chicago. He only landed in Minneapolis at 5:40 pm Eastern for the 7 pm telecast. You got a good sense of travel adventure from Gord Miller's Twitter feed.

Pat Micheletti did quite well in his NBCU debut. He did sound a bit inexperienced but had great insights. NBCU, get this Micheletti to replace Brian Boucher.

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We like Rick Ball but we did think it odd that Bob Cole wasn't working in the first round of the playoffs. Turns out Rogers is shutting out Bob Cole from the whole playoffs.

The pattern continues: Cole didn't call the conference final last season for the first time.

"We made a difficult decision this year not to include him in our playoff plans. This decision in no way diminishes the admiration we have for his substantial body of work," said Scott Moore, president of Sportsnet & NHL Properties, Rogers Media, said in a statement.

Rogers reduced Cole's regular-season workload, which may be more of the way NHL schedules run on Saturday nights. But all that down time would get Cole ready to go for the playoffs.

Rogers only covered 4 series this playoff season. Ball and Cole could have split their 4th spot for the first 2 rounds. NBCU could have hired Cole to work the playoffs if the network had known Cole was available.

Cole told the Toronto Sun that he isn’t sure whether he will be back in the booth next season. Even at his somewhat advanced age, Cole is still better than a lot of people calling NHL games.

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Ed Olczyk has been in the studio for the first 2 games, so Mike Milbury gets to call Boston playoff games. The less said about the #1(A) crew, the better. Doc Emrick, Milbury, and Ray Ferraro did a halfway decent job with the Maple Leafs in Chicago in January because Ferraro led Milbury down good paths. With Boston in the picture and Pierre McGuire at ice level, even Doc can't save the team. Losing 5-1 in the opener won't help a good team sound any better.

Thank goodness for the NHL Network matinee rebroadcasts. And here's hoping for a switch in broadcast teams (but not Brian Boucher).

NBCU showed both anthems in Boston and Game 1 in Winnipeg. The anthems from Game 2 and Game 3 were mysteriously missing. My source tells me the "True North" was pretty loud in St. Paul for Game 3.

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"It is not for the faint of heart: the Stanley Cup playoffs." Garry Galley said this after Mathieu Perreault was lead off the ice with an injured left shoulder.

Yes, Dustin Byfuglien had some nice hits but those Minnesota players stayed on the ice. Perreault did get hit over the middle by Mikko Koivu that might have been a regular-season penalty and later body slammed down on his left shoulder by Nick Seeler.

Most NHL fans get more excited about playoff hockey where your humble narrator doesn't like playoff hockey. People really trying to hurt people. Referees won't call minor violence. Scoring gets diminished.

Toronto's Nazem Kadri got a 3-game suspension for a hit in Game 1 that wasn't great but far less violent than some of what we saw in Winnipeg in Game 1 on plays without a penalty. Boston will have plenty of cheap hits but the NHL babies the Bruins and wouldn't punish them on remotely similar hits. You can't even contemplate that what Kadri did was 3 times worse than Drew Doughty's 1-game playoff suspension. Kadri also got a 5-minute charging penalty and 10-minute game misconduct. The double hit on Mitch Marner by Zdeno Chara and Tommy Wingels got no penalty.

The New York Rangers Carl Hagelin got 3 games for a brutally cheap hit on Ottawa's Daniel Alfredsson in the 2012 playoffs. Hagelin should have been out for as long as Alfredsson was out. Kadri's infraction was a minor slap by comparison.

2018 is bringing more playoff suspensions but the violence is still intensive. The best thing would be just to play hockey in the playoffs and not whatever the sport becomes in the spring.

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The NHL Network has been coming through with Canadian feeds on the matinee rebroadcasts.

We noticed that Cassie Campbell-Pascall isn't working the game as much as offering analysis during intermissions with Scott Oake from the arena. The rebroadcast showed some colour with Jets fans in Patrik Laine beards and a couple of young Jets fans.

We also saw that Rogers and CBC have incorporated shot totals in the scorebug. True to form, where U.S. outlets overemphasize shot totals, Rogers has buried the totals where you might not even known they are there. If you are watching the games on a phone, you might not be able to see them unless your eyes are younger than mine.

If we have to see shot totals, I'm sincerely glad (no sarcasm) that they are that small.

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We aren't likely to have any live CBC coverage but thanks to the NHL Network matinee rebroadcasts, we have the potential for CBC promos.

Jim Hughson spoke of following breaking news during a CBC Music app promo. Hughson might have read the copy for the sports app when the music app appeared during Game 1.

Getting the Maple Leafs back on track would also increase eyeballs on CBC promos.

Game 1: CBC Music promo (2nd); CBC TV app (3rd)

Game 2: CBC Sports app (1st); CBC TV app (3rd)

photo credit: Winnipeg Jets
Twitter capture: @GMillerTSN