Canadian Crossing

NHL the month in preview April 2021

Editor's note: The ESPN+ schedule finally has updated the April games. The schedule has been updated to reflect changes based on the Vancouver Canucks COVID-19 protocols.

NBCSN has 2 games in April both on April 7. The U.S. channel showed one other doubleheader involving Canadian teams. This will set a record never to be broken again by NBCSN: most Canadian teams in a calendar day.

The U.S. channel will carry the second half of the Battle of Alberta on April 29 in Edmonton starting approximately at 10:30 pm. The game starts at 9 pm Eastern. The press release specifically says the game will be joined in progress. The NHL Network might carry the game from the start. NBC Sports might stream the feed.

This reminded us all too well of the NBCSN squeeze on a Toronto-Edmonton game on November 29, 2016 with the TSN4 feed that covered 23:37 of the game. We've never seen them treat U.S. teams this way.

The NHL Network is treating this season like normal in that late in the year, the Canadian teams get a lot fewer games. A reminder that if a U.S. team is in your market on a Saturday night, the backup game could be from Hockey Night in Canada.

The ESPN+ schedule finally arrived after several days of tweets from CanadianCrossing.com. Like the NHL Network, the service is cutting back on Canadian teams in April.

NBCSN

April 7
Edmonton @ Ottawa, 5p/Montréal @ Toronto, 7:30p

NHL Network

April 10
Edmonton @ Calgary, 10p (HNIC)
April 17
Edmonton @ Winnipeg, 10p (HNIC)
April 24
Toronto @ Winnipeg, 7p (HNIC)/Ottawa @ Vancouver, 10p (HNIC)

ESPN+

April 2
Calgary @ Edmonton, 9p
April 4
Vancouver @ Winnipeg, 9p
Toronto @ Calgary, 9p
April 5
Edmonton @ Montréal, 7p
April 6
Vancouver @ Winnipeg, 8p
April 12
Toronto @ Montréal, 7p
April 16
Calgary @ Montréal, 6p
April 19
Ottawa @ Calgary, 9p
April 20
Toronto @ Vancouver, 9p
April 29
Vancouver @ Toronto, 7:30p
April 30
Winnipeg @ Montréal, 7p

Hockey Night in Canada

April 3

Ottawa @ Montréal, 7p/Vancouver @ Edmonton, 10p

April 10

Ottawa @ Toronto, 7p/Winnipeg @ Montréal, 7p/Edmonton @ Calgary, 10p

April 17

Toronto @ Vancouver, 7p/Edmonton @ Winnipeg, 7p

April 24

Toronto @ Winnipeg, 7p/Montréal @ Calgary, 7p/Ottawa @ Vancouver, 10p

Rogers Sportsnet national telecasts

April 7 Montréal @ Toronto, 7:30p

April 14 Calgary @ Montréal, 7p/Vancouver @ Edmonton, 10p

April 18 Toronto @ Vancouver, 7p

April 20 Toronto @ Vancouver, 9p

April 22 Toronto @ Winnipeg, 7p

April 23 Montréal @ Calgary, 9p

April 28 Toronto @ Montréal, 8p

April 29 Calgary @ Edmonton, 9p

The Montréal Canadiens became the first Canadian team to postpone games due to the COVID-19 protocols. The Habs lost 3 home games with Edmonton and a home game against Ottawa. Montréal forwards Joel Armia and Jesperi Kotkaniemi were placed in protocol.

The U.S. divisions have had plenty of postponements and rescheduled games. We updated the March preview accordingly. In the time of COVID-19, these previews are documents subject to change.

The NHL has already rescheduled games for May 11, past the originally scheduled season end date of May 8.

Another calendar month, another #Canadian @NHL team fires its coach. @NHLFlames say bye to #GeoffWard and hi (again) to #DarrylSutter. https://t.co/lp8wUdVyva

— Chad Rubel (@canadian_xing) March 5, 2021

The Calgary Flames became the second NHL team to fire its coach in 2021 — both Canadian teams. Darryl Sutter replaced Geoff Ward to be Calgary's 4th head coach in the last 5 years.

Ward was the interim coach from November 2019 through September 2020, when he was named the head coach. That lasted until the night of March 4. Ward went 11-11-2 to start 2021 for Calgary. He replaced Bill Peters after allegations of racism and assault.

Ward even won a playoff series last summer, beating Winnipeg before losing to Dallas.

We love that the Canadian media has enthusiasm to cover hockey. We deplore the obsessive nature of that coverage. There are 7 Canadian teams and 4 of them will make the playoffs. 3 teams will not make the playoffs. Toronto is a consensus to be in; Ottawa a consensus to be out. The rest of the field is playing for 3 out of 5 teams to advance.

Claude Julien (with Mark Muller) and Geoff Ward deserved better fates but the Canadian NHL teams are desperate. Just wait until the playoffs.

NHL the month in preview March 2021

Craig Simpson has replaced Greg Millen on the local Toronto Maple Leafs telecasts on Rogers Sportsnet Ontario. Cassie Campbell-Pascall helped out Chris Cuthbert in Calgary against the Flames.

We presume the substitution is pandemic-related. Millen hasn't been heard since before the pandemic. We aren't making judgments in the COVID-19 era. Jim Hughson has cut back his schedule to games in Vancouver. John Bartlett and Garry Galley got 2 games in January and February combined.

Cuthbert and Simpson have had a lot of work together, local and national, in 2021.

Got a chance to sample Jack Michaels as the TV voice of the Edmonton Oilers. Michaels can be loud, very loud. He does interact a lot better in the telecasts, giving Louie DeBrusk vocal cues to jump into the conversation. Kevin Quinn was so wooden that watching the telecasts was uncomfortable. Michaels is not Kevin Quinn and that is better.

2021 Toronto Blue Jays spring training schedule

The Toronto Blue Jays are going with a radio simulcast of their TV feed in 2021. Carolina, Buffalo, and Dallas are the 3 NHL teams that do TV/radio simulcasts. Baseball is a sport that needs radio more than the other major sports. Your humble narrator almost never listens to hockey on radio, but one could imagine a radio intimacy would be better for the sport.

The only team I would listen to on radio specifically would be the Ottawa Senators and only for Dean Brown. Miss his coverage terribly. I love the TSN coverage and announcers but do miss getting a rare glimpse of Dean Brown and Garry Galley on CBC and Rogers Sportsnet East. NBCSN picked up the Ottawa-Boston game at the end of the season that had been postponed due to the Boston Marathon bombing in 2013. Was fun watching Brown and Galley call a game in front of a U.S. audience.

When will Canadians be able to watch their favourite team in person

We already covered the lack of fans in the stands at NHL games in Canada. If Canada is going to host the NHL final four, fans will almost certainly have to be in the stands.

Toronto Six eliminated in 2021 NWHL semifinals

We already covered the limited path of the Toronto Six in the NWHL playoffs. Hope to see NWHL games next season in Toronto and Montréal.

NHL the month in preview February 2021

Zack Kassian (Edmonton) and Ben Chairot (Montréal) suffered an unusual "upper-body injury" this season. Hockey people will tell you that players don't get hurt in fights. We know concussions can cause long-term damage.

Kassian broke his hand in a February 8 fight with Ottawa defenceman Erik Gudbranson. Chiarot fractured his hand fighting Vancouver forward J.T. Miller on March 10. By all consensus, neither players lost the fight; just hurt their hands throwing the punches.

We thought maybe there would be fewer fights with the pandemic. That behavior hasn't changed. The fights seem stranger because there is no crowd to motivate. None of the 5 major sports have systematic fighting built in, except for hockey.

NHL the month in preview January 2021

The NHL Network will cover the April 12 trade deadline with Rogers Sportsnet coverage starting at 8 am Eastern. The U.S. channel will switch to its own coverage at 2 pm Eastern. ESPN2 will jump in with the TSN coverage at 2 pm Eastern. Hopefully, ESPN+ would carry the first 6 hours of the TSN coverage in the United States, even if it stopped covering NHL games. The actual deadline is 3 pm Eastern.

The Canadian federal government has reduced the 14-day quarantine to 7 days for NHL players going from American-based teams traded to Canadian-based teams.

2021 NHL season preview

TSN went back to Jon Abbott for the Ottawa-Calgary call on TSN5 on March 4. Abbott also called the Montréal-Vancouver games on March 8 and March 10 in his home city in Vancouver as well as the Habs game in Calgary on March 11.

Abbott called a Senators game on January 28 and Mississauga announcer Victor Findlay called a Sens game on February 4. These are freelance opportunities to fill in on games where the Toronto Maple Leafs (TSN4) are in action and Bryan Mudryk is occupied either with the Montréal Canadiens or curling.

TSN 1040 in Vancouver employed Abbott in his first appearance but he lost his day job as part of the Bell Media massive layoffs.

Our guide to the NHL Canadian teams coverage

There was a NHL Center Ice free preview March 10-16. We will eventually get you those ads.

ESPN acquires primary U.S. NHL package in new 7-year deal

2020 Stanley Cup notebook: The day NBC tried to make us stop watching the NHL

@mooredom is relatively new to @NHL colour analysis. So far in this game, he's proven to be better at this job than @BrianBoucher33. Mentioning that @cmcdavid97 and #LeonDraisaitl started out on separate lines was insightful. Seriously. @NHLonNBCSports

— Chad Rubel (@canadian_xing) March 18, 2021

March 17 Edmonton at Calgary 10p Brendan Burke/Dominic Moore

Dominic Moore is learning a new craft after being a NHL player: colour analysis. Moore still sounds a bit raw, which is understandable. His insight was surprisingly sharp. Moore starts out by pointing out that Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl were on different lines. Pierre McGuire might have said that. Brian Boucher would never think it. Still early in the process, but we were encouraged by his analysis.

Brendan Burke never calls a bad game or a great game. Burke did some research about the Battle of Alberta. Not an easy task to call the Battle of Alberta from a studio in Stamford, CT and without fans. They did okay. Small steps. 

NBCSN used Canadian announcers Gord Miller and Mike Johnson for the first game in Toronto. The U.S. channel has used American announcers from that studio since then. We figured Miller and Johnson would get more NBCSN work north of the border in 2021. There is the April 7 doubleheader to come, the last scheduled NBCSN games in Canada.

We reviewed the ESPN portion of the new 7-year U.S. broadcast deal. Now we wait for the other network to carry the NHL in the United States.

CanadianCrossing.com NHL coverage

For the second time in as many months, the early game only had 5 promos. Jim Hughson was on tap in the March 6 early games. The promos were on a good pace but never got around to the final promo in the 3rd period, which was for Short Track Speed Skating.

Chris Cuthbert only read 5 promos in the March 27 early game. There was a delay in the 1st period where repairs needed to be made, yet no promos were aired during the delay.

We've been surprised that Kim's Convenience hasn't received more love in CBC promos. The pattern started long before the producers announced this would be the final season for the acclaimed comedy.

For Heaven's Sake is a 8-part, Canadian-based story in a documentary-style comedy streaming on CBC Gem in Canada and Paramount+ in the United States.

Victoria and Miss Scarlet & the Duke are British seat fillers on Monday nights to make up for fewer episodes of Murdoch Mysteries and Frankie Drake Mysteries.

March 6 early game: Pretty Hard Cases; Coroner (1st); Great Canadian Baking Show; Workin' Moms (2nd); Pretty Hard Cases (3rd)

March 6 late game: Pretty Hard Cases (1st); Coroner; Great Canadian Baking Show; Workin' Moms (2nd); Pretty Hard Cases; Short Track Speed Skating (3rd)

March 13 late game: Pretty Hard Cases; Coroner (1st); Great Canadian Baking Show; For Heaven's Sake (2nd); Workin' Moms; Freestyle Skiing (3rd)

March 27 early game: Victoria (1st); Miss Scarlet & the Duke; Pretty Hard Cases (2nd); Coroner; Great Canadian Baking Show (3rd)

March 27 late game: Victoria; Miss Scarlet & the Duke (1st); Pretty Hard Cases; Coroner (2nd); Great Canadian Baking Show; Figure Skating World Championships (3rd)

Twitter captures: @canadian_xing

2021 Canadian Screen Awards nominations

They’re here.

Congratulations to the nominees for the 2021 #CdnScreenAwards! We look forward to celebrating with you this May!

The full list is available at https://t.co/On0H4DeCCC. #CdnTalent #CdnFilm #CdnTV #CdnDigital pic.twitter.com/grw2t3s7Rf

— The Canadian Academy (@TheCdnAcademy) March 30, 2021

The Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television have released the nominations for the 2021 Canadian Screen Awards. This year's version won't have the huge crowds of past ceremonies but should be more lively than the 2020 version.

The 3 Canadian TV shows with the most nominations are also having their finale on the stage that is the Canadian Screen Awards. Schitt's Creek goes out with 21 nominations. Cardinal (CTV) and Trickster (CBC) each have 15 nominations.

On the film side, Blood Quantum has the most nominations with 10. Unfortunately, best picture is not one of them. Funny Boy came in with 9 nominations, including Best Motion Picture. Charles Officer's Akilla's Escape had 8 nominations. Beans and Violation had 5 nominations.

We are trying something different in 2021. Canadian television and Canadian film deserve to have their own individual stories, listing the wonderful nominations. You can click the options at the bottom of the page.

CBC will have a lot of holes to fill in the 2021-2022 television schedule

Kim's Convenience to end after Season 5; Frankie Drake Mysteries ends its CBC run

Could build an all-star Canadian TV lineup out of shows that are leaving

CanadianCrossing.com Canadian TV coverage

CanadianCrossing.com CBC coverage

CanadianCrossing.com television coverage

The Cogeco Fund Audience Choice Award is a fun part of the Canadian Screen Awards. The 10 nominees in the running for this year’s Audience Choice are:

• Sangita Patel (Home To Win & ET Canada)
• Arisa Cox (Big Brother Canada)
• Bryan & Sarah Baeumler (Island of Bryan)
• Chantel Riley (Frankie Drake Mysteries)
• Giacomo Gianniotti (Grey’s Anatomy)
• Graham Wardle (Heartland)
• Maitreyi Ramakrishnan (Never Have I Ever)
• Melanie Scrofano (Wynonna Earp)
• Priyanka (Canada’s Drag Race)
• Guled Abdi, Vance Banzo, Tim Blair, and Franco Nguyen (TallBoyz)

Scrofano's co-star Katherine Barrell (Wynonna Earp) won the award in 2020. Gianniotti and Ramakrishnan are Canadians nominated on American shows.

CanadianCrossing.com film reviews

CanadianCrossing.com film coverage

Canadian Screen Week will take place May 17-20.

Overview Canadian television Canadian film

Twitter capture: @TheCdnAcademy
photo credit: Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television

2021 Canadian Screen Awards nominations: Film

What a difference with a pandemic and without a Windsor International Film Festival. Sometimes, we are a bit separated from Canadian films that get nominated for the 2021 Canadian Screen Awards. That distance is even larger this year.

Despite that, your humble narrator has seen Blood Quantum, the Canadian film with the most nominations with 10. Unfortunately, best picture is not one of them.

Funny Boy came in with 9 nominations, including Best Motion Picture. Charles Officer's Akilla's Escape had 8 nominations. Beans and Violation had 5 nominations.

The Canadian Screen Awards have 2 women in the Best Director category with Deepa Mehta Funny Boy and Sophie Dupuis Underground | Souterrain.

Best motion picture
Beans
Funny Boy
Nadia, Butterfly
The Nest
Underground | Souterrain

Best director
Deepa Mehta Funny Boy
Pascal Plante Nadia, Butterfly
Sean Durkin The Nest
Brandon Cronenberg Possessor
Sophie Dupuis Underground | Souterrain

Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role
Saul Williams Akilla’s Escape
Michael Greyeyes Blood Quantum
Alex Wolff Castle in the Ground
Lance Henriksen Falling
Joakim Robillard Underground | Souterrain

Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role
Michelle Pfeiffer French Exit
Carrie Coon The Nest
Carmen Moore Rustic Oracle
Rosalie Pépin Vacarme
Madeleine Sims-Fewer Violation

Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role
Thamela Mpumlwana Akilla’s Escape
Ronnie Rowe Jr. Akilla’s Escape
Stephen McHattie Come to Daddy
Colm Feore Sugar Daddy
Jesse LaVercombe Violation

Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role
Amy Groening Bone Cage
Agam Darshi Funny Boy
Mary Walsh Happy Place
Micheline Lanctôt Laughter | Le rire
Felicity Huffman Tammy's Always Dying

Funny Boy is the only film I've seen in the best picture and best director categories. I do have enthusiasm for Beans and Nadia, Butterfly. The Nest looks like an American film. The Academy loves the work of Sophie Dupuis more than your humble narrator does.

Best Actor I've seen Michael Greyeyes in Blood Quantum, an excellent acting performance and film. Alex Wolff in Castle in the Ground is a puzzler in that Joey Klein doesn't care about his characters in his films. Wolff's character walks around in a haze with no real reason for making horrible decisions. Williams, Wolff, and Henriksen are American.

Best Actress Pfeiffer and Coon make an American win a 40% possibility in films that look very American. Pépin plays a 13-year-old in Vacarme. Madeleine Sims-Fewer is reportedly very powerful in Violation.

Best Supporting Actor A category filled with actors I've seen in other roles: Rowe, McHattie, and Feore. Mpumlwana is a boy in this category.

Best Supporting Actress Have seen the performances of Darshi and Huffman (the lone American). Huffman's character is over the top, almost cartoonish. That is good enough for a nomination, but not for a win. Darshi was one of the best highlights in Funny Boy. Walsh is known more for her TV work but has an extensive film career.

2020 TIFF wrapup

2020 TIFF preview

2020 TIFF Canadian film preview

When TIFF concentrated on Canadian films for the opening night film

2020 TIFF Rising Stars

Original Screenplay
Charles Officer, Wendy Brathwaite Akilla’s Escape
Jeff Barnaby Blood Quantum
Evan Morgan The Kid Detective
Sean Durkin The Nest
Sophie Dupuis Underground | Souterrain

Adapted Screenplay
Taylor Olson Bone Cage
Patrick deWitt French Exit
Shyam Selvadurai, Deepa Mehta Funny Boy
Catherine Léger Goddess of the Fireflies | La déesse des mouches à feu
Johnny Darrell, Andrew Duncan, Loretta Sarah Todd Monkey Beach

Funny Boy; The Nest; and Underground | Souterrain are best picture nominees have screenplay nominations. This is a good category for Funny Boy. Based on Chien de Garde, can't imagine Sophie Dupuis getting nominated for a screenplay award. I've seen Blood Quantum; Monkey Beach; and Funny Boy in these categories. Would love to see Jeff Barnaby win in his category.

Best Feature Length Documentary
The Forbidden Reel Ariel Nasr, Sergeo Kirby, Kat Baulu, Annette Clarke
Stateless Michèle Stephenson, Jennifer Holness, Lea Marin, Anita Lee, Joe Brewster, Sudz Sutherland
Wandering: A Rohingya Story | Errance sans retour Mélanie Carrier, Olivier Higgins
A Woman, My Mother | Une femme, ma mère Claude Demers
The World is Bright Ying Wang, Jian Ping Su, Jordan Paterson

Last year, I saw 2 of the nominees and almost a third one. I haven't seen any of these nominees.

Best First Feature Film Award
Beans Tracey Deer
The Kid Detective Evan Morgan
Tito Grace Glowicki
Vacarme Neegan Trudel
Violation Madeleine Sims-Fewer, Dusty Mancinelli

Beans and Violation played at TIFF 2020. I know Grace Glowicki's work as an actor, so that makes me more likely to see her film.

CanadianCrossing.com film reviews

CanadianCrossing.com film coverage

Canadian Screen Week will take place May 17-20.

We are trying something different in 2021. Canadian television and Canadian film deserve to have their own individual stories, listing the wonderful nominations. You can click the other options below.

Overview Canadian television Canadian film

photo credit: Beans film

2021 Canadian Screen Awards nominations: Television

Schitt's Creek — in its final Canadian Screen Awards — goes out with 21 nominations in the 2021 Canadian Screen Awards. A couple of Canadian shows also in its last awards season each have 15 nominations: Cardinal (CTV) and Trickster (CBC).

We didn't make this mistake: there are only 4 nominees in the Best Lead Actor, Comedy. It can only be an honour to be nominated if you are nominated. Jason Priestley (Private Eyes) was nominated in that category last year along with the current nominees.

Every TV show, comedy and drama, with a show or acting nominations is available in some form in the United States. Coroner, Burden of Truth, Transplant, Trickster, and Diggstown (soon on Fox) have over-the-air TV deals.

Comedy

Best Comedy Series
Baroness Von Sketch Show (CBC)
Kim's Convenience (CBC)
Letterkenny (Crave)
Schitt's Creek (CBC)
Workin' Moms (CBC)

Best Lead Actor, Comedy
Paul Sun-Hyung Lee Kim's Convenience
Jared Keeso Letterkenny
Daniel Levy Schitt's Creek
Eugene Levy Schitt's Creek

Best Lead Actress, Comedy
Jean Yoon Kim's Convenience
Annie Murphy Schitt's Creek
Catherine O’Hara Schitt's Creek
Dani Kind Workin' Moms
Catherine Reitman Workin' Moms

Best Supporting Actor, Comedy
Andrew Phung Kim's Convenience
Chris Elliott Schitt's Creek
Noah Reid Schitt's Creek
Ryan Belleville Workin' Moms
Peter Keleghan Workin' Moms

Best Supporting Actress, Comedy
Emily Hampshire Schitt's Creek
Jennifer Robertson Schitt's Creek
Karen Robinson Schitt's Creek
Sarah McVie Workin' Moms
Juno Rinaldi Workin' Moms

Best Guest Performance, Comedy
Elisha Cuthbert Jann - Road Trippin'
Amanda Brugel Kim's Convenience
Rizwan Manji Schitt's Creek
Victor Garber Schitt's Creek
Colin Mochrie Workin' Moms

The 2022 version will have some giant holes to fill. Schitt's Creek has 11 acting nominations in the 5 categories. Workin' Moms has 7 nominations in acting categories. Sarah McVie has a somewhat thankless role and good to see her get recognised.

Letterkenny is a popular show but only had the show and Keeso in these categories.

Drama

Best Drama Series
Burden of Truth (CBC)
Cardinal: Until The Night (CTV)
Departure (Global)
Transplant (CTV)
Vikings (History)

Best Lead Actor, Drama Series
Peter Mooney Burden of Truth
Billy Campbell Cardinal: Until The Night
Roger Cross Coroner
Hamza Haq Transplant
Joel Oulette Trickster

Best Lead Actress, Drama Series
Kristin Kreuk Burden of Truth
Karine Vanasse Cardinal: Until The Night
Vinessa Antoine Diggstown
Crystle Lightning Trickster
Melanie Scrofano Wynonna Earp

Best Supporting Actor, Drama
Evan Buliung Departure
Christopher Plummer Departure
Jonny Harris Murdoch Mysteries
Joel Thomas Hynes Trickster
Kalani Queypo Trickster

Best Supporting Actress, Drama
Tamara Podemski Coroner
Sharron Matthews Frankie Drake Mysteries
Anna Lambe Trickster
Georgina Lightning Trickster
Gail Maurice Trickster

Best Guest Performance, Drama Series
Shawn Doyle Cardinal: Until The Night
Nicola Correia-Damude Coroner
Olunike Adeliyi Coroner
Wendy Crewson Frankie Drake Mysteries
Colin Mochrie Murdoch Mysteries

Trickster has 7 acting nominations and only 6 episodes. The Best Supporting Actress, Drama category has Indigenous women in 4 of the 5 nominations. Coroner has 4 acting nominations.

Christopher Plummer is nominated posthumously for Departure.

Colin Mochrie managed to be nominated in best guest performance in comedy AND drama. Patrick McKenna won 2 Gemini awards in 1998 for drama (Traders) and comedy (The Red Green Show) in the same year, the only Canadian actor to pull off that feat.

CBC will have a lot of holes to fill in the 2021-2022 television schedule

Kim's Convenience to end after Season 5; Frankie Drake Mysteries ends its CBC run

Could build an all-star Canadian TV lineup out of shows that are leaving

CanadianCrossing.com Canadian TV coverage

CanadianCrossing.com television coverage

Canadian Screen Week will take place May 17-20.

We are trying something different in 2021. Canadian television and Canadian film deserve to have their own individual stories, listing the wonderful nominations. You can click the other options below.

Overview Canadian television Canadian film

photo credits: @SchittsCreek; Trickster/CBC

Toronto Six eliminated in 2021 NWHL semifinals

The Toronto Six had some amazing momentum as the timeline toward the 2021 National Women’s Hockey League (NWHL) playoffs progressed. The team came out of nowhere to finish 4-1-1 to rise to the top playoff seed. The time in Lake Placid, NY came to an end before the playoffs started.

When we awoke from the very long sleep, the NWHL was in Brighton, outside of Boston. The Toronto Six playoff opponent went from being the Buffalo Beauts to the Boston Pride, essentially a home series for the Pride. The Toronto Six also had to contend with going back to Canada and then returning to the United States.

The 6-2 loss sounds bad. Breanne Wilson-Bennett scored the first goal, cutting the Boston deficit to 2-1. Mikyla Grant-Mentis added a 3rd period goal. Elaine Chuli stopped 19-of-25 shots. Samantha Ridgewell came in to finish the game in goal in the 3rd period.

Did you really think we would end the season without one last Love Story? pic.twitter.com/KlM0TZdRdd

— Toronto Six (@TheTorontoSix) March 28, 2021

More than 200 women's hockey players won't play in NWHL or any other league next season

NHL the month in preview March 2021

The Boston Pride edged the Minnesota Whitecaps 4-3 to win the Isobel Cup. Minnesota advanced to the 2021 NWHL final with a dominant 7-0 win over the Connecticut Whale, which forfeited its final game in the regular season.

Kate Scott, AJ Mleczko, and Caley Chelios were on the call for NBCSN, which carried the NWHL playoffs in the United States while Twitch handled the coverage outside the U.S. They did a very nice job with the NWHL coverage.

The NWHL will reportedly expand to Montréal next season. As we've noted, the NHL should sponsor a women's league with multiple Canadian teams.

Despite the way the season ended, congratulations to coach Digit Murphy and the entire team and organisation. Here's hoping the Toronto Six will be able to play home games at Canlan Ice Sports in York and even travel to Montréal.

logo credit: Toronto Six/NWHL
Twitter capture: @TheTorontoSix

Andrew Furey, Liberals get slim majority government in Newfoundland and Labrador

Andrew Furey and the Liberals now have a slim majority government winning 22 of the 40 seats up for grabs in the long-running 2021 Newfoundland and Labrador provincial election.

The Liberals had 19 seats when the assembly dissolved; 21 seats is the minimum for a majority and one of those seats will go to the assembly speaker.

The leaders of the other major parties lost their seats to the Liberals: Ches Crosbie (Progressive Conservatives) in Windsor Lake and Alison Coffin (New Democratic Party) in St. John's East — Quidi Vidi. The PCs fell from 15 seats to 13 seats. The NDP retains seats in Labrador West and St. John's Centre.

There are now 3 independent MHAs in the assembly.

Despite the individual losses, most ridings were status quo. All the cabinet members who ran won re-election.

Crosbie gave a pre-taped speech, the first time we've seen that in our history of covering provincial and federal elections in Canada. Given Crosbie's 2019 speech, a pre-taped speech might have been a smart move. Crosbie's 2019 speech was so angry that even Jason Kenney would have been like "tone it down." Crosbie did predict correctly that Dwight Ball would leave as premier and party leader within a year (but for different reasons) but the rest of the speech was filled with bizarre theories and an overall odd speech.

Newfoundland and Labrador election reaches deadline day for mail-in ballots

Newfoundland and Labrador election delayed for about half the province

2021 Newfoundland and Labrador election preview

The turnout was an all-time low in the province at 48%. The 2019 election had a 60% turnout. We have covered a number of issues involved with the mail-in options. Coffin's loss was relatively close.

The Torngat Mountains riding, where language is an issue, had an appalling 22% turnout.

Canadian elections generally have larger turnouts than American elections. The hope is that the turnout will be bounce back in a more traditional election. Election ballots need to run in Indigenous languages. The CBC News coverage noted an Alberta election that had a 40% turnout.

The CBC News coverage talked about a 12% drop; the actual math is 12 percentage points so the drop was 20%.

In what feels like a long time ago, 33,523 Newfoundlanders and Labradorians cast a ballot in the advance poll, a 50% increase over the 2019 election with 21,289 early voters. 

The release of the Green Report, designed to help the province with solving financial woes, was delayed until after the election, so that will be a post-election focus.

Newfoundland and Labrador was required to have an election before August 19 since Furey was elevated to premier without an election.

What did we learn from pandemic elections in Canada?

2021 Canadian politics preview

CanadianCrossing.com Newfoundland and Labrador coverage

The number of female MHAs remains at 9. The Liberals now have an additional female MHA that counters the loss of Coffin with the NDP. The number of women in the assembly is just under 25%.

With the loss of Coffin, there are now 4 women running a provincial party with seats in a legislature: Andrea Horwath (Ontario) and Rachel Notley (Alberta) are opposition leaders; Sonia Furstenau (Green Party in British Columbia) and Manon Massé (Québec solidaire).

Annamie Paul is the federal leader of the Green Party.

photos credit: CBC News Newfoundland and Labrador

When will Canadians be able to watch their favourite team in person

The Toronto Raptors have had fans at "home" games in Tampa, FL. The Toronto Blue Jays have had fans at their Grapefruit League games in Dunedin, FL.

Toronto FC (Orlando) and CF Montréal (Miami) will likely have fans at the start of the 2021 MLS season. Vancouver Whitecaps FC will establish a base at Rio Tinto Stadium in Sandy, Utah outside Salt Lake City, uncertain of whether fans can attend.

Arizona, Dallas, Florida, Tampa Bay in the NHL have been aggressive early and often in the 2021 season. They have the highest capacity of fans and they were in the stands from the start.

A majority of NHL teams are allowing fans in the stands. A few teams have added fans in March. The general consensus is 10%-15% capacity with Detroit at 4%, St. Louis at 7.5%, and Dallas at 30%.

The number of NHL teams that haven't allowed fans is dwindling. Minnesota allows 250 people, including staff and families. Colorado doesn't allow fans right now but the plan is 22% capacity starting April 2.

There are 12 NHL teams that don't allow or haven't an agreement to have fans: California teams (Anaheim, Los Angeles, San Jose), Chicago and Washington, and all 7 Canadian teams.

Edmonton has been the loudest voice among the Canadian teams to get NHL fans back in the stands.

The argument can be that the U.S. teams — especially Arizona, Dallas, Florida, Tampa Bay — were too liberal in letting fans in arenas. The argument can be that the Canadian teams have been too conservative in letting in fans.

This isn't just about the Canadian NHL teams making some money from fans in the stands. They are at a financial disadvantage compared to the southern U.S. teams in revenue. This is also about where the NHL final four will play.

The Toronto and Edmonton NHL bubbles were stellar in the summer of 2020. The U.S. divisions have had multiple postponements due to COVID-19 in the 2021 season. The first all-Canadian game was postponed with Edmonton in Montréal on Monday night due to COVID-19 protocols.

Toronto Blue Jays won't play in Canada for 2020 regular season

What sports will look like on Canadian soil in 2020

CanadianCrossing.com NHL coverage

Putting the last four NHL teams in a bubble would be a wonderful financial windfall for Edmonton or Toronto or maybe even Vancouver. The federal Canadian government had no issue allowing this in 2020.

The provincial governments have been reluctant to allow fans. The alternative for the lone Canadian survivor of the NHL playoffs is to be assigned a U.S. arena while the other 3 U.S. teams get to play at home.

Gary Bettman doesn't like Canada but had no choice in 2020. U.S. teams are allowing fans. Gary Bettman can't and shouldn't ignore that issue. The NHL would be reluctant to come back to Canada without fans.

British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario, and Quebec have influence over fans in the NHL. That list of provinces plus Saskatchewan have influence over fans in the stands for CFL games this summer and fall. CFL fans are also watching this trend since the consensus is that Canadian football won't happen without fans.

Dr. Bonnie Henry, provincial health officer for British Columbia, said Monday that indoor gatherings of "any size" remain a risk and only gather in small groups of up to 10 outside. "The areas where we know it spreads most quickly and most dangerously are the same as they were last year — but now there's even less a margin for error."

Vaccines could make a significant difference between now and June. The current influx of cases in Canada due to COVID-19 variants has to also come down.

750 fans of the then Montréal Impact MLS team got to watch their favourite team in person in 2020. Quebec allowed a maximum of 250 fans each for the 3 games in the summer of 2020 at Stade Saputo. Canada can start with small crowds, if and when there is a consensus from the medical community.

photo credit: Rogers Sportsnet/Blue Jays/MLB

Newfoundland and Labrador election reaches deadline day for mail-in ballots

The soap opera that is the 2021 Newfoundland and Labrador election has reached the mail-in deadline for the ballots. Voters have until 4 pm Newfoundland time (2:30 pm Eastern time) today for their ballots to be received.

As you might recall in our last installment, Bruce Chaulk, chief electoral officer of Elections NL, switched all voting to the mail after the discovery of the B117 variant in the province.

The COVID-19 issues had been mostly limited to the Avalon Peninsula (southeastern Newfoundland, think St. John's and surrounding area). The plan had been for those outside this area to vote on February 13, the original election date.

Elections NL will release the results at noon Newfoundland time (10:30 am Eastern time) on Saturday.

There have been a number of problems with the mail-only option. Newfoundland and Labrador only has voting materials in English. This significantly affects French speakers as well as Indigenous languages — Inuktitut, Innu-aimun, and Mi’kmaw — especially in Labrador. Mail-only voting also affects populations such as homeless voters and people with disabilities.

The deadline for getting your vote in for the election has changed again!
Ballots must now be received by 4pm on March 25. Originally had to be postmarked by March 12.
Elections NL says this extension is because of weather and transportation concerns #nlpoli

— Peter Cowan (@PeterCBC) March 9, 2021

CBC News has reported that the election is on track for a record-low turnout of 51%, assuming all mailed ballots are returned by today's deadline. About 70,000 people voted in special and advance polls. Elections NL has received about 110,000 requests for mail-in ballots.

Newfoundland and Labrador election delayed for about half the province

2021 Newfoundland and Labrador election preview

What did we learn from pandemic elections in Canada?

Campaigning has been difficult beyond the original February 13 election. Media is very limited in the province. St. John's has the only 2 TV signals in all of Newfoundland and Labrador.

The Liberals (Andrew Furey) and Progressive Conservatives (Ches Crosbie) ran candidates in all 40 ridings. The NDP (Alison Coffin) have candidates in 33 ridings. Independents had 3 seats before the assembly was dissolved. There are 8 independents running.

NL Alliance has candidates in 6 ridings. The right-wing party had 0 MLAs. The party leader Graydon Pelley had to withdraw from the election due to a medical condition.

Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Andrew Furey (Liberals) might have easily won the election if the COVID-19 numbers had been better in that final week. Maybe not. PC Leader Ches Crosbie and NDP Leader Allison Coffin have expressed a number of concerns about the timing and process of the whole affair. The potential lack of turnout is a non-partisan concern.

2021 Canadian politics preview

CanadianCrossing.com Newfoundland and Labrador coverage

We've gone beyond a month between the original election date and the mail-in ballot deadline. We only have to wait until Saturday to know the winner.

CBC TV and CBC Radio One will start the coverage at 11:30 am NT. You can watch the results online.

photo credit: CBC News
Twitter capture: @PeterCBC

Canadian film review: How to Plan an Orgy in a Small Town

The o-word in a film title makes some a little nervous. Telling people the film is a comedy might make them feel better. How to Plan an Orgy in a Small Town is a funny Canadian film that happens to be about sex.

Cassie Cranston (Jewel Staite) grew up in Beaver's Ridge, a short train ride from Toronto. Cassie is branded as a "slut" for her interest in Adam in high school. She develops a reputation. When Cassie becomes a sex columnist, she writes a disparaging column about her old hometown.

The adult version of Cassie comes back to Beaver's Ridge years later because her mother died. Cassie and her mother had a rocky relationship; her mother is beloved in town for her heartwarming series of novels about Victoria (imagine an Ontario version of Anne of Green Gables).

Adam (Ennis Esmer) is now married to Heather (Lauren Lee Smith), the girl who branded Cassie as a "slut." Heather is trying to get pregnant and Adam is having trouble making that happen.

The idea of an orgy in this small town does seem hilarious but the townspeople are very interested for living in a town that still have dial-up Internet. The town council actually voted down high-speed internet, something about access to pornography.

CanadianCrossing.com film reviews

CanadianCrossing.com film coverage

How to Plan an Orgy in a Small Town is filled with recognisable Canadian faces. Esmer is known for Private Eyes, The Listener, and Schitt's Creek.  Smith is best-known for Frankie Drake Mysteries with red hair and now blonde hair. Smith is hilarious as a conniving prude. Mark O'Brien is not as timid as his Republic of Doyle character. Katharine Isabelle (Ginger Snaps, Little Dog) is so good at tough and sexy; her entrance into the film is memorable. Kristian Bruun's character is more frail character than Donnie in Orphan Black. Tommie-Amber Pirie, whose characters always seem more mature than her age, fits in well here. Jonas Chernick and James McGowan (The Border) have a lot of fun with their characters.

Staite is a better fit in this film than what we saw in a very bad rom-com film (40 Below and Falling later changed to A Frosty Affair).

Rosemary Dunsmore plays the mom of Kristian Bruun's character; both were in Orphan Black. Fans of Carnival Eats on both sides of the border get to see Noah Cappe act without fair food in his mouth.

Recent Canadian citizen Lauren Holly plays Cassie's mother in flashbacks.

How to Plan an Orgy in a Small Town has sexual overtones and a lot of butts, male and female but nothing too strong otherwise. The story is more about adults dealing with people they knew in high school, how much different people are when they grow up.

Jeremy Lalonde has a lot of fun with his stars and everyone is in on the awkwardness of people not into orgies trying to plan an orgy. You might know Lalonde from this 2015 film or his 2020 release, James vs. His Future Self, which featured American actor Daniel Stern with Chernick, and Pirie from this film.

video credit: YouTube/Movieclips Indie
photo credit: How to Plan an Orgy in a Small Town film

Canadian journalism notebook: Huge loss with closure of HuffPost Canada and HuffPost Quebec

Canada is a rather large country with shockingly few independent news outlets. Huff Post Canada and Huff Post Quebec may have had their flaws but they served a needed purpose in the Canadian journalism scene.

BuzzFeed recently acquired both Web sites. The closure came 2 weeks after the staff had filed for union certification with CWA-Canada.

We've seen lots of journalism layoffs to Web sites that still exist. To completely close up shop is a radical move. BuzzFeed did say the decision to close HuffPost's Canadian operations were taken before that filing was made.

You can still find past stories from HuffPost Canada and Huff Post Quebec but you need to know the topic and/or URL. You can't find them from the actual site.

The success of Huff Post in Canada proved there is a market for that kind of approach to journalism in Canada. BuzzFeed's closure wasn't on merit.

The Canadian Association of Journalists released a statement, dismayed by the abrupt decision.

If we won a significant amount in the Canadian lottery, we would love to come to Canada and run a journalism outfit designed to catch the stories that fall through the many cracks in Canadian journalism. Speaking of journalism outfits, here is the Canadaland take on the HuffPost closings.

Canadian journalism notebook: TorStar to shut down StarMetro newspapers

TorStar/Postmedia newspaper 'trade' details

Postmedia newspaper cuts mean even fewer Canada journalism voices

The Competition Act seemed made to address the swap and closure of Postmedia and Torstar newspapers a few years back. The large newspaper companies weren't subtle at all in their actions.

Yet the Competition Bureau stopped the investigation without a trip to the courts.

TheTyee.ca, a top Canadian journalism outlet, reported on e-mails that confirm the companies knew the other company planned the cuts after the swap.

The July 18, 2017 letter confirms the companies' “definitive agreement” will include a five-year non-competition “covenant” in the markets where it exchanged properties. Competition Bureau lawyer Pierre-Yves Guay wrote in an affidavit accompanying the court files that the final non-compete agreement — not released to the public — included promises not to operate news publications targeted at particular audiences or distribute flyers in specific geographic areas.

Sounds like a fix.

Another intriguing detail happened to John Hammill, Postmedia’s regional sales manager for Ontario newspapers in Simcoe County. Hammill was terminated by Postmedia (the old owner) and not Torstar (the new owner). Hammill was the only employee willing to go on record.

The story in TheTyee.ca is longer than a 3-minute read. Take in the whole story to get a real sense of what happened.

As the next story notes, some Canadian journalism monopolies still continue unfettered.

Trudeau Government proposes ways to help out Canadian journalism

Proposed money for Canadian journalism about sprouting non-profit news templates

Erin O'Toole wants to do significant damage to CBC Television and CBC News Network

Came across this "story" in the Toronto Sun about how Ottawa Citizen subscribers can now claim the federal digital news tax credit.

Postmedia owns both newspapers; the company is benefiting greatly from the digital tax credit since the company owns the vast majority of major newspapers in the country, especially outside the Maritimes.

The "story" is more of a how-to so subscribers can take advantage of the Digital News Subscription Tax Credit. The company has a monopoly in 2-newspaper cities such as Ottawa, Edmonton, Calgary, and Vancouver and owns the only major English language newspaper in Montréal.

This is the part where we mention that the majority ownership (in money, not on paper) of Postmedia is American hedge funds.

The help for Canadian journalism can't go just to prop up old newspaper companies such as Postmedia and TorStar. Conservatives already control so much of Canadian media that the threats against CBC funding are daunting.

If Postmedia was forced to sell a newspaper in those 4 markets where they have a monopoly, we could see if newspaper competition can grow. Innovation will help get Canadian journalism on sturdier ground; not funneling money to conservative fossils.

CanadianCrossing.com journalism coverage

We aren't big on polls, especially when they are treated as actual news stories. 

One compelling statistic from the Edelman Trust Barometer report was that 49% of Canadians surveyed say journalists and reporters are purposely trying to mislead people by saying things they know are false or gross exaggerations.

What we don't know is that is conservatives freaking out over the CBC, liberals upset over the National Post, or whether the disgust comes from consuming American news on TV and the computer.

The CBC has a list of steps to improve the trust among Canadians. Don't think Postmedia will ever post such a list.

photo credit: HuffPost Canada and Huff Post Quebec/BuzzFeed