Canadian Crossing

Canada celebrates 3 years of legal marijuana

Canada had another federal election without mentioning that Canada legalized marijuana coast to coast to coast. Canadians theoretically had a better time during the pandemic with legal marijuana. The U.S. has states where marijuana is legal but Canadians can use Canada Post to get their supplies.

Justin Trudeau focuses his election rhetoric more on what needs to be done than what has been done. Definitely not Canadian to brag about being the prime minister who helped make marijuana legal.

October 17, 2018 was the first day marijuana was legal in Canada. Still remember the excitement of seeing Newfoundland jump into the fray a mere 90 minutes before most of Ontario and Quebec could start.

Opening Day for legal recreational marijuana in Canada

A slim chance of marijuana tourism in Canada in 2021

Opening Day for fully vaccinated Americans to cross into Canada with caveats

August 9 is the date fully vaccinated Americans can cross into Canada with some fine print

When we said "slim chance," we were likely being generous. The border has been open for Americans (fully vaccinated) to enter Canada since August. The parameters around that happening means most of that traffic are people who live near the border as well as Canadian citizens, knowing they can cross so much easier.

Perhaps if sales of ketchup chips and poutine have sharply increased.

Canada celebrates 2 years of legal marijuana

Marijuana in Canada on 4/20/20

We did wonder about the dynamic of states that border Canada and have legalized marijuana on a state level. The marijuana seizures in Michigan from Canada have climbed dramatically during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The theory is that the marijuana is destined for southern U.S. states where marijuana is illegal. The geographic dynamic of eastern Michigan and Canada lend itself to smuggling of all types between the countries. Cigarettes (mostly to Canada) and years ago, Mountain Dew (to Canada) are some of the other more legal products crossing the border. Canada had intricate rules about caffeine in non-colas so a caffeine version of Mountain Dew was desirable in Canada.

Yet another advantage to completely legal marijuana is the idea that marijuana is truly easier to find, even versus a state where marijuana is legal. The idea of getting pot in a shopping mall does blow some minds.

2021 Canadian politics preview

The awkward, terrible way Doug Ford and the Progressive Conservatives rolled out marijuana in Ontario may be far down on the list of reasons why Ontario voters will want to vote out the current government on June 2, 2022. The irony of this going so poorly is the drug dealing allegations by the current Ontario premier.

Marijuana in Canada is a good example where politics don't always match. You can argue that Quebec is very liberal and Alberta is very conservative. On marijuana, Alberta is extremely liberal and Quebec is extremely conservative. Alberta is the only province where the legal age for marijuana is 18 (same as alcohol) while Quebec is the only place where the legal age for marijuana is 21 (3 years older than for alcohol).

Quebec Premier François Legault and the Coalition Avenir Québec government are up for election on October 3, 2022.

We don't think marijuana policy will decide votes in these provincial elections. We would be highly curious to know whether the subject will come up in either election.

A good reminder to note that provinces set the tone on marijuana. As we've noted, Manitoba is the only other province (18 for alcohol, 19 for marijuana) that has different rules. The other provinces are set at 19 for both.

Canadian film review: Canadian Strain

CanadianCrossing.com marijuana coverage

We are surprised that marijuana policy doesn't come up as much in news stories. Is the black market still a factor? The policies are generally against public consumption. Are people respecting those boundaries? Edibles are now a full-blown part of marijuana in Canada. Are children being protected from accidental consumption?

We would love to believe that the absence of stories means everything is good. We are not that naive. Marijuana in Canada is legal and accepted; talking about marijuana in Canada, well, these things might take some time.

photo credits: CBC News; me

2021 CFL Week 11 preview

The CFL is back to starting its week on Friday night.

Winnipeg and Edmonton play the second half of a back to back with the trip on Friday night to the home of the Elks.

The Montréal-Ottawa rivalry also has a back to back with a late afternoon start in the nation's capital on Saturday.

Calgary plays a team other than Saskatchewan going to the west coast for a late afternoon start in Vancouver.

Speaking of Saskatchewan, the Roughriders along with Hamilton and Toronto have the week off. The Argonauts played 2 games last week so the players and staff deserve some rest.

TSN

Friday
Winnipeg @ Edmonton, 9p
Saturday
Montréal @ Ottawa, 4p
Calgary @ BC, 7p

Bye week: Hamilton, Saskatchewan, Toronto

🥲♥️🎙Sad to say goodbye today to my friends at CTV and TSN but so excited for my next chapter which will be as amazing the last. Thank you. Had the time of my life. Cheers🇨🇦👊

— Rod Black 🇨🇦 (@RodBlackTSN) October 14, 2021

The 3 individuals trusted to call the CFL not that long ago were Chris Cuthbert, Rod Black, and Gord Miller. TSN has expanded that list lately, especially after Cuthbert left for Rogers Sportsnet and the NHL and Miller is not to expected to call any CFL games in 2021. Now Rod Black is leaving TSN and the CFL.

Name a sport and Rod Black has likely been involved in some way. Like recent retiree Jim Hughson, Black also called MLB games: Toronto Blue Jays on CTV Sportsnet (1999-2000) and TSN (2002-2009). He also had hosting duties for Toronto Raptors games.

Then there is the CFL. Rod Black has called games, mostly in the east, since 2005. Black did fill in on CFL telecasts in 2002.

We have poked fun at Black for his TD calls before the ball got in the end zone and his obsession with sons of NFL players. Black was enthusiastic for Canadian football and we love him for that.

Rod Black had a few more years left in his career. This looks like he's being forced out. Rod Black deserved a lot better exit, regardless of his peculiarities. Hello Canada indeed.

Rod Smith was promoted for the big games where Rod Black seemed content in the #2 role for the CFL on TSN. We are a bit stunned at the news and the timing, though we may not find out why.

We factored in that Rod Smith would go out west for the playoffs. Now we may see Smith stay east while Dustin Nielson calls playoff games out west.

CanadianCrossing.com CFL coverage

The Toronto Argonauts went 2-0 since we last met. The Ottawa RedBlacks went 0-2 in that stretch. Ottawa and Toronto played 14.29% of their seasons from Wednesday to Monday last week.

In the opener for both teams, Toronto remained undefeated at home. A blocked punt and a pair of Pick 6 for major scores were exciting plays. Ottawa got a blocked punt for the team's only touchdown in the 4th quarter.

Toronto had good weather, celebrating the 1991 Grey Cup winning team, with an opponent the Argos would likely beat. The game drew 6,788. Ouch.

Hamilton seemed like the team would put away the tired Argos on Monday. McLeod Bethel-Thompson and the Argos offence kept up the push, getting the leading touchdown after a roughing the passer penalty. Hamilton kicker Taylor Bertolet missed a conversion that would have been the difference.

The Tiger-Cats also should have had a touchdown on the late drive that produced a field goal giving Hamilton a small lead. Hamilton has now lost 2 home games in a row.

This was the first regulation win for Toronto in the history of Tim Hortons Field.

The Toronto Argonauts get to rest. They earned that rest.

2021 CFL Week 10 preview

Rod Black said, paraphrased, it's how you start and how you finish. The phrase is rather lame, though in context, described Montréal's offence to a T, as in touchdown. The Alouettes had a beautiful opening drive, a great closing drive, and scattered field goals in between.

The RedBlacks stayed in the game with 4 field goals and 2 safeties. Vernon Adams Jr. had the opening TD drive for the Als while Matthew Shiltz had the closing TD drive for Montréal. Adams was placed on the 6-game injured list.

Ottawa could have been tired from playing 2 games in 6 days. The RedBlacks pattern: Wednesday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Monday, and Saturday this week.

The Alouettes won their first home game of the season. Montréal has now crawled into second place, 1½ games behind Toronto and ½ game ahead of Hamilton in the CFL East Division.

Canada observes the initial National Day for Truth and Reconciliation

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are off to an 8-1 start, the team best since 1960. Bud Grant was the coach for that team. The 1960 team started 10-1 and finished 14-2. I've seen the Bud Grant statue outside IG Field.

Edmonton conceded 3 safeties and a punt single in the 30-3 loss. The Winnipeg kicking game struggled again with Ali Mourtada going 1-4 in field goal tries, hitting from 24 and missing from 42, 47, and 46. Tyler Crapigna got injured early and the Blue Bombers kicking game is a potential issue.

Taylor Cornelius is back at quarterback for the Elks. No matter what happens this weekend, Edmonton can't catch Winnipeg in the standings. The Blue Bombers have the tiebreaker over the Elks.

2021 CFL Week 9 preview

Calgary needed to get the better of Saskatchewan to climb out of its self-dug hole in the West standings. The Stampeders have not blown out the Roughriders but did just enough to gain momentum. Calgary now has tied BC in points (with an extra game) and are 2 points behind Saskatchewan for 2nd place. The Stampeders have the tiebreaker with the Roughriders after the 2 wins.

Saskatchewan, BC, and Calgary are bunched up behind Winnipeg. Still too early to tell if there will be a crossover team this year so one of those teams might not make the CFL playoffs.

Winnipeg and Saskatchewan are now the only CFL teams to have a starting quarterback start every game for their team.

Jake Maier won't be the Calgary backup quarterback for awhile. Maier has reportedly tested positive for COVID-19.

2021 CFL Week 8 preview

Ontario shifted to full capacity as of 12:01 am Saturday morning. This affects ⅓ of the teams in the league. The change kicked in for the Thanksgiving game in Hamilton. The Ottawa RedBlacks get that added capacity starting Saturday. The Toronto Argonauts crowds will have plenty of social distancing.

Vancouver might get a boost closer to the NHL Canucks home opener on October 26. The BC Lions would get a small boost with a full capacity. The upper deck will still be closed at BC Place.

A 24,000 seat Grey Cup is not ideal but that is the revised CFL plan. The details are out for a much scaled back presentation. The league awarded the 2023 Grey Cup to Hamilton to make up for a diminished 2021 Grey Cup. The 2022 Grey Cup is set for Regina, the scheduled home of the 2020 Grey Cup.

Getting to BMO Field in Toronto should be a good experience

We helped out a CFL fan to find a better way to the Argos home in Toronto. Vancouver, Calgary, and Edmonton offer local train options to get to the stadium. Ottawa, Hamilton, and Winnipeg have strong bus service. You can walk from downtown Regina to the stadium. Montréal requires an uphill walk from the McGill stop off the Green Line.

Getting to BMO Field can be tough in rush hour, depending on how far away you are from the downtown core. The Exhibition stop is only a single stop from Union Station.

Short-term solutions for TSN to replace Chris Cuthbert on CFL telecasts

Marshall Ferguson did his second CFL game of the season, working with Duane Forde in the Wednesday game in Toronto. Ferguson will get a lot more work with the sudden exit of Rod Black.

Rod Smith teamed up with Glen Suitor in Winnipeg on Friday. Dustin Nielson was back and working with Suitor in Regina on Saturday.

Rod Black and Forde gathered in Montréal for the early game on Thanksgiving Monday. Turned out to be Black's CFL swan song. The news is still a bit of a shock.

Smith and Matt Dunigan drove out to Hamilton for the Thanksgiving nightcap. This was Dunigan's second game in the booth in 2021.

Milt Stegall sat out Wednesday with Davis Sanchez via remote. Stegall was back on Friday and Jim Barker in for Sanchez. Sanchez was back in the studio on Monday with Barker in for Dunigan.

While everyone in Ottawa is eagerly waiting for Brady Tkachuk to sign…I’ll casually drop in to say I’m joining the @TSN_Sports team in #YOW!

So excited for this opportunity & I can’t wait to cover all the major sports stories in our nation’s capital 🇨🇦🍁 pic.twitter.com/03gtmapxQA

— Claire Hanna (@clahanna) October 9, 2021

If you wondered why Sara Orlesky was in Regina the day after being in Winnipeg last week, Claire Hanna shifted her focus from CTV Regina to covering sports in Ottawa for TSN.

Hanna hosted the Ottawa Senators home opener on TSN5. She also may work the sidelines for RedBlacks games, shifting Matthew Scianitti to only working Argonauts games.

My favourite @RodBlackTSN call of the @CFL. Frantic, excited, wrong. This captures his long career calling the @CFLonTSN. Will be missed. @TSN_Sports https://t.co/d89eYktMGb

— Chad Rubel (@canadian_xing) October 14, 2021

This is my favourite Rod Black CFL on TSN call. It's not excellent or completely correct. Black says the last kick went out of the end zone even though the ball didn't reach the goal line. Duane Forde steps in to describe what happened. Neither Black nor Forde point out that an Argonauts player knocked punter Noel Prefontaine out of the end zone so he couldn't do the kicking.

I've used that footage to sample new phones in the store and to show casual fans how wild the CFL can be. Rod Black is enthusiastic on this call yet misses so much. This is why I love it so.

Thanks to the CFL YouTube page for the footage. Best of luck to you, Rod Black. Thanks for all you did.

logo credit: CFL
Twitter captures: @RodBlackTSN; @clahanna; @canadian_xing

A recap of CBC Saturday night Canadian films in early fall 2021

Hockey Night in Canada returns to the CBC with 5 NHL games on tap on Saturday.

This means the run of Canadian films on Saturday nights on CBC will be put on pause for many months.

A full NHL season with the 2022 Winter Olympics will push into late June 2022.

CBC has been showing Canadian films since the end of the 2021 Paralympics from Tokyo.

We had some new (to the pandemic) Canadian film titles. Here are the last few weeks of Canadian films that aired on CBC.

September 11: Juliana & The Medicine Fish (2017); Maudie (2016)

September 18: Funny Boy (2019); Beeba Boys (2015); River (2015)

September 25: Rustic Oracle (2019); Remember (2015); Mean Dreams (2016)

October 2: Indian Horse (2017); One Day in the Life of Noah Piugattuk (2019)

October 9: Across the Line (2015); Bon Cop Bad Cop 2 (2017); River (2015)

Juliana & The Medicine Fish (2017); Funny Boy (2019); Rustic Oracle (2019); Indian Horse (2017); One Day in the Life of Noah Piugattuk (2019) were new additions to the pandemic version of the Canadian films on Saturday nights. Funny Boy aired on CBC in prime time in December 2020.

We haven't seen Juliana & The Medicine Fish (2017); Beeba Boys (2015); and River (2015).

Canadian film review: Rustic Oracle

A recap of CBC Saturday night Canadian films in summer 2021

A recap of CBC Saturday night Canadian films in fall and winter 2020-2021

A recap of CBC Saturday night Canadian films in spring and summer 2020

Depending on your taste in Canadian film, these particular titles could be a gateway into what Canadian film can be. The titles are often family-oriented and may not be too edgy. CBC does show more challenging titles later in the evening.

We will continue to carry through covering Canadian films on CBC. The pandemic will forever change our lives. Hopefully, you found some solace in the Canadian film choices on the Canadian public broadcaster.

CanadianCrossing.com CBC coverage

CanadianCrossing.com film reviews

CanadianCrossing.com film coverage

Canadians can choose to watch these Canadian films on CBC Gem. For a monthly fee, you can watch them without commercials.

logo credit: CBC
photo credit: Rustic Oracle film

Getting to BMO Field in Toronto should be a good experience

Toronto is the largest city in Canada so getting around the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) in rush hour can produce some heartbreaking stories.

3 Down Nation, a Web site devoted to the CFL, featured such a story. This person was traveling from Mississauga to BMO Field for last week's midweek CFL game with the Ottawa RedBlacks in Toronto.

He was staying in town for a conference in a Mississauga hotel. We don't know which one; he did note that BMO Field was 17 kilometres away.

He left his hotel at 5:45 pm, took a free shuttle to Pearson airport, took the UP Express to Union Station, and finally traveled on the GO train on the Lakeshore West line one stop west to Exhibition.

He arrived at Union Station at 7 pm — kickoff was 7:30 pm — but had to wait 45 minutes for the GO train at that hour. He ended up missing the first quarter.

"Two hours and 10 minutes to get to a place 17 kilometres away. Yikes."

I would bet good money that the concierge didn't give him the best possible route. My business trip past shows that people who normally drive don't know good transit options.

Let's help out the weary CFL traveler. I took a cursory look at the GO train map as well as the Toronto subway map for about 10 minutes.

We don't know where he was staying within Mississauga. He might not have known there were GO train options in Mississauga (cheaper than the UP Express $12.35 cost). He really might not have known there was a GO train station in Mississauga on the Lakeshore West line: Port Credit (30 Queen Street East) is on the Lakeshore West route, 3 stops west of Exhibition.

A cab ride to Port Credit might have been a lot. There might be buses from his hotel to the Port Credit station but we don't know where he stayed. Getting 3 stops away on the GO train would have cut a lot of time off his trip, bypassing Pearson and Union Station.

CanadianCrossing.com travel coverage

This is not to say every traveler is going to know how to navigate well in a strange situation. Having good travel options, researched as well as you can, improve your travel odds. I thought I had researched how to get to the football stadium at Moncton, New Brunswick for Touchdown Atlantic. Finding a bus stop proved harder since there weren't that many signs.

Waited a long time for a bus to get to the Green Line to get to a Montréal Expos game in 2004 and missed the beginning of the game. Back then, tracking transit wasn't viable on a phone.

He wasn't the only one concerned about more trains between Union Station and Exhibition. 

I had my own fun trip to get to BMO Field. My plan was to take the King streetcar west to the Dufferin Gate Loop. The King streetcar suddenly stopped at Bathurst not going any further west.

The Bathurst streetcar went to the Exhibition Loop, so a longer walk to get to the stadium. I took the GO train back to Union Station after the game.

CanadianCrossing.com CFL coverage

"Getting to BMO Field in Toronto is a terrible experience" — the 3 Down Nation headline on the story.

The BMO Field attendance figures have been dismal. The Toronto Argonauts have spent most of the season at the top of the East Division and are undefeated at home. The team didn't even draw half of what they were allowed for that Wednesday game and that night was a celebration of the 1991 Grey Cup winners.

The walking distance from Union Station to Rogers Centre (below map) is 900 metres, about a ½ mile walk. The GO train trip is only one stop west and puts you in a great position to get to the stadium. The TTC streetcars get you pretty close to the stadium.

The BMO Field facilities are gorgeous with great sightlines for football, much better than SkyDome. I've seen Argos games in both places, not even a close comparison. TTC and GO could work on improved transportation on the days of Argonauts home games.

We know fans of Toronto FC of MLS don't have trouble getting to BMO Field.

Getting to BMO Field may never be a great experience but should be a better experience, even if traveling from Mississauga. The trip isn't the primary reason why attendance has dropped for the CFL in Toronto. Every little improvement will help draw football fans to the Exhibition place.

photos credit: GO Transit
map credit: Google

NHL the month in preview October 2021

The 2021-2022 NHL season starts tonight in the United States. Canada waits until the traditional Wednesday start.

The opening night matchups on Wednesday feel familiar: Montréal and Toronto meet in the early game after the 3-1 Stanley Cup playoffs comeback in May. Vancouver (missed the playoffs) will be in Edmonton (a team that made the playoffs but won as many playoff games as the Canucks) play in the nightcap. The Winnipeg (a team that swept and got swept) game on U.S. soil will also be part of the mix.

Hometown Hockey (HH) is back this season, shifting from Sunday to Monday. The evening often will feature multiple games this season.

TNT makes its Canadian team debut with the Edmonton Oilers hosting Philadelphia on October 27. Fitting that the first game is on Alberta soil given how timid NBCSN was in broadcasting from that province. The U.S. network won't have an early game on Wednesdays (beyond the first 2 weeks) until 2022.

NHL Network starts out its Canadian team coverage with a rare Ottawa home game (Dallas), the lone NHL contest on October 17. The first Hometown Hockey game of the year is also on the U.S. channel on October 18, an Original 6 matchup with the New York Rangers in Toronto.

The Calgary game on October 23 should be a NHL Network production like we saw last season on weekend afternoons, an improvement over the NBC Sports Washington feed. The U.S. channel picks up Hockey Night in Canada (HNIC) feeds with the Maple Leafs meeting Sidney Crosby in Pittsburgh (23) and we think the first time the channel has shown the Jets-Sharks battle live (30).

An annual reminder that the U.S. channel often (not always) has a backup game. If your home team is involved in the main game, you might get a Canadian game as a bonus. The channel also has matinee rebroadcasts, condensed versions that air the following afternoon.

The initial ESPN+/Hulu game involving a Canadian team is the Seattle Kraken home opener against the Vancouver Canucks on October 23. That will block out the CBC coverage in the United States unless you live in a CBC market through cable.

A reminder that the ESPN+/Hulu games listed below are ESPN productions. They are exclusive telecasts, even in market. 

Check for a NHL Center Ice free preview. They offer intermission coverage.

TNT

October 27
Philadelphia @ Edmonton, 10p

NHL Network

October 17
Dallas @ Ottawa, 5p
October 18
NY Rangers @ Toronto, 7p (HH)
October 23
Calgary at Washington, 1p (NHLN Showcase)
Toronto @ Pittsburgh, 7p (HNIC)
October 30
Winnipeg @ San Jose, 7p (HNIC)

ESPN+/Hulu

October 23
Vancouver @ Seattle, 10p

Hockey Night in Canada

October 16

Ottawa @ Toronto, 7p/NY Rangers @ Montréal, 7p/Vancouver @ Detroit, 7p
Calgary @ Edmonton, 10p/Winnipeg @ San Jose, 10p

October 23

Toronto @ Pittsburgh, 7p/Detroit @ Montréal, 7p/Nashville @ Winnipeg, 7p
Vancouver @ Seattle, 10p

October 30

Detroit @ Toronto, 7p/Winnipeg @ San Jose, 7p
Edmonton @ Vancouver, 10p/Philadelphia @ Calgary, 10p

Hometown Hockey

October 18 NY Rangers @ Toronto, 7p (The Township of North Dumfries, ON)

October 25 Toronto vs. Carolina, 7p/Calgary @ NY Rangers, 7p/
Washington @ Ottawa, 7p (Lindsay, ON)

Rogers Sportsnet national telecasts

October 13 Montréal @ Toronto, 7p/Vancouver @ Edmonton, 10p/
Winnipeg @ Anaheim, 10p

October 15 Vancouver @ Philadelphia, 7p

October 19 Vancouver @ Buffalo, 7p/Anaheim @ Edmonton, 9p

October 21 Calgary @ Detroit, 7:30p/Edmonton @ Arizona, 10p

October 22 Edmonton @ Las Vegas, 10p

October 26 Calgary @ New Jersey, 7p/Minnesota @ Vancouver, 10p

October 27 Toronto @ Chicago, 8p/Philadelphia @ Edmonton, 10p

October 28 Philadelphia @ Vancouver, 10p

NHL Center Ice free preview

October 13 Montréal @ Toronto, 7p/Vancouver @ Edmonton, 10p/
Winnipeg @ Anaheim, 10p

October 14 Toronto @ Ottawa, 7p/Montréal @ Buffalo, 7p

October 15 Vancouver @ Philadelphia, 7p

October 16 Ottawa @ Toronto, 7p/NY Rangers @ Montréal, 7p/
Vancouver @ Detroit, 7p/Calgary @ Edmonton, 10p/Winnipeg @ San Jose, 10p

October 17 Dallas @ Ottawa, 5p

October 18 NY Rangers @ Toronto, 7p/Anaheim @ Calgary, 9:30p

October 19 Vancouver @ Buffalo, 7p/San Jose @ Montréal, 7p/
Winnipeg @ Minnesota, 8p/Anaheim @ Edmonton, 9p

Zack Hyman was a key, underrated part of the Toronto Maple Leafs offence. Hyman proved to be a rarity, jumping from a Canadian team to another Canadian team in free agency. Hyman will now be a part of the offence in Edmonton with Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl.

Mathieu Perreault was another player who switched Canadian teams, going from Winnipeg to Montréal. Perreault signed a 1-year, $950,000 deal. Hyman's deal was a lot larger: 7 years for $38.5 million.

Tracking the NHL 2021 media changes

Jim Hughson concludes marvelous baseball and hockey announcing career

The Montréal Canadiens took off the interim tag on Dominique Ducharme and named him the 31st head coach in the long history of the team.

The Habs essentially "traded" Jesperi Kotkaniemi, replacing him with Christian Dvorak. Carolina had a $6.1 million offer sheet for Kotkaniemi. The Canadiens thought that was too much, acquiring a 1st-round pick and a 3rd-round pick in the 2022 NHL Draft. The team then traded one of its 1st-round picks in the 2022 draft and a 2nd-round pick in the 2024 NHL Draft to Arizona for Dvorak.

The offer sheet was seen to be retaliatory for Montréal giving an offer sheet for Sebastian Aho. Carolina kept Aho and was forced to give the player a huge bonus.

2021 NHL preseason schedule

Shea Weber may never hit the ice for the Montréal Canadiens ever again. P.K. Subban lasted 3 years in Nashville and has played the last 2 seasons in New Jersey.

We knew Weber was an "old" 31 when the Habs acquired him for (27) Subban. We were highly critical of the deal at the time, even if that meant a return to winning the Stanley Cup.

If you had said in late June 2016 that Weber would lead the Canadiens to the Stanley Cup finals, we would be encouraged. If you had said Weber will only play 5 seasons, we would have been disappointed.

If Weber doesn't play again, Nashville will pay more of a penalty than Montréal will. Vancouver knows that pain as they play another season minus a good player because of Roberto Luongo's contract. This will be the final season where the Canucks can't spend $3.3 million on an active player who could help their team.

We should give an award to the best Canadian NHL team each season

2021 Stanley Cup notebook: Montreal Canadiens season is done

Bell Centre will be at full capacity for the Montréal Canadiens. Ontario shifted to full capacity as of 12:01 am Saturday morning. The Toronto and Ottawa teams will be happy.

Vancouver, like the Ontario teams, was at 50% capacity for the preseason. The Canucks don't open at home until October 26 so British Columbia may change the policy before that date. This is subject to change.

2021 Stanley Cup playoffs scoreboard

The Seattle Kraken picked a player from each Canadian team. Mark Giordano (D) (Calgary) was the biggest name from the Canadian teams. Edmonton traded Taylor Hall even up for Adam Larsson (D). The Oilers lost Larsson to Seattle.

Montréal lost Cale Fleury (D) while Ottawa said goodbye to Joey Daccord (G). Toronto traded for Jared McCann (F) and then lost him. Kole Lind (F) (Vancouver) and Mason Appleton (F) (Winnipeg) round out the list.

Carey Price was a tempting possibility for the Kraken but likely made a smart decision to go with Fleury, who will start out in the American Hockey League.

The Canucks-Kraken rivalry will be amazing. Look to see how Seattle tangles with the Alberta teams since they have also been the Kraken opposition in the preseason.

While everyone in Ottawa is eagerly waiting for Brady Tkachuk to sign…I’ll casually drop in to say I’m joining the @TSN_Sports team in #YOW!

So excited for this opportunity & I can’t wait to cover all the major sports stories in our nation’s capital 🇨🇦🍁 pic.twitter.com/03gtmapxQA

— Claire Hanna (@clahanna) October 9, 2021

Claire Hanna moves from CTV Regina and the CFL on TSN coverage to covering sports for TSN in Ottawa. This might be relevant to the TSN5 Ottawa Senators coverage. We still don't know who will help call Sens games along with Gord Miller.

Hanna, pictured at the arena in Kanata, might host the TSN5 telecasts. Brent Wallace was the host until February when he, among many at Bell Media, lost his job.

Our guide to the NHL Canadian teams coverage

CanadianCrossing.com NHL coverage

The NHL deigns to give a Canada an outdoor game. Unlike the 2019 (Regina) and 2016 (Winnipeg) versions, this 2022 Heritage Classic will actually be in the winter: March 13 in Hamilton with the "road" Toronto Maple Leafs and "home" Buffalo Sabres.

This means that every NHL and CFL market will have had an outdoor game except Montréal.

The Maple Leafs have played outdoors in Ann Arbor, MI (2014) with a 3-2 SO win; at BMO Field (2017) 5-4 (OT) over Detroit; and a 5-2 loss to Washington in Annapolis, MD (2018).

The Sabres will be the first U.S. based team to play in something labeled as the Heritage Classic.

photo credit: NHL
Twitter capture: @clahanna

Canadian Thanksgiving 2021: Slightly more thankful

Welcome to Canadian Thanksgiving 2021 aka Thanksgiving. We are thankful for:

• the federal election being over
• the promise of more truth and reconciliation with Indigenous people in Canada
• most Canadians being fully vaccinated
• Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig being in Canada and Meng Wanzhou not being in Canada
• the Toronto Blue Jays 2021 season, even if they didn't make the AL playoffs
• having a rather decent Canadian film for the Oscars
• a NHL season that opens for Canadian teams on Wednesday
• the border to be sort of open
• having 2 CFL games on Thanksgiving

CBC News has some advice for those holding Thanksgiving celebrations. An outdoors version, where possible, would be a nice option. This is an advantage to holding Thanksgiving in relatively warm temperatures.

We know military nurses went to work at an Edmonton hospital in part due to Alberta's woeful response to the 4th wave of COVID-19.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said all would-be travelers must be fully vaccinated by October 30 before boarding planes, trains, or marine vessels. There will be a "short transition phase" where travelers can show a negative COVID-19 molecular test result (in lieu of vaccination proof) until November 30.

Canadian Thanksgiving 2020: Trying to remain thankful

A few random tweets of note:

.@globalnews portray @JustinTrudeau trip as #vacation yet describe him as working thru the day. Be critical about his location (could have been at #residentialschool site). Don't make stuff up. The creepy stalker footage on the beach doesn't help. https://t.co/5pTVat1GfE

— Chad Rubel (@canadian_xing) October 1, 2021

The Indigenous population of Canada should have been the focus on the first National Truth and Reconciliation Day. Global News decided to make it about Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Political journalists don't like when politicians say they will be one place and then be somewhere else. They don't seem to care if the politician is hiding (Doug Ford, Jason Kenney) but that may depend on the colour of stripes.

The "vacation" label was effective if imprecise. The prime minister did participate in a ceremony Wednesday night and did spend the day speaking on the phone with residential school survivors.

The Global News anger was topped off by sending a reporter to hunt down the prime minister and his daughter walking on the beach in Tofino, BC.

We would find numerous errors in how Trudeau handled the situation. Trudeau himself acknowledged a "mistake." The issue isn't in Global News drawing attention; the lack of objectivity and extra creepiness were significant problems. We have noticed the Twitter hashtag #CdnMediaFailed.

Be consistent: use a competent focus to all political parties.

The Supreme Court of Canada upheld changes to an election DURING an election. A 5-4 vote, but chilling nevertheless. The people of #Toronto and #Canada deserved something better than a #ThirdWorld sense of democracy. https://t.co/mY7vyfsDwJ

— Chad Rubel (@canadian_xing) October 1, 2021

Canada Supreme Court 5-4 decisions are much rarer than what happens in the United States. Our objection was the implementation of the Doug Ford law AND when it was implemented (during the election). The latter point was part of Toronto's objection: that the law violated certain unwritten constitutional principles, such as democracy.

From the Supreme Court of Canada synopsis on the case:

• Majority: Chief Justice Richard Wagner and Justice Russell Brown dismissed the appeal. They said the new law did not violate the freedom of expression of candidates and voters contrary to section 2(b) of the Charter. They also said unwritten constitutional principles cannot serve as the basis for invalidating legislation (Justices Michael Moldaver, Suzanne Côté, and Malcolm Rowe agreed.)
• Dissenting: Justice Rosalie Abella would have allowed the appeal. She said the timing of the new law violated section 2(b) of the Charter and was not justified, and that unwritten constitutional principles can in fact serve to invalidate legislation. (Justices Andromache Karakatsanis, Sheilah Martin, and Nicholas Kasirer agreed.)

Abella, who was appointed to the Court by Paul Martin, retired on Canada Day. Though Trudeau appointed Wagner to chief justice, Stephen Harper appointed Wagner, Brown, Moldaver, and Côté to the Court. Rowe was the only one in the majority who was appointed by Trudeau.

In the minority, Trudeau appointed Martin and Kasirer while Harper appointed Karakatsanis.

Trudeau can appoint a successor to Moldaver in 14 months.

Toronto city election damaged by Doug Ford bully move to threaten notwithstanding clause

There was plenty of confusion during the Toronto election cycle as a result of the new law. Changing the rules in the middle of the election causes confusion. Sadly, there isn't an argument about Ontario doing this to Toronto. There was no reason for the change other than the petty nature of Ford, who used to serve on the Toronto City Council.

One of millions of examples why #Canada and #UnitedStates should have more of a #Schengen situation. @Jackie_Redmond https://t.co/DDNPoob4ky

— Chad Rubel (@canadian_xing) October 1, 2021

The pandemic is one of the millions of reasons why the border should be more open. We've focused on countless border issues heightened during the pandemic: Northwest Angle, Point Roberts, and Haskell Free Library & Opera House to name a few.

Les Oiseaux Ivres is Canada's selection to the Oscars for Best International Feature Film

2021 Toronto Blue Jays have a lot to celebrate, just not the playoffs

Canada observes the initial National Day for Truth and Reconciliation

Canadians Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig finally on their way home

Justin Trudeau, Liberals win a third government with back-to-back minority governments

Football and Thanksgiving have been a consistent tradition in the United States and Canada. Imagine if the NFL tried to remove games on Thanksgiving Day. The league now has 3 games on the holiday.

The CFL did take games off of Thanksgiving 2019 when there were 0 games that year. Most years had 2 games. A few years had a single game. In earlier times, some years had 3 or 4 games on the holiday.

The Thanksgiving games aired on CBC until TSN took over the full contract in 2008.

Canadians can watch the NFL Thanksgiving games. ESPN hasn't put a single Thanksgiving game in the TV contract, even though the day is also a holiday in the United States. The last time a U.S. outlet showed a live CFL game on Thanksgiving was 2009.

Opening Day for fully vaccinated Americans to cross into Canada with caveats

August 9 is the date fully vaccinated Americans can cross into Canada with some fine print

Hoping next year will have much more travel between Canada and the United States. Will be more thankful when that happens.

photo credit: me
Twitter captures: @canadian_xing

Tracking the NHL 2021 media changes

The Turner Sports (aka TNT and TBS) B package features some familiar names. Kenny Albert and Eddie Olczyk form the primary team with Brendan Burke and Darren Pang as the backup team. Burke works with the New York Islanders and did work for NBCSN. Pang has been chased by almost every national outlet in the U.S. and Canada and finally signed with Turner Sports. Pang still works for the St. Louis Blues telecasts.

We thought NBC wasted Keith Jones in the studio. Jones will be at ice level for Turner Sports. Anson Carter will continue in a studio role, this time with Turner Sports along with Wayne Gretzky, Rick Tocchet, and Paul Bissonnette. The TNT studio segments will not be boring between Tocchet and Bissonnette. Gretzky is a blank slate; analysis hasn't been his strong suit. Gretzky might surprise us.

Liam McHugh never added much at NBC and will serve in the same capacity.

The contributors are a very different story. Jennifer Botterill was terrific on the Rogers Sportsnet telecasts. Hopefully, she will split her time between the countries. Tarik El-Bashir (Washington Capitals) is a strong pickup. Jackie Redmond (Canadian) has worked on Sportsnet and lately on the NHL Network.

Turner Sports would need freelancers in the first round of the playoffs, provided they will produce all 4 series in that round. They could save money by showing Canadian feeds. Just saying.

The Turner Sports deal is the B package: the Winter Classic, at least 72 national games (most years), and the Stanley Cup finals in 2023, 2025, and 2027.

Here is the TNT schedule involving Canadian teams. Schedule is subject to change.

October 27 Philadelphia @ Edmonton, 10p
November 24 Toronto @ Los Angeles, 10p
December 1 Pittsburgh @ Edmonton, 10p
December 22 Edmonton @ Los Angeles, 10p
January 5 NY Islanders @ Vancouver, 10p
January 12 Boston @ Montréal, 7p/Toronto @ Arizona, 10p
January 19 Toronto @ NY Rangers, 7:30p
February 2 Edmonton @ Washington, 7p
February 23 Edmonton @ Tampa Bay, 7:30p
March 9 Washington @ Edmonton, 8p/Montréal @ Vancouver, 10:30p
April 6 Vancouver @ Las Vegas, 10p

The TNT schedule has no early Wednesday games until 2022 (outside the first 2 weeks). This is a one-time issue.

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

ESPN has the A package with the extra Stanley Cup final in the new 7-year U.S. TV deal, starting with the 2022 Stanley Cup finals.

The regular season package is 25 games, reportedly 15 for ESPN and 10 for ABC. Canadian teams will make token appearances.

The 75 games on ESPN+ and Hulu should be intriguing. These games are blacked out in the local markets so putting a Canadian team takes away a chance to black out a U.S. market. The Seattle Kraken home opener on October 23 against the Vancouver Canucks will be the first game involving a Canadian team.

The ESPN play-by-play people are Sean McDonough, Steve Levy, John Buccigross, Bob Wischusen, and Leah Hextall. Don't know Wischusen. Hextall is one of a few Canadians hired by ESPN. She has had a couple of stints with Rogers Sportsnet. An excellent choice. Have no issue with any of them.

Analysts apply to colour analysis of games and studio work. Ray Ferraro and Cassie Campbell-Pascall will also work in Canada as well as ESPN. Brian Boucher is somehow part of the team; here's hoping being out of the NBC clutches will make him better.

Thrilled that Kevin Weekes will be a part of the ESPN coverage. Weekes did studio work and colour analysis for Hockey Night in Canada back in the day with Mark Lee on CBC. He has honed his game on the NHL Network. A.J. Mleczko and Hilary Knight are also part of the mix: good on ESPN to tie in the U.S. success of women's hockey. Other analysts include Mark Messier, Chris Chelios, Ryan Callahan, Rick DiPietro, and Barry Melrose.

ESPN has reporters: Blake Bolden, Emily Kaplan, and Greg Wyshynski. Linda Cohn will host In the Crease for ESPN+ and contribute to NHL coverage.

Here is the ESPN and ESPN+/Hulu schedule involving Canadian teams. Schedule is subject to change.

ESPN April 21 Toronto @ Tampa Bay, 8p

ESPN+/Hulu
October 23 Vancouver @ Seattle, 10p
November 12 Edmonton @ Buffalo, 7p
November 23 Edmonton @ Dallas, 8:30p
December 28 Montréal @ Tampa Bay, 7p
January 17 Montréal @ Arizona, 4p
March 7 Toronto @ Columbus, 7:30p
April 26 Edmonton @ Pittsburgh, 7p

We aren't surprised by the low numbers of ESPN games. We are genuinely surprised that none of the games are on Canadian soil.

Ottawa, Winnipeg, and Calgary aren't on the schedule for TNT, ESPN, or ESPN+/Hulu.

Our guide to the NHL Canadian teams coverage

Who got missed?

Neither U.S. entity showed any interest in Pierre McGuire. NBC dropped McGuire to the #2 team while promoting Brian Boucher to the #1 team. Neither decision made much sense. McGuire isn't as good as he was a long time ago but wasn't too bad.

McGuire is now gainfully employed with the Ottawa Senators as senior vice president of player development.

Gord Miller was missing from the ESPN and TNT releases as well as the CFL on TSN talent for 2021. Miller may be taking over more NHL games on TSN. Miller may have decided on his own accord to cut back on U.S. travel. His prerogative, no matter what. Our loss to not hear him more. There is the possibility of Miller working a first-round playoff series for TNT.

Thought Dave Randorf might get some freelance work. Looks like ESPN and TNT will have fewer freelancers during the year. If somehow Tampa Bay misses the playoffs, well, that won't likely happen.

We liked the enthusiasm Alex Faust brought to the Canadian teams in the NHL playoffs last spring and summer. Faust does have a nice day job as the TV voice for the Los Angeles Kings.

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

U.S. NHL coverage has a large hole with Doc Emrick retirement

Gord Miller in and Brian Boucher out would make this setup better. Otherwise, very little to complain about: a good thing.

We won't see Canadian teams too often on cable TV, which isn't the worst thing for U.S. fans of Canadian teams. ESPN+ essentially replaces NHL.TV. Any NHL games — not assigned to a U.S. cable TV outlet or the exclusive ESPN+ games — will be available for ESPN+ subscribers with the feed of your choice.

The 75 exclusive ESPN+ games will also be on Hulu. (Full disclosure: your humble narrator has ESPN+ and Hulu.)

Already subscribing for the CFL or MLS or even MLB? You are in the club. The drawback to ESPN+ coverage is no pre-game coverage or intermissions. Still, you can watch Hockey Night in Canada opposite the Winter Classic.

From what we've been told, NHL Network games will be archived games on ESPN+ after 24 hours.

The ESPN approach to Canadian teams in the past has been quite fair. We will be curious if ESPN+ picks up a Battle of Alberta or a Habs-Sens game in future seasons. Hopefully, TNT will have a healthier attitude toward Canadian teams than NBC did. Not having John Forslund around will definitely help.

The ESPN group and the TNT group will split the playoffs, which will help give normal starting times and not as much concern about whether games will begin on the intended channel. The NBC shenanigans to yank playoff coverage off of television in the middle of the game in 2020 was unprofessional.

Our monthly NHL updates will feature ESPN+/Hulu games.

Experiencing Hometown Hockey in Windsor, Ontario

Hometown Hockey moves to Monday nights this fall. The weekend was a natural harbinger for the activities and the ability to draw a crowd outside the studio. Your humble narrator didn't have to ask for a day off from work when attending the Hometown Hockey event in Windsor in 2016.

Ron MacLean doesn't have to worry about tight travel schedules though David Amber will likely still host the late portion of Hockey Night in Canada.

The NHL Network would have more opportunities to carry Hometown Hockey. NBCSN showed a lot of Sunday night games; the network prohibited national telecasts opposite its own games. TNT is going with Sunday afternoons in the winter.

A nice time to remind ESPN+ that Hometown Hockey should be included as part of the telecasts. We doubt this will happen.

Jim Hughson concludes marvelous baseball and hockey announcing career

The Jim Hughson retirement still feels like a shock. Chris Cuthbert is in the driver's seat for Sportsnet; Cuthbert and Craig Simpson continue as the Sportsnet combo for local Toronto Maple Leafs telecasts with Greg Millen in the mix.

Chris Johnston jumps from Rogers Sportsnet to the Toronto Star and also contributing to TSN. We will be curious who goes into the chair for the Headlines segment. Maybe Rogers brings back Scott Morrison. Morrison has been working off air as an executive producer for Rogers Sportsnet. A female replacement should also be considered.

We portray the TSN announcers as "Gord Miller and friends" since Bell Media hasn't told us if there is a permanent replacement for Chris Cuthbert on Ottawa Senators (TSN5) and half the local Toronto Maple Leafs (TSN4) games. Jon Abbott and Victor Findlay along with regular Montréal TV voice Bryan Mudryk and Habs radio voice Dan Robertson filled in as needed.

Miller isn't working for ESPN, TNT, or the CFL on TSN so he is more available to call hockey. Realistically, Miller has World Juniors, Mudryk calls curling, and teams often play at the same time. Announcers are traveling this season so covering games becomes more difficult.

Abbott lost his day job at TSN radio in Vancouver last winter so he might take the lion's share of other games. We'll look for trends and report back in the monthly notebooks. Findlay has been doing some work calling the CHL on CBC.

Rogers Sportsnet kept its sports radio formats but cut quite a lot of people. The new approach is more national programming oriented to podcast form.

All or Nothing: Toronto Maple Leafs is available on Amazon Prime Video. You have to really be into hockey and/or the Maple Leafs to be into this show. You do get an insight into the NHL North Division. Will Arnett (Canadian) carries the frustration of being a Maple Leafs fan in his narration.

2021 NHL preseason schedule

CanadianCrossing.com NHL coverage

On the U.S. side, John Forslund is the TV play-by-play voice for the Seattle Kraken. Everett "Fitz" Fitzhugh is the radio voice for the Kraken, the first full-time Black broadcaster in NHL history.

We want to give a well-deserved shout out to a pair of long-time NHL play-by-play people who are retiring after this upcoming season.

The legendary Buffalo Sabres voice Rick Jeanneret will call 20 games for MSG and WGR radio in his final season. Jeanneret, a Canadian, has been calling the Sabres since their second season in 1971-1972. He started on radio, switching to TV in 1995-1996. The Sabres do a TV/radio simulcast; Jeanneret did both starting in 1997-1998.

Pat Foley started calling Chicago games in 1981. Except for a 2-year interruption, where Foley called the Chicago Wolves, he has been the TV voice of the team.

Both of them will be tough to replace.

photo credits: NHL on TNT; NHL on ESPN
logo credit: Hometown Hockey/Rogers Sportsnet

Canadian film review: Rustic Oracle

Hearing about missing Indigenous women and girls in a news report might not personalize the experience. Hearing an individual story in Rustic Oracle about a missing Indigenous girl might help people understand better.

Heather (Mckenzie Kahnekaroroks Deer) is a teenager about to graduate from high school. She shares a bedroom with her 8-year-old sister Ivy (Lake Kahentawaks Delisle). Heather argues with her mother Susan (Carmen Moore) like any other teenager. Heather hangs out with her friends. Susan doesn't know much because she works long hours. There is no father in the picture.

One day, Heather doesn't come home from school. She doesn't go to school the next day. Susan goes to the police. They don't seem all that interested in Heather's case.

As cruel and lazy as the officer is, this matches the behaviour of the authorities toward missing Indigenous women and girls in real life.

Susan gets tired of waiting for the police to do their job. She sets out to find Heather. Ivy wants to go along because she misses her sister. Susan is reluctant to bring along her other daughter. Ivy knows what the suspect looks like so Susan brings her along.

Ivy has trouble sleeping, the same dream about Heather. Susan is worried about Ivy also disappearing, insisting Ivy not go too far.

Susan's zeal is remarkable even for a film such as this. She gets help along the way from social agencies in the big city of Montréal.

CanadianCrossing.com Indigenous coverage

Sonia Boileau brings us into this world in Rustic Oracle as writer/director, showing the frustration of really having no idea what has happened to her teenage daughter. Not lost on the audience is that the officers are clueless, lazy men while the social agencies are filled with women who are very helpful.

Some films would share with the audience the status of the missing person. Boileau knows not to do that here because the audience needs to see what Susan and Ivy see.

Brittany LeBorgne (Mohawk Girls) plays Hawi, a long-time friend of Susan. They reunite as Hawi helps Susan. We get to see a more relaxed person in the presence of Hawi. The scene in the kitchen helps us understand that Susan was once where Heather was and Ivy will be someday.

While there isn't a lot that happens, Boileau keeps the pace at a good rate. You don't lose track or get bored with what is going on. An intriguing dynamic, which ties back into Mary Simon, Canada's first Indigenous governor general. Susan, who lives in Quebec, knows English and her native language but doesn't know much French.

Boileau's initial feature, Le Dep (2015), was shot mostly in French. Simon talked about how she knew her native language and English but didn't have a chance to learn French when she was young.

CanadianCrossing.com film reviews

CanadianCrossing.com film coverage

The cast also features Kevin Parent, Margo Kane, Alex Rice, and Kawennáhere Devery Jacobs.

Rustic Oracle is a solid film telling well an ever tragic story repeating thousands of times.

Moore received a Canadian Screen Award nomination for Best Actress at the 2021 Canadian Screen Awards.

Rustic Oracle is available in Canada on CBC Gem and in the United States on Amazon Prime Video.

photo credit: Rustic Oracle film
video credit: YouTube/VIFF

2021 CFL Week 10 preview

Welcome to the longest week. Ottawa finishes up its midweek football adventures as the RedBlacks travel to Toronto on Wednesday.

Winnipeg hosts Edmonton on Friday Night Football. The Blue Bombers beat them in the Alberta capital in Week 7.

Saskatchewan and Calgary play again, this time in Regina. They will play each other yet again in 2 weeks.

The eastern teams get to celebrate Canadian Thanksgiving (or Thanksgiving as it is known in Canada). The Highway 417 rivalry is in Quebec in the early game with the RedBlacks and the Alouettes. The southern Ontario rivalry gathers for the holiday at Tim Hortons Field.

Toronto and Ottawa play twice in 5 days. This is the league's first 5-game week since 2017. The BC Lions get a restful holiday week off.

TSN

Wednesday
Ottawa @ Toronto, 7:30p
Friday
Edmonton @ Winnipeg, 8:30p
Saturday
Calgary @ Saskatchewan, 7p
Monday
Ottawa @ Montréal, 1p
Toronto @ Hamilton, 4p

Bye week: BC

We finally had an overtime game. Montréal won with a dramatic comeback, breaking the long Hamilton home winning streak that stretched for all of 2019 and 2021 until Saturday night.

The Alouettes, down 17-3, scored 17 straight points to take the lead late in the 4th quarter. The 55-yard field goal from Hamilton's Taylor Bertolet sent the game to OT.

A bad handoff in OT led to a Tiger-Cats fumble. Montréal kicked a field goal for the overtime win.

Vernon Adams Jr. was in and out of the game for the Alouettes with an ankle injury. Matthew Shiltz kept the Als in the game. Jeremiah Masoli was back for Hamilton along with Braley Addison and Brandon Banks; the offence just dried up in the second half.

Montréal was involved in the only 2 overtime games in 2019. The Alouettes lost 30-27 to Ottawa at home on August 2 and defeated the Stampeders in Calgary 40-34 in the second overtime.

2021 CFL Week 9 preview

Cody Fajardo headed for a second straight road comeback for the Saskatchewan Roughriders but the drive fell short.

Calgary had 0 touchdowns in the 1st quarter before last week. The Stampeders had a pair of offensive touchdowns against Saskatchewan. That was a large difference.

Calgary is the opponent for Saskatchewan's next 2 games.

The head coaches (Dave Dickenson, Craig Dickenson) are brothers. They normally meet for dinner before the night of the game. They didn't meet this time, likely due to COVID-19 protocol.

2021 CFL Week 8 preview

831 days between home wins for the Ottawa RedBlacks. Caleb Evans, in his first CFL start, tying the team lead for touchdown passes (3) just from a single game. DeVonte Dedmon scoring on a punt return.

Ottawa is 2-0 vs. Edmonton this season while 0-5 against the rest of the league after the 34-24 win. The Ottawa defence threw up some roadblocks on Taylor Cornelius for the Elks.

Former Edmonton wide receiver Kenny Stafford caught one of the TD passes along with Ryan Davis and Timothy Flanders.

The Elks are 2-3 against the rest of the league but 0-2 against Ottawa. The RedBlacks snapped a 5-game losing streak since winning the opener.

The Ottawa home losing streak is done at 11, the third-longest in CFL history.

Canada observes the initial National Day for Truth and Reconciliation

The battle with dealing with a punt deep in your own end is letting it go, giving the other team a point, or possibly getting pinned in your own end. Winnipeg ended up with the ball on its own 6-yard line. The announcers were quick to say they should have given up the point.

For some reason, your humble narrator said, "No. This will work out for the Blue Bombers."

Winnipeg had a 9-play, 104-yard drive that took up 4:15 in the latter half of 2nd quarter for the Blue Bombers in Vancouver.

Not a Nostradamus but had a hunch. The Blue Bombers were playing really good football. Sometimes those scenarios work themselves out.

Kenny Lawler had a great game at receiver for Winnipeg. Lawler had 205 receiving yards on 12 catches, 126 yards in the first half. Zach Collaros threw for 417 yards, a unusual mark in 2021 but not so in recent seasons. Lucky Whitehead was injured for BC against his old club. Whitehead broke his hand and will be out 2-4 weeks.

Lawler unfortunately made headlines for the wrong reason on Monday. The Blue Bombers suspended Lawler for this week's game after they learned he was arrested operating a motor vehicle while impaired.

CanadianCrossing.com CFL coverage

Tonight's Ottawa-Toronto contest is a wormhole into a parallel universe for Nick Arbuckle and Matt Nichols. The quarterbacks were going to play for the opposing team in 2020. Nichols went from Winnipeg to Toronto to Ottawa while Arbuckle went from Calgary to Ottawa to Toronto. Neither quarterback played for their middle team.

Arbuckle has seen success in Toronto with a familiar relationship with coach Ryan Dinwiddie while Nichols has struggled in Ottawa even with a familiar relationship with coach Paul LaPolice. Toronto has done much better on the field than Ottawa has in 2021.

The irony within the parallel universe is that neither quarterback is starting for their team in tonight's game. The teams will also battle November 6 in the nation's capital.

Short-term solutions for TSN to replace Chris Cuthbert on CFL telecasts

Rod Smith and Duane Forde made the midweek trip to Ottawa and visited Hamilton on Saturday. Rod Black joined Glen Suitor out west in Vancouver on Friday and Calgary on Saturday. Dustin Nielson had the weekend off.

Milt Stegall was out Tuesday and was back on Friday. Davis Sanchez checked in remotely on Tuesday but had the weekend off. Jim Barker was there on the desk.

Memo to TSN: please use more drone shots like we saw in Calgary. The run in on a Rene Paredes field goal was amazing to watch.

Memo to Rod Black: Telling us "red zone or green zone" is confusing. Just say "red zone" and we know what you mean. Thank you.

logo credit: CFL

Les Oiseaux Ivres is Canada's selection to the Oscars for Best International Feature Film

And the film representing Canada in the race for Best International Feature Film at the 2022 Oscars is...DRUNKEN BIRDS (Les oiseaux ivres)! Congratulations to the team! 🔥🔥🔥https://t.co/ATpeRmHLYi #Oscars2022 #CdnFilm #Proud pic.twitter.com/KSpdU2EbBF

— Telefilm Canada (@Telefilm_Canada) October 4, 2021

Les Oiseaux Ivres | Drunken Birds is Canada's entry to the 94th Academy Awards for Best International Feature Film. The Ivan Grbovic film (directed, co-written with Sara Mishara) played at the 2021 Toronto International Film Festival. The film will open in select Canadian theatres on October 15.

Les Oiseaux Ivres | Drunken Birds "is a film with which we wanted to celebrate the power of film, while taking the audience on a journey through the beauty, absurdity and injustice of our lives today. We would like to share this honour with the rest of the film team, but also with the seasonal workers who leave their families every year to better their lives." Grbovic said in a statement.

Jorge Antonio Guerrero (Roma) plays Willy, a Mexican drug runner going to Quebec to look for his girlfriend Marlena (Yoshira Escárrega). Willy ends up working on a farm in the Montérégie region.

2021 TIFF Canadian film preview

The film does have mostly Canadian actors including Hélène Florent (Café de Flore, Maria Chapdelaine), Claude Legault (19-2), Marine Johnson (La petite fille qui aimait trop les allumettes | The Little Girl Who Was Too Fond of Matches), Maxime Dumontier, and Amaryllis Tremblay (Jeune Juliette).

The film is in French and Spanish with additional dialogue in English and Mandarin. As we learned last year from Funny Boy, a film can have English, just not the majority of the dialogue in English.

This is the second feature film for Grbovic. His feature film debut was Roméo Onze | Romeo Eleven. He received Jutra Award nominations for Best Director and Best Screenplay at the 2013 Jutra Awards. Like Les Oiseaux Ivres | Drunken Birds, Grbovic directed and co-wrote that film with Sara Mishara.

Not taking away from this year's selection in the slightest, but ideally Canada should have an Indigenous film on the world stage in this category for the Academy Awards. The majority of recent Indigenous films have been in English and would be ineligible.

Yes, getting funding for films made in Indigenous languages has been difficult. Yes, we understand the dynamic that has been in place.

2021 TIFF wrapup

2021 TIFF preview

2021 TIFF Rising Stars

Telefilm Canada executive director and CEO Christa Dickenson noted that 10 films were submitted to the pan-Canadian selection committee. We never learn the competition of the eventual selection.

Will Les Oiseaux Ivres | Drunken Birds be in the conversation for the shortlist? Is the story powerful enough to go up against powerhouses such as Denmark? The hope is this film is a stronger contender than either of the Canadian films submitted last year for the Oscars. A film consistently strong from start to finish would be an improvement over recent submissions.

The measure of the strength of the Canadian nominee depends on the other nominated films.

Canada selects 14 Jours, 12 Nuits for the Best International Feature Film for the Oscars

Funny Boy disqualified as Canada entry for Best International Feature Film at the Oscars

Deepa Mehta's Funny Boy is Canada's Oscars selection

CanadianCrossing.com film coverage

The 3-year streak of Canadian films that made the top 5 cut (with the film year) were:

• Incendies (Denis Villeneuve) 2010
• Monsieur Lazhar (Philippe Falardeau) 2011
• Rebelle | War Witch (Kim Nguyen) 2012

The last Canadian film to make the shortlist was Juste la fin du monde | It's Only the End of the World from Xavier Dolan. That was 5 years ago.

The only Canadian film to win in this category: The Barbarian Invasions | Les Invasions barbares from Denys Arcand.

Your humble narrator has seen every Canadian film contender since 1997 (film year) with 2 exceptions:

• Emporte-moi | Set Me Free Léa Pool (1999)
• Un crabe dans la tête André Turpin (2002)

The 15 shortlist finalists will be known on December 21. We will know the final 5 nominees on February 8, same time as the rest of the nominations. The 94th Academy Awards will take place on March 27.

Twitter capture: @Telefilm_Canada
photos credit: Les Oiseaux Ivres | Drunken Birds film
video credit: YouTube/Les Films Opale