Welcome to Victoria Day 2024. Hope our Canadian readers are getting to enjoy a well deserved holiday long weekend.
The second round NHL Stanley Cup playoffs series with the Edmonton Oilers and Vancouver Canucks ends tonight at 9 pm Eastern/6 pm Pacific at Rogers Arena in Vancouver. CBC and Rogers Sportsnet have the game in Canada while American viewers get a less than stellar play by play person on ESPN.
The winner faces Dallas for the Campbell Conference final starting Thursday. Our series ending story runs tomorrow.
2024 NHL Stanley Cup playoffs scoreboard
2024 Stanley Cup notebook: Vancouver plays Edmonton in the second round
Today we say goodbye to #AliceMunro, a Canadian icon whose legacy lives on within our walls.
— Munro's Books (@MunrosBooks) May 14, 2024
Along with readers around the world, we send our deepest condolences to the Munro family.
A full tribute can be found on our Facebook and Instagram pages. pic.twitter.com/Kq4UQvVjn3
I had recently acquired a collection of Alice Munro short stories. I was curious particularly about The Bear Who Came Down a Mountain, the Alice Munro short story that Sarah Polley adapted for her directorial debut Away From Her. Polley received an Oscar nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay and Julie Christie got a Best Actress nomination.
The casting fit the characters in the short story. Polley had worked with Julie Christie on No Such Thing (2001) and The Secret Life of Words (2005). Gordon Pinsent was wonderful as Grant, the husband left behind as Fiona goes into a home.
Made me think of Kristen Thomson, who played nurse Kristy in Away From Her and how good she was in that part. Polley cast Thomson in the short film I Shout Love (2001). You might also recognize Thomson from her role as Noelle Dyson on Cardinal and an appearance on a recent episode of Law & Order Toronto: Criminal Intent as an intense billet mom for a young hockey player.
Speaking of Victoria, the city has a wonderful downtown bookstore called Munro Books at 1108 Government Street. Munro and her first husband James opened Munro Books in 1963. The couple divorced in 1972.
The acclaimed Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar adapted 3 of Munro's short stories — Chance, Silence, and Soon — into Julieta (2016). Other film adaptations of Munro's short stories include Martha, Ruth and Edie (1988), Edge of Madness (2002), and Hateship, Loveship (2013).
Alice Munro was 92.
TSN is mourning the loss of our friend and beloved SportsCentre host Darren Dutchyshen. pic.twitter.com/Mb7m1IzCCY
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) May 16, 2024
Darren Dutchyshen was a very well-loved TSN sportscaster. The accolades following his demise from fellow TSN people as well as competitors from CBC and Rogers Sportsnet showed us Dutch was a good human being besides being a top flight sportscaster.
Dutchyshen had dealt with prostate cancer and had been off the air since around Christmas. He was 57. Proof that cancer sucks.
British Columbia fine tunes decriminalizing drug policy
CBC should grab Shelved if CTV cancelled that show
We include some in-depth stories in our Victoria Day notebook. Hard drugs and Canadian television don't normally mix. Canadian storytelling is crucial as is dealing with the opioids crisis.
We are working on a story about the boycott of the many grocery store chains owned by Loblaws. Hope to get that story up this week here and on our sibling blog, BalanceofFood.com.
Some stories are worth reading past a 3 minute minimum.
2024 Canadian Screen Award nominations
2024 Canadian Screen Awards nominations: Film
2024 Canadian Screen Awards nominations: Television
We still care about the Canadian Screen Awards even if we have serious doubt that the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television cares. The unexpected delay means the week honouring Canadian television and Canadian film will finally run next week. The May 31 ceremony on CBC means the public broadcaster will not carry Game 5 of the Vancouver or Edmonton series against Dallas.
We might get the CBC upfront this week. Maybe.
We don't report on the Canadians on U.S. television because the universe is stronger than we are capable of reporting. We do want to note that Fox has a new medical drama series called Doc, starring Molly Parker. Parker plays Dr. Amy Elias, a Minneapolis surgeon who suffers a brain injury that erases the last 8 years of her life.
The U.S. network also acquired the U.S. rights to Murder in a Small Town with Canadian leads Rossif Sutherland and Kristin Kreuk, based on the 9-book Karl Alberg novel series by Canadian author L.R. Wright. The show will be shot on the Sunshine Coast in British Columbia.
Only White Sox have scored fewer runs than Jays. Ross Atkins says Jays hitters are working advantage counts & better results are ahead.
— Ben Nicholson-Smith (@bnicholsonsmith) May 18, 2024
“We do believe in we do believe in the changes and adjustments (we’ve made) & feel like we have the time and the talent for that to correct.”
The Toronto Blue Jays will be on the MLB Network hosting the Chicago White Sox on Victoria Day. Game time is 3:07 pm. MLB Network will carry the Rogers Sportsnet feed unless you live in the Chicago area (d'oh). The teams will also meet in Chicago next week.
This has the potential of scoreless ties through 9 innings between the 2 teams. Blue Jays fans seem slightly encouraged on Saturday when Davis Schneider replaced George Springer in the leadoff spot.
The Blue Jays are weak on offence and not exciting to watch. While Toronto did score 3 runs on Friday, Tampa's Tyler Alexander (who?) was perfect through 7 1/3 innings.
The next 10 days has the potential to go better. Otherwise, the Blue Jays may be sellers at the end of July.
2024 Toronto Blue Jays preview
2024 CFL preseason schedule
The CFL preseason starts today with Winnipeg at Saskatchewan. The non-TSN games are on CFL+, home of the games in the United States.
Want to emphasize the positive and not think about Chad Kelly or Shawn Lemon.
Our season preview runs June 5.
CanadianCrossing.com film reviews
CanadianCrossing.com film coverage
You might celebrate Victoria Day with a barbecue or watching a sports event. You might be an introvert and you celebrate by watching a Canadian film. We have film reviews and coverage.
photo credits: NHL; Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television; CFL
Twitter captures: @MunrosBooks; @TSN_Sports; @bnicholsonsmith
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