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A Guide to the 2013 Toronto Jazz Festival

Tracey Nolan — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 17:45:41 +0000

The 2013 Toronto Jazz Festival features international legends and local favourites. Plus, the first night is free.

The 2013 Toronto Jazz Festival descends on the city this Friday with a huge “free for all” event. That means all of Friday’s programming at every Jazz Festival venue is, yes, completely free of charge. There will be concerts from local favourites Molly Johnson and Mary Margaret O’Hara, plus a show by Smokey Robinson and Martha Reeves, who will be launching the fest from its epicentre, Nathan Phillips Square.

Here’s a rundown of some of the shows worth checking out on Friday—and during the rest of the festival, when you’ll actually have to pay.

Scadding Court’s Swimming Pool is Now a Fishing Hole

Chris Dart — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 15:45:41 +0000

Each year, Scadding Court Community Centre fills its swimming pool with fish, so urban families can have a taste of the wild.

Folks who are planning on having a swim in the pool at Scadding Court Community Centre over the next few days may find themselves a little disappointed. Those who want to go fishing, however, will probably be ecstatic.

For the rest of the week, the Community Centre will be holding its annual Gone Fishin’ event, meaning its indoor pool will be an indoor fish pond. The pool has been drained, dechlorinated, and refilled with 2,000 rainbow trout, to be caught by local children and families.

The State of Leafs Nation

Mike Warner — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 15:50:00 +0000

As any hockey fan in Toronto already knows, the NHL draft took place this weekend and featured John Ferguson Jr. trading for a veteran goalie for the second straight year. The newly acquired Vesa Toskala, traded from San Jose, should provide a more stable presence in the net than Andrew Raycroft, and is projected to become the starting netminder.
While a quality goalie was obviously a necessity for the Leafs, the fact that they gave up first and second round picks from this year’s draft and a fourth-rounder from 2009 was yet another move by Ferguson that brought out the contradictions of his words and actions. For all that he talks about building a system from the ground up through quality scouting, drafts and prospects, it was the second year in a row that he sold out the future for the present.
At the same time last year, Ferguson traded away goaltending prospect Tuuka Rask for Raycroft. The acquisition of Voskala, along with forward Mark Bell, is pretty much an acknowledgment that the Raycroft trade hasn’t exactly work out as the team had hoped. Considering Raycroft had to be pulled in the final game of the season with the playoffs on the line, he obviously wasn’t the answer Ferguson wanted.
It’s pretty easy to criticize Ferguson. You could probably turn to sports radio right now and hear yet another person calling for the head of the beleaguered Leafs GM. After two straight years of ninth place finishes and some poor free agent signings, he is a hard man to defend. Part of the problem is that Ferguson has been working under one year contracts. As most hockey prospects take years to develop, it’s hard for Ferguson to build a solid group of young players when he knows that he must also compile a team that can compete and win games now. If he had the guarantee long-term stability that is necessary when building up a team from the draft, there might not be such a blatant difference between what he says and what he does.
With free-agency just a week away, expect lots of rumours to be swirling about who will sign where, as well as possible trades to dump salary. After trading for Toskala and Bell, the Leafs have over $40 million locked away in salaries for next year. The salary cap has risen to around $48 million for the 2007-8 season, leaving many teams with the money to go after Chris Drury, Daniel Briere, Ryan Smyth, Sheldon Souray and Scott Gomez.
Our advice to Ferguson, not that it’ll reach his ears, is this: anyone can spend, but try to spend wisely. Anyone can throw a huge wad of money at players and dole out long-term contracts, but those who do it best use free agency as a means of filling the gaps, not just getting a big name to please the fan base. Do the Leafs need Gomez, a centre who racks up assists but is small and does little scoring himself? That’s pretty much what you’re getting out of Kyle Wellwood for a much cheaper price. Yes, your job is on the line again, but you also must act with some of that hockey acumen you supposedly have.
Photo by G©H from the Torontoist Flickr Pool.

Maple Leafs Honour ’67 Squad, Also Win

Danu Mandlsohn — Sun, 18 Feb 2007 18:00:00 +0000

For the long-suffering fans of the Toronto Maple Leafs, the year 1967 has become synonymous with past glories and forty years of failure. On Saturday night, the surviving members of the last Leaf team to win the Stanley Cup were reunited at the Air Canada Centre for the first time since that storied championship.
An Alex Trebek-narrated video tribute began the proceedings, in what turned out to be a relatively simple, modest, and perhaps dry ceremony as the now-fabled squad was trotted out one by one to centre ice by public address announcer Andy Frost. For the oldest team to ever win the Stanley Cup, it’s a small miracle that so many are still alive. There were the Hall of Famers (Frank Mahovlich, Johnny Bower, Red Kelly), the clutch performers (Allan Stanley, Ron Ellis, Bob Pulford), and the unsung heroes (Larry Hillman, Brian Conacher, Pete Stemkowski). It was safe to say that most of the people in the building had never seen these men in their prime. But the crowd was on their feet from the get-go, unusual for the typically reserved ACC patrons more interested in their Blackberries and sushi.
The big story of the evening was the return of Dave Keon, former prodigal son and Conn Smythe trophy winner (for Stanley Cup playoffs MVP) who later, in a bitter dispute with cantankerous owner Harold Ballard, turned his back on the franchise. Saturday night would be his first formal appearance for the Maple Leafs in over thirty years. Upset at the franchise’s reluctance to retire jersey numbers (the team prefers to “honour” numbers, meaning they raise a banner and leave the number in circulation for stiffs like Jonus Hoglund and Matt Stajan to wear), Keon has rejected endeavours for his #14 to be raised to the rafters. He reportedly refused an invitation to the closing of Maple Leaf Gardens because the letter the team sent to him read “Dear Former Toronto Maple Leafs player.” But this night was about a team, not about any single player, and the ceremony reflected that, as Keon was only afforded a minute-long ovation from the crowd before captain George Armstrong was the last to be introduced. Keon stood off to the right side, his body turned slightly off line from the others. He didn’t look thrilled to be there.
Missing from the proceedings was the Stanley Cup, which featured prominently in recent ceremonies honouring Mark Messier in New York and Mike Vernon in Calgary. Indeed, it would have been special to see it hoisted one last time by this group, but perhaps the spectacle would have been a bit too bittersweet for a team that hasn’t hosted the Cup in its building for forty years.
As for the business at hand, the Leafs managed to hold off the Edmonton Oilers by a score of 4-3 as captain Mats Sundin scored two goals, including the game-winner on a brilliant individual effort. The Leafs’ John Pohl and the Oilers’ Ryan Smyth also each notched a pair. Goaltender Andrew Raycroft made a clutch game-saving save amidst a furious Oilers rally in the dying seconds to preserve the victory.
As for the old-timers, they’re not done just yet. The ’67 festivities continue this week with a gala dinner as well as an autograph and memorabilia show. Both events are at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre.

Whyte Avenue Syndrome

Joshua Errett — Tue, 23 May 2006 05:30:58 +0000

If Oliers grinder Ryan Smyth and Nickelback singer Chad Kroeger are proof that all Albertans look alike, does that mean they both will eventually look like Ralph Klein? Speaking of Albertan meatheads, are they still throwing cuts of Alberta beef onto the ice in Edmonton? And what’s with the drunken revellers brawling on Whyte Ave?
(Note: At first, we imagined that one drunken reveller must be inviting all the rest of the drunken revellers for these post-game brawls, probably via a MySpace bulletin. But sources close to the brawls have told us that there is simply no where else to brawl in the city of Edmonton, so Whyte Ave has just become a default brawl zone.)
Whatever! It’s Canada’s team now. Oilers vs. Ducks at 8pm tonight.

Gold Rush 2006: Russia, Finland, Czech Repuplic and Sweden

Adrian the Adorable Sports Writer — Wed, 22 Feb 2006 22:10:03 +0000

It’s nothing new to see a Pat Quinn coached team struggle to make the playoffs, only to lose in an early elimination round. Nor is it uncommon for Todd Bertuzzi to take a selfish penalty in hopes to maintain his rough and tough image. So, is anyone really surprised that Team Canada lost in the Olympic quarterfinals, with the game winner coming while Sudbury’s finest was in the box? Torontoist certainly wasn’t.
Just to remind everyone…
Todd Bertuzzi, Rob Blake, Jay Bouwmeester, Martin Brodeur, Shane Doan, Kris Draper, Adam Foote, Simon Gagne, Dany Heatley, Jarome Iginla, Vincent Lecavalier, Roberto Luongo, Bryan McCabe, Rick Nash, Chris Pronger, Wade Redden, Robyn Regehr, Brad Richards, Joe Sakic, Ryan Smyth, Martin St.Louis and Joe Thornton
… failed to score in 11 of their previous 12 periods leading to the final buzzer on their third scoreless performance of the competition, Wednesday afternoon..
Alexander Ovechkin’s goal at 1:30 of the third period was all Evgeni Nabokov needed, making 27 saves in the Russians 2-0 win.
Thankfully, the rest of the Canadian Olympic team went to Turin to compete. Canada earned four more medals today, three of them in women’s speedskating. Cindy Klassen received her fourth medal and first gold of the 2006 games, finishing ahead of teammate Kristina Groves for a Canada 1-2 in the 1500m long-track event. Canada also took the silver in the 3000m short-track relay, and finally a Gold from Chandra Crawford in the 1.1 kilometre cross-country sprint.
I guess you can look for Women’s Speedskating DVD’s in stores this year, as the hockey team probably won’t be re-issuing a collector’s disc like they did after the 2002 games.