If you're reading this and it's between the hours of 7-9:30pm EST, do yourself a favour and tune into Hockey Night in Canada. You might be witnessing the end of an era in Toronto sports. Mats Sundin, captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs since 1997, is on the trading block. Earlier this week, TSN broke the news that interim general manager Cliff Fletcher had asked Sundin for a list of teams he'd be willing to......

The coolest movie opening this week is Be Kind Rewind, which is a treasure trove of Things White People Like, as it stars Jack Black and his black friend played by Mos Def, and is directed by Michel Gondry, and has lots of irony, seeing as how it is about a couple of people who erase all the videotapes in their video store and then make their own mocking versions of the movies they......

It's been the best of times, it's been the worst of times for the Toronto Maple Leafs; in fact, the past couple weeks have been nothing short of surreal. First, the best of times: wins against the high-flying Ottawa Senators and Montreal Canadiens, followed by a thoroughly unexpected Hockey Day in Canada victory over the league-leading Detroit Red Wings, have given the team a boost. Injured players are getting healthy. The return of the......

The saga of John Ferguson, Jr. is mercifully over: the beleaguered General Manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs, who's been a whipping boy for the team's misfortunes ever since his appointment in 2003, has been fired. Say what you will about Ferguson (and if you're a Leaf fan then you probably have): the way he's been treated by Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, particularly during his final few weeks in charge, has been nothing......

We have no problem admitting our man-love for Mats Sundin: he's been the captain of our favourite hockey team for most of our adult lives, he's one of the greatest Toronto Maple Leafs of all-time and he's a shoe-in hall-of-famer once he retires. Seeing him score his 500th career goal still ranks as the greatest sporting moment we've ever witnessed. We know we're supposed to be too old and too sophisticated to have favourite......

Torontoist is ending the year by naming our Heroes and Villains of 2007––the people, places, and things that we've either fallen head over heels in love with or developed uncontrollable rage towards over the past twelve months. Get your dose, starting Boxing Day and running into the new year, three times a day––sunrise, noon, and sunset. Most people would respond with shock if you expressed your distaste for the ever-growing music festival (read: conference) that......

Say what you will about the Toronto Maple Leafs, but they’re not boring. Incompetent, sure, but definitely not boring—not even during their recent, well-publicized losing streak. The Leafs are a middling 3–4–3 in their last ten games, yet they're oddly compelling to watch: they’re tied for third in league scoring (this, despite the inability of some of its key players to put the puck in the net) and they’re by far and away the......

For anyone who missed this year's Massey Lecture last Friday at U of T, don't fret. The City of Words, by celebrated writer, essayist, novelist, and anthologist Alberto Manguel, will be broadcast on CBC Radio One's IDEAS each night at 9:00 p.m. beginning Monday, November 5 running to Friday, the 9th. As a new feature this year, each of the five lectures (unedited and complete with audience discussion) will be available for download starting......

Merriam-Webster defines "telethon" as "a long television program usually to solicit funds especially for a charity." Almost from the dawn of broadcast television on both sides of the border, time has been set aside to urge viewers to support a long list of causes. This tradition began in 1949, when a 16-hour telethon to raise money for the Damon Runyon Memorial Fund to fight cancer brought in just over a million dollars in pledges......

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......

If you like Honda Civics modded with blue neon, enormous spoilers and V-Tech stickers, you're gonna love what's happening to Toronto's most iconic structure. Management of Canada's National Tower (formerly the Canadian National Tower) have begun testing the unfortunate new animated LEDs that were recently installed, dramatically transforming a brilliant exercise in modernist subtlety into a cheap, plastic martini spear. The "intelligent LED" colour effects will permanently go live after a launch event at......

Unless you live under a rock, you know that the North by Northeast Music & Film Festival is currently underway...and if you've stayed out past two nights until almost 5 a.m. like some Torontoist staffers, you really know it's here. You'll be hard pressed to find very many other music events going on this week, since almost every venue being occupied by the festival, so we suggest you just go with it and take......

Lots going on around town over the next little while. One of the city's biggest music festivals, NXNE, held their press conference this week announcing the 2007 lineup (warning, the list is tough to read), hosted by Dave Foley. Many show dates and venues were announced, including the addition of the Dinosaur Jr., Voxtrot and The National shows as officially being part of the festival. Limited wristbands will be accepted at each show, so......

In a time when Al Gore is predicting that global warming is the coming of the apocalypse, people are looking for creative ways to maintain a sustainable ecosystem without giving up their consumerist lifestyles. Toronto’s first Green Living Show will inspire ways to do just that. The Green Living Show is this weekend, April 27-29, at the Direct Energy Centre at the Exhibition grounds. It boasts eco-fashion shows, organic cooking demonstrations, a wildflower garden, the......

Another ticket giveaway! This time it's to check out Toronto's very own Uncut at Sneaky Dee's tomorrow night, courtesy of The Musebox. Also on the bill for the evening are Debaser, Fjord Rowboat and Fire Hydrant, so it's going to be a busy night! We have a pair of tickets to put into someone's hands, and all you have to do to win is be the third person to email carrie@torontoist.com with your full name.......

It was one of the wildest final weekends in NHL history. The Toronto Maple Leafs delivered a knockout blow to the Montreal Canadiens in one of the most electric matches in recent memory, only to have the New York Islanders break our hearts and take the final playoff spot in a shootout against the New Jersey Devils the following day. The Stanley Cup Playoffs begin tonight, but for the second consecutive year, the Leafs won't......

Concert announcements are coming fast and furious, now that everyone's back to their regularly scheduled programming. A number of festival dates are set all the way into September already, including the return of V-Fest to Olympic Island on Sept. 8-9. The festival is expanding out west this year, with Vancouver getting it's innaugural V-Fest -- although judging by the current lineup so far (headliners only), they're catering to a much younger crowd than Toronto......

With their 4-1 loss to the defending Stanley Cup champion Carolina Hurricanes Tuesday night, the Toronto Maple Leafs slipped back to a .500 record (19-19-6) yet again, and now sit tied for ninth place in the Eastern Conference, fighting for their playoff lives after having played more than half of their games this season. They're missing a hospital ward full of regular players due to injury (Mike Peca, Alexei Ponikarovsky, Ian White, Kyle Wellwood, Darcy......

Nope, Torontoist isn't referring to the classic movie series. With Halloween just around the corner, it's a different goalie mask creating this sequence of horrors. Although it may be Friday the 27th, the number 13 represents the total amount of goals Toronto Maple Leaf netminders - mainly Andrew Raycroft - have allowed to Ottawa Senator shooters this week. Even by factoring in his day off in between, Raycroft's goals against average over those 3 days......

Celebrate Ben Franklin's 300th birthday with the Bikini Bandits and Phillyist! (NSFW). Speaking of Mr. Franklin, send in a picture of Ben (or Ed Rendell) with a red tongue and win a free t-shirt. And they might have the next YearlyKos in Philly. You know who's going to be upset about those Bikini Bandits? The Houston school system. Houstonist also reports on some redevelopment shenanigans over a landmark theater. LAist's sex advice column on......

It could be the abundance of shows announced over the past few weeks or possibly the kickoff of the fall concert season in September that's lending to the sparse choice of live music this week, because there are some slim pickins to be had. Unless you love the Marleys, in which case you hit the motherload! If anyone has word on some super secret underground shows happening between now and next Sunday, feel free......

Well, you know, it can’t all be exciting glamorous press conferences for internationally famous film festivals where they reveal huge megastars are going to be attending, can it? Yeah, sometimes we have to cover the films that are coming out in cinemas now. And some weeks they’re all really boring. Invincible, for example. If we follow the ‘Snakes on a Plane’ style of naming, this would be called “Mark Wahlberg is an Unlikely Hero in......

Stillepost is atwitter about tonight's BSS/Jay Mascis show at the Mod Club (doors 7:00). Like previous times when Toronto's biggest "indie" band has played the message board goes crazy. Torontoist has sifted through the dozens of messages and has this roundup of five fun facts: 1) BSS really love Dinosaur Jr. and J. Mascis so much that they'll be doing a whole bunch of Dinosaur Jr. covers tonight instead of all the usual BSS......

Mayor Miller officially launched his re-election campaign by not mentioning Jane Pitfield and throwing a party instead. Over a dozen councillors showed up to lend their support and even environmentalist Robert Kennedy Jr. sent in a video message. Over 600 cops get together and stage raids on 60 locations and arresting over 40 people in Rexdale. The raids are gang related but the media are waiting on a noon-hour press conference from the police. Gerard......

By merely parting with a fifth-round draft pick, John Ferguson Jr. made a strong statement today that his team is for real. The Maple Leafs General Manager acquired veteran defenseman Luke Richardson in a trade with the Columbus Blue Jackets this afternoon. Turning thirty-seven later this month, Richardson is expected to add his speed and youthful enthusiasm to a tired Leafs defense. For those of you who aren't familiar with the rugged blue liner, that......

There's been a number of unfavourable comparisons of Stephen Harper and George W. Bush of late, both in politics, media and of course those silly attack ads. But what of a legitimate comparison, at least in terms of the campaign? Here is George Jr. on his father's failed 1992 presidential campaign: "First lesson, polls change. I take nothing for granted. Second, we've got a strategy for the timing of policy speeches and set the debate...You......

In the year that the popularity of the ringtone might have outweighed the popularity of the single, Toronto-I-S-T comes up with the top ten songs that mattered in 2005. 1. Damian "Jr. Gong" Marley - "Welcome to Jamrock" Called "the reggae song of the decade" by the New York Times, "Welcome to Jamrock" is the cross-over hit that shouldn't be: Unlike his contemporaries, Marley the youngest didn't have to employ an RnB hook from Beyonce......

The City of Toronto has decided that "Segways cannot be operated legally on Toronto streets or sidewalks." They also face limited usability in city parks, and the Ministry of Transport won't give them license plates, so you can't take them on most roads. Where does that leave a Segway driver to take his new toy out for a spin? Just about nowhere. Phew. Naturally, Segway of Ontario is unimpressed with the rulings. But, as......

Of all the 80s reunions littering the concert circuit these days, the one featuring the original Dinosaur Jr lineup has to rank as one of the unlikeliest. Anyone who's read Michael Azerrad's tome on the 80s underground scene, Our Band Could Be Your Life, knows that the acrimony between J Mascis and Lou Barlow was legendary. The fact that they were able to record three albums before fracturing (in a famously jerk-eriffic move, Mascis told......

Paul Martin Junior fired Immigration Minister Judy Sgro today and replaced her with current HRDC top dog Joe Volpe. Despite no new information having come to light in the West York MP's "Strippergate" scandal, the fickle Martin nonetheless went off message once again in dropping his support for his beleaguered underling. Which leads Torontoist to suspect that Ethics Commissioner Bernard "Shappy" Shapiro is on the verge of declaring Ms. Sgro in the wrong. Sgro's departure......