Hey, you can do what you like when you score two goals to beat the USA. Here is a profile from Wikipedia: Marie-Philip Poulin (born March 28, 1991) is a Canadian ice hockey forward, now playing for the Boston University Terriers. Poulin was a member of the Canada women’s national ice hockey teams that won the gold medal at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver and 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, and had previously played for the Dawson College Blues. She has been referred to as the Sidney Crosby of women’s hockey for her high level of achievement at a young age. She also has the unique distinction of having scored the game winning goal in the gold medal games in both Olympics that she has competed in.

The mayor’s brother says he won’t run either provincially this Spring or next October to retain his seat as the member for Ward 2. Doug Ford made the announcement today (Thursday, February 20, 2014). Ontario is expected to vote within a few months and Mr Ford said he could not wear the hat of an MPP plus that of his brother’s campaign manager. Maybe. Or maybe the Ford brand is just too toxic for the Progressive Conservatives in this provincial general election.  Mr. Ford  talked about a role at City Hall which would be unelected. But being out of office also leaves him free to accept offers of opportunity. 

Canada’s women’s hockey team has won Olympic gold for the fourth time in a row. And they did it by nearly scaring the country to death. Team Canada fell behind the U.S. team and were trailing 2-0 after two periods. Their skin-of-the-teeth come back began with Brianne Jenner potting a goal shortly into the third. Then in the closing seconds of regulation time it was Marie-Philip Poulin from Quebec City tying the game. That brought about sudden death overtime. Minutes into OT it was Poulin again who beat the overwhelmed U.S. goaler during a power play. Things had appeared dark for Canada and this victory, honestly won and deserved, will nonetheless be a bitter loss for the accomplished U.S.team.  Twitter  Globe and Mail 

It’s called WhatsApp for the uninitiated and the great thinkers of  tech say its purchase — and the astonishing price — is about making FaceBook better for communicating and less focused on just content.  It is possible with WhatsApp to send free text messages anywhere in the world. including photo/video/voice attachments. Reuters

An innovative idea to help promote interest in heart health is underway at Sunnybrook Health Sciences centre on Bayview Ave. CBC and @Sunnybrook 

Ward 9 member of council Maria Augimeri has been elected chair of the TTC by a vote of 23 to 21.  The close division of votes between Ms. Augimeri and Ward 15’s  Josh Colle was not an open book to at least some observers. It may have as much to do with favors, grudges, vote trading and friendship as it does with policy. An example: George Mammoliti said before the vote that he would never support Mr. Colle because he came recommended by the outgoing chair, Karen Stintz. Mr. Mammoliti clearly felt slighted because, in his view, Ms. Stintz had not explained transit matters adequately in his ward. In any case, Ms Augimeri may endear herself to many voters for taking a fresh look at the role of buses in the transit mix. Her remarks to the Globe and Mail suggest she believes that this staple of transportation should be enhanced to run more frequently and in greater numbers. “People feel like sardines and, hopefully, if we can get the buses running better, that’s a one-up on what we’ve done for decades, and that is centre on subways versus LRT and the sexier forms of transit,” she told the Globe. “People ignore the buses and the streetcars, so we want to put more emphasis on those.”  Here is council’s vote break down.   

Shea Weber blasted the tie-breaker past exhausted Latvian goalie Kristers Gudlevski to win Team Canada entry to the gold medal semifinals. Gudlevski was bombarded with shots on goal and played a heroic game. Final score was Canada 2, Latvia 1. Canada plays the U.S. Friday. The story so far is a curious drama of an illustrious Canadian squad which barely manages to win — but does win. Can Team Canada sustain this scary method? The USA looks stronger with each day. While Canada struggled against Latvia  the Americans bested the Czechs 5-2.   

Incidents on the Yonge subway are recorded by Toronto police. On Saturday, February 15, 2014 an 18-year-old youth was swarmed by seven others. It happened about 10.40 p.m. as the train passed St. Clair Ave.  The suspects slapped and punched the youth and made a demand for his knapsack. He refused and the suspects fled. On Monday, February 17, 2014, a woman, 27, was in the Yonge subway near Bloor Street when she was approached by a man. He grabbed her cell phone and fled.  The incident occurred about 7.27 p.m. Lastly, a 23 year old man was on the Yonge train near Bloor about 9.20 p.m. on February 17, 2014 when another man grabbed his cell phone from his hands and fled as the train stopped. 

Finland has defeated Russia 3-1 in men’s hockey at Sochi, eliminating the Russians from gold medal competition. It will be a bitter defeat for the Russians and for Vladimir Putin.  It may also recall for Finns how their tiny country bloodied the nose of the Soviet Union in 1939 when Stalin decided to invade his neighbor.

High Noon? Only on the clock we think  Team Canada hits the ice at twelve Eastern (Wednesday, February 19, 2014) to face Latvia in a whistle stop game on its way to a gold medal showdown with the USA.  But as many are saying in the hockey ether, let’s not get cocky. It seems unlikely in the extreme that Canada (goal differential +9 to Latvia’s -5) could possibly mess this up. Eleventh-seeded Latvia beat sixth-seeded Switzerland 3-1 for its first victory of the tournament. One wag, Brandon writing on Twitter, feared the worst: “If Canada loses to Latvia tomorrow the hockey world will end. Seriously. There will be no more hockey after that upset. Big bang in reverse.” Others were feeling more optimistic. CBC Olympics mocked up a red and white graphic called The Price is Right — a nod to the Canadian goalie Carey Price, the 27-year-old net-minder for the Montreal Canadiens.  A great irony for some is that Team Latvia will be coached by a Canadian and former NHLer Ted Nolan. Much conversation at Twitter.