In the Newfoundland town of Clarenville, Ralph (Boonie) Lethbridge has shaved his beard after 39 years. As you will hear him say in jest below, he thinks this may be cause for his wife to divorce him. Mr. Lethbridge has shaved in order to raise money for ALS research as friends have been struck with the disease.
Leaside Wildcats won a bruising game against Southwest Wildcats at Forest Glen Arena in Windsor Sunday. The final was 4 to 1 with Emma Pye scoring twice in the second period. Samantha Jones scored in the third and Megan Pardy potted the puck into the Southwest net at 18.12 when it was empty. Ellen Donaldson scored the lone marker for Southwest at 9.01 in the first period. It was a penalty-filled game with Leaside taking eight visits to the box including a major and game misconduct to Alex Woods for boarding. The total penalty was 27 minutes. Shots on goal reveal Southwest net minder Vanessa Despenic faced 30 while Leaside’s Kate Mowbray saw 18 shots. Today’s play strengthened Leaside’s hold on third spot in the Provincial Women’s Hockey League. The Leaside women have played 30 games to match league-leading Durham West and threaten second place Whitby who they trail 45 points to 47.
Leaf Captain Dave Keon then and last night at ACC
Dave Keon will join fellow greats like Turk Broda and Tim Horton in Legends Row at the Air Canada Centre this fall. Keon participated in a pre-game ceremony on Saturday night as the hockey club formally announced the 75-year-old would join the ranks of Leaf heroes. A feared goal scorer and checker Keon was known among Montreal Canadien players as the Hab Killer. He spent 15 seasons with the Leafs, winning the Calder Trophy in 1961. He guided the Leafs to four Stanley Cups and is the only member of the franchise to ever win the Conn Smythe Trophy (1967) as post-season MVP. Keon had been estranged from the hockey club since he left the team. But during a media availability Keon made it clear that time has cooled whatever was bothering him. He is quoted by the CBC as saying: “I guess the best way to sum that up is that I was notified that I had been selected, I talked to Brendan [Shanahan], we talked a couple of times and I told him that I was honoured to be selected and if there was anything I could do, to help the ceremonies along, that I would be happy to participate and I’m here tonight.”
Tea has seemed like an after thought to Starbucks for a long time. It couldn’t close the Teavana (Teaopia) location on Bayview Ave. fast enough. Now its closing three Teavana “tea bars” that opened in New York City a little more than two years ago. The tea bar style was like Starbucks except with tea. The company will convert the three tea bars to Starbucks stores this spring and close another location in Beverly Hills. The Teavana locations in Canada are unmentioned in the news and while they may be important it is clear they are a sideline. There are exactly four Teavanas in all of Toronto. The closest is in the Don Mills Centre. The firm says that the 350 Teavana retail locations in North America selling primarily packaged teas and appliances will stay open.
Teaopia opens on Bayview soon to be swallowed by Teavana
Tian Tian, a male panda at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo, was delighted at the thick coating of snow blanketing Washington Saturday. Keepers caught the adorable guy (he’s 19) loving the 13 inches of snow in his yard.
Kristin Della Rovere
Kristin Della Rovere was a star for the Leaside Wildcats as they visited the Bluewater Hawks and left with a 4-2 victory in their hockey towers Saturday night. Della Rovere scored unassisted at 9.39 of the first period and then again when it really counted in the third. Most remarkably, the five foot nine forward broke away while her team was playing four girls to five and scored the winning goal against Bluewater net minder Morgan Baker. Siobhan Birch added a fourth goal when she found the Hawk’s empty net at 19.28 of the third. Bluewater must feel cursed by the Wildcats because Emma Pye pulled off the same heroics less than a week ago at home when she scored against the Hawks with Leaside short-handed by two. Olivia Reid scored at 5.52 of the third to tie the game. Leaside assists came from Della Rovere and Megan Pardy. The Hawks scoring was by Madison Melo at 4:22 into the first period and Olivia Lynch at 9.29 of the second when Leaside’s Olivia Karlunas was off for body checking. Katie Mowbray made 14 saves for Leaside on 16 shots as the Wildcats took another load of penalties to give the Hawks four power plays during which they scored on one. Baker recorded 20 saves for Bluewater. The Hawks had no penalties Today’s play in the PWHL advances Leaside to third in the 20-team league putting them fractionally ahead of Mississauga. Boxscore. Standings
The jury weighing the guilt or innocence of PC James Forcillo said Saturday night that it will need at least another day to reach a verdict. The 12-person jury will convene again Sunday morning at 10 a.m. That will be the fifth day of deliberation.
Woo Woo Halloween
In the retail world, you have to plan ahead. So it is that Candy’s Costume Shop at 685 Mt. Pleasant Rd. will be closed Monday, January 25, 2016 so the owners can attend the Halloween Party Expo in New Orleans. To get a peek at what’s in store for merchants take a look at the convention site Could be fun. The bonus, if one were needed, is that Mardi Gras is in full swing through January right up to Fat Tuesday itself, February 9, 2016. For those who are curious about the nickname Big Easy acquired by New Orleans in recent years, it was popularized by the 1970 novel of the same name by James Conaway. Some say it has no basis at all and others concede that it may have existed in local slang before Conaway turned it into an alternative for the City’s real name
To say that this video from the dash camera of an Oregon police car tells a cautionary tale hardly seem to say enough. His parents turned away for an instant and the police officer next saw their toddler running down the middle of a dark highway. Amazing.
Pasqua Amati
The East Toronto Syrian Refguee Hub was busy at mid-afternoon today with workers and residents of the area delivering many types of goods for use by Syrian refugee families in the area. Realtor Pasqua Amati, an important organizer, was present with her son, choosing things for refugees which she has sponsored. Amati told of how these newcomers were to attend a women’s hockey game today (Saturday, January 23, 2016). Ms. Amati found the space in which the Hub will reside for three months and arranged for Re/Max Hallmark Realty and the Danforth East Community Association’s Pop Up Shop Program to rent it for $6,000 for that period. The video below catches the flavour of the activity Saturday. Note the remarkable homemade cake. The Hub is located at 1803 Danforth in the short block between Bastedo and Roseheath Aves.
Cake an expression Canadian welcome
