3-0 Canada over Swedes for hockey gold

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Chris Kunitz, Sidney Crosby and Jonathan Toews scored to give Canada a 3-0 victory against Sweden for Olympic gold Sunday morning. Canada’s size, talent and speed were clear throughout. It is a huge national triumph when added to the hockey gold won by Canada’s women’s team. Tweet below is a chuckle. Safe to say the Swedes have upped their game in the meantime.

Coca Cola invents “social media guard”

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Not really. It’s a hilarious commercial twitting us all for our obsession with the teeny little phone screen that now runs out lives. It plays to our guilt that our behaviour in this regard is terrible, The ad purports to offer a solution in the form of an enormous “social media guard” which looks a lot like a dog cone. Very funny and inventive ad. 

Swedes angry that all 4 refs live in Canada

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Canadian ref Kelly Sutherland 

The Swedes are damn angry about the fact that the four referees for Sunday morning’s big game all live in Canada. How did that happen? According to Olympic officials, the four are the best guys available for the job. They are three Canadians and an American who lives in Calgary. All are top NHL referees and no one can really question their skill. Yet, as the Toronto Star is saying tonight (Saturday February 22, 2014) the optics are terrible. Peter Forsberg, the penalty-shootout hero of Sweden’s 1994 gold-medal victory over Canada at the Lillehammer Olympics, reportedly texted an angry (and vulgar) complaint to a Swedish newspaper. The offcials in question are Brad Meier, an American who makes Alberta his home, Kelly Sutherland of Richmond B.C., Derek Amell of Port Colborne and Greg Devforski of Guelph.  However odd the officiating crew may seem, they certainly bring a lot more credibility to the sport than  figure skating judges. As anyone can tell, it’s simply not possible for referees to fix a hockey game.  Even if a ref were prejudiced, the chance of an effective fiddle with the outcome is a huge long shot fraught with the prospect of raging fans all over the ice. Here in South Bayview, we wish you a happy hockey happening. If you are not going to watch through your toes in bed, the doors at McSorely’s open at 6.30 a.m. and you can be settled with a brew and breakfast when the puck drops half an hour later in Sochi for the Canada-Sweden gold medal hockey game. Things are timed nicely for you to get to church right after the game too. Oh yes, you can only have Molson Canadian, not Tre Kronor  

Finland beats US 5-0 to win bronze in hockey

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Finland has trounced the United States 5-0 in the contest for the gold medal in men’s hockey. It is a stunning defeat — fans are saying things like “embarrassing” “what a sad eagle” and “collapse” to describe the remarkably poor effort by the Americans. It appears their spirit was well and truly broken by their defeat at the hands of the Canadians. The crushing defeat is the more surprising because of the way Team USA entered the fray two weeks ago.  In fairness, the Finns are good.  Remember they dispatched a strong Russian team just a few days ago. 

2-bedroom Merton St. condo sold for $565,000

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Merton Street between Mount Pleasant Rd and Yonge Street is the most handy east-west shunt north of the cemetery. As locals know, the street has changed profoundly in 15 years. It is now populated by new condominiums and apartments. Those whizzing by may wonder what people are paying for places in these new buildings. The always interesting Toronto Star feature What They Got reports that a two-bedroom unit at 253 Merton St was listed for  $569,900 and sold for  $565,000. It had sold previously for $437,000  in 2007. At  1,117 sq. ft. it also has two baths and one owned underground space plus locker. Maintenance fees are $899.25 per month.

Woman smuggled diamonds “inside her body”

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A 66-year-old woman has been charged with trying to smuggle 10,000 diamonds into Canada “inside her body” for the purposes of money-laundering. It happened at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport when immigration officers became aware of the woman for reasons which have not been stated. Globe and Mail. 

Terrier survives three days down old septic tank

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Benny, a 4-year-old Wheaton Terrier is one lucky guy, all things considered. On Tuesday he fell 12 or 15 feet down an old well or septic tank beside his home and he’s been there until today. This afternoon (Friday, February 21, 2014) he was rescued by the fire department and animal control officers in a nearly three-hour project. Above we see Benny (left) with his much-relieved owner Audrey Fantauzzi. She was tipped to Benny’s location when a neighbor’s dog began digging at the site. The photo centre reveals Benny down the filthy hole, frightened and tired. The image was captured from video taken with a small camera belonging to CTV.  Fire personnel attached it to a pole and were able to spot the dog’s location. Right, a capture of Benny freshly out of the hole, still wearing the rigging used by rescuers to pluck him from the tank. Benny has now been fed, washed and checked out. All is well. This happened at 136 Spears St. near Weston Road and Humber Boulevard North. Nice job everyone. Dog owners and lovers are burning up Twitter with their joy. 

Sherwood Ave. home housed three generations

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97 Sherwood Ave. 
The sale in recent days of this unusual two-storey home at 97 Sherwood Ave. is drawing quite a bit of interest. It was listed for $1,324,000 and sold for $1,691,000. As many have noted, the real attraction is the lot. It is located just west of Mt. Pleasant Rd. in prime midtown and measures 44 feet by a stunning 179.4 feet. As a result, there was a bidding war with a number of offers coming from builders. The 100-year (plus) old home shows its age in the nicest of ways with that wide lot measuring well above the average of 25 to 30 feet elsewhere on Sherwood. According to the owner, the home was originally purchased in the 1930s for a $5,000. Since then, it’s housed three generations of the same family. Their understanding is that it was also the first home on the street, built where there was once a pear orchard.

Canada ready to beat the Swedes this Sunday

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Jamie Benn

Will Canada polish off the Swedes for breakfast Sunday morning? Could be. Team Canada’s job is clear after 24-year-old Jamie Benn of Victoria scored the sole goal in the game to win Canada its pass to the gold medal action this weekend. Game time is 6 a.m. Eastern. The classic Canada-U.S. contest revealed two teams very well-matched. Canada however effectively deployed that special defensive armor that has kept it in the hunt right along. So now its on to what everyone hopes will be a Swedish breakfast on Sunday morning. The Swedes beat the Finns earlier today. TSN Radio 

Chilling BBC account of Friday fighting in Ukraine

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Snipers are seen to fire on protesters (left) and some armed demonstrators were also reported to be firing towards security forces. BBC’s Gabriel Gatehouse said he saw what looked like a protester shooting out of a window at the BBC’s Kiev base, the Ukraine Hotel.  Right, partisan Ukraine legislators fight it out.

All-night Mac’s at 957 Mt. Pleasant robbed

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A man with a knife robbed the Macs Milk Convenience Store at 957 Mt Pleasant Road (at Erskine Ave.) at about 3 a. m. on Thursday, February 20, 2014. The clerk complied with a demand for cash and was not hurt.  The suspect fled the scene eastbound on Erskine. Police are requesting the assistance of the public in identifying the following described person in connection with this offence. Description of Suspect: Male, black, 6’, brown eyes, medium build.

Hockey titans collide as Canada meets USA

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Hang on South Bayview, here comes the men’s version of Canada versus the USA on ice. The news leads on Google this morning are full of stories about how today’s noon hour (Eastern) tilt will test the Canadians like no other recent match up. But in the U.S., there are plenty of writers ready to say that the Americans had better beware of the Canuck Country-Boy Act. They think we’re sneaky. As one writer said: USA always brings out the best in the team with the maple leaf on the crest. “Right now, they’re the team we have to beat to get the gold spot,’’ USA’s David Backes said. “We’re going to lay everything we have into that game.’’  A fascinating statistic out of this meeting is that 34 players in total will be plying against teammates in the NHL. The winner of this game will go on to meet Sweden for gold this weekend. They beat Finland earlier today. Meantime, everyone is laughing at this wonderful cartoon (inset) in which the Canadian coach begs his men to play like girls. For sure.