This past week I had the opportunity to attend Mondial de la biere in Montreal for the first time, courtesy of The Malty Tasker. I must say that it is on another planet from Toronto’s Festival of Beer. (Though the latter has improved it’s selection of beers somewhat since I last went.) Mondial is partially …
Tag: 2013
The Book of Mormon
Last night I saw the US National Tour version of The Book of Mormon, the musical by the creators of South Park and Avenue Q.
Toronto Maple Leafs 4 at Boston Bruins 5, May 13, 2013
A lot of people I know are feeling really bad after the Leafs fell apart when they had a 4-1 lead on the Bruins. A lot of other people are trying to spin it positively: at least the Leafs were in the playoffs for the first time in 9 years; at least the Leafs took …
2013 NHL Awards
Here is my annual wrap-up of the NHL awards. As usual, it includes both real awards and made-up awards that should exist to save the voters from themselves.
Your 2013 Toronto Maple Leafs
The Leafs have mercifully made the playoffs for the first time since 2004. There are those out there who are very excited about this – I am more cautious in my enthusiasm – and many are thinking that those of us who often criticized former GM Brian Burke’s “plan” should eat our own words. But …
Timing is Everything
When the RCMP announced they arrested two suspected train bombers the other day, many people questioned the timing. They claimed they had been following them for a year, and yet there was no immediate danger to public safety. Announced in the week following the Boston Marathon bombing, many suspected the RCMP were either just trying …
Your 2012-13 Toronto Raptors
I think this year has to be viewed as a major disappointment for Raptor fans. Though I didn’t watch nearly enough games to properly judge this team I will do so anyway. [Note: the real title of this piece should be “Riley cannot evaluate basketball talent.]
NHL Trade Deadline 2013: It’s a Buyers Market
It has been fairly busy prior to trade-deadline day, likely meaning that, as usual, trade-deadline day will be uneventful. Here’s what’s been happening. March 29, 2013 Edmonton Oilers get: Kale Kessy, 20, LW Phoenix Coyotes get: Tobias Rieder, 20, RW Rieder is still very young and has been putting up decent numbers in the OHL. …
The Campaign to Fire Dave Nonis: David Steckel
Anaheim Ducks get: David Steckel, 31, C Leafs get: Ryan Lasch, RW/LW; 7th Round Pick Before I knew who Steckel was, I was really upset when the Leafs traded a 4th round pick for him back in October of 2011. This is because I looked at his hockey-reference.com profile and not his NHL.com profile and …
Nazem Kadri’s 2013 NHL Performance
Based on nearly half of this bastardized “season,” the remarks I made about Kadri were wrong. And, provided he keeps up this point-per-game pace – and there is no guarantee that he will or won’t – his emergence as a legitimate top 6 forward in the NHL stands as a reminder to people like me …
Jackson Hole Mountain Resort
I have just returned from spending five nights at the Elk Country Inn in Jackson, Wyoming, where my brother and I skied (and snowboarded) at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort, just outside of Jackson. We did not know this, but JHMR is widely considered one of the most difficult ski resorts in North America. (We were …
On Your Way, Jose: Raptors Trade Calderon
You may wonder why I haven’t yet started a “Campaign to fire Bryan Colangelo” in this space. Well, there are two main reasons. To this day, I do not know basketball like I know hockey. At this moment, without cable and without league pass, I watch way more college basketball than NBA basketball, and I …
The Campaign to Fire Dave Nonis: Joffrey Lupul Extension. Plus my thoughts on the Leafs’ first game of 2013
Dave Nonis took a step in the wrong direction when he resigned Joffrey Lupul instead of trading him or letting him walk. Lupul becomes only the second Leafs player to be signed through the 2017-18 season, when he will be 34. (JVR is the other.) Lupul will make $5.25 million per season.
The Campaign to Fire Dave Nonis: Pre-2013 Transactions
I already discussed the Lombardi deal. Lets talk about what else Dave Nonis has done since taking over.
The Campaign to Fire Dave Nonis – Matthew Lombardi
With Burke gone, and with Nonis as yet an unknown entity as a Leafs GM, I don’t really know what to call my latest evaluations of Leafs trades, so maybe I will retroactively change it to something else if I am indeed forced to launch a campaign to fire Nonis, but the way he has …
2013 Maple Leafs Season Preview
I begin this season for the first time in a few years not having to preface the title with “The Campaign to Fire Brian Burke.” It was interesting to note the number of Leafs players mourning his firing. If he did one thing in his tenure, he created a culture of loyalty. In organizing my …