Author Archives: Dominic Broadwood

Cooking 101

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Have you ever felt hungry but couldn’t decide what to eat? Or have you ever wondered what various effects different preparations may have on the body and to your health? The discrepancy of cooking proteins may be quite a surprise to you. It may just look like a piece of meat, but there is a vast array of benefits based on different ways of cooking. 

 

Starting off strong with grilling. Imagine sitting in your backyard with your friends and you’re in front of a barbecue. Sizzling steak and dripping sauce. Grilling your food allows for excess fat to drip away from the meat, potentially reducing the overall fat content of the dish. When grilling, much of the essential nutrients are preserved. If we look at a piece of pork for example, protein, niacin and vitamin B6, zinc and selenium are heavily retained. The taste of being on the grill? Extra smoky flavour is present without having to add extra calories from oils or heavy sauces. 

 

 

But for those who don’t like the fiery taste of the barbecue, you can also put your food in the oven to bake. Baking allows for even cooking and can help retain moisture and nutrients in the dish. If you have little to no oil, this could be a good option for you as baking requires little oil, often making it a healthier option than frying for example. It’s also convenient as it doesn’t require much attention, just a simple timer so that you can catch your favourite reality TV show while your food is in the oven. Baking is easy; you put your food on a tin tray, add some seasoning if you’d like, and then turn on the oven and wait. Simple right?

 

We can’t forget about boiling. As basic as boiling can be, it is a very healthy cooking method, as no oil or fats are needed. Boiling simply requires water and heat. It can preserve your food’s nutritional value, especially if cooking time is kept to a minimum. Do keep in mind however that water soluble vitamins like B6 can leach into the cooking water and may not be consumed. Although not everybody would like the texture of the wet meat, there are some folks who would prefer it to charred or darker cooked food. Boiling meat can be a good option for you if you don’t care too much about the flavour or colour of your food. It can also be a great option for those who like their food more pliable. This can also allow for you to add  more seasoning to your desire. 

 

 

Similar to boiling, there is also steaming. Steaming has little to no flavour like boiling, but it retains nutrients and vitamins better than the former because the food does not come in direct contact with water like it does in a boil. This is a commonly used method of cooking for traditional Asian dishes, and is often used with vegetables to add pliability while retaining the nutrients and flavour. Like boiling, steaming requires no added fats or oils, which is a healthy option, but you may still  want to add seasonings for extra flavour.

 

Additionally to boiling and steaming, there is also slow cooking. This is a better option for making proteins softer and easier to chew as it can tenderise some of the tougher cuts of meat. Slow cooking also allows for the flavours to meld and develop which oftentimes results in a richer taste to your plate. For example, birria beef, found commonly in traditional Mexican tacos is extremely flavourful and very easy to chew and digest. It’s a personal favourite to many, especially to chef Kuiack. It’s also important to keep in mind that the sodium content in slow cooking is often higher if the meat is prepackaged. Water-soluble vitamins and minerals are retained better when the cooking liquid is consumed as part of a dish (e.g., in soups or stews). 

 

Lower on the health list, there is sauteing. If you’re not too worried about the added oils or fats, this method is packed with flavour while retaining its nutrients. Adding in herbs, spices and some healthy oils can add depth to the flavour and nutritional profile of your choice of protein. Cooking at high temperatures can be detrimental as it can lead to the formation of unhealthy compounds. Using moderate heat and avoiding burning can help to avoid unhealthy compounds, which makes sauteing an optimal option to cook. 

 

Another water heavy option is poaching. Have you ever had a poached egg? Like slow cooking or boiling, poaching requires simmering in a liquid, which helps to retain natural moisture and flavour. Because poaching involves cooking at a lower temperature, it tends to preserve more of the nutrients, contrary to boiling or sauteing. The gentle cooking process helps maintain the protein’s tenderness and prevents it from becoming dry, which is particularly beneficial for delicate proteins like fish or poultry.

 

When eating raw preparations, it’s always a good idea to freeze the food first to kill off any potential parasites. Eating food raw is good in the sense that it preserves the nutrients and enzymes that would often get lost when cooked. On the flip side, eating raw food can be harder to digest as it’s not broken down. Food like sushi, and tartare are some of the more popular dishes that are eaten raw, they’re also better for dieting as the minimal preparation saves the added on calories from things like oil. 

 

Stir fry is good for cooking on a crunch as it’s often a quicker cook. It does not require a lot of oil, and because of it’s high heat it brings out the aroma and brightens the flavours of much of the ingredients without entirely drying them out oppositely to lower heat and longer cook times. It’s a very popular method of cooking in Asia as well as being very similar to the more western take of it being sauteing.

 

If you like grilling your food, you’ll love trying to broil it. Broiling in essence is upside down grilling where radiant heat is applied to the meat with minimal heat coming from the pan itself, slightly different from pan broiling where meat is put directly into the pan and cooked by conduction. In pan broiling the fat that builds up during the cooking process is often poured off.

 

We’ve come a long way from the days of bonfires in caves. Now that you have all the basics of different ways to cook, you can begin turning yourself into the chef that you always wanted to be. If you’re a dad who likes spending his time out on the back patio firing up a grill, you can try picking up a wok and making a stir fry. Maybe you’re someone who traditionally cooks sauteing, it might be time to broil that chicken. There are so many ways to cook all kinds of different food each providing their own unique spin on the dish. Or maybe you’ve never cooked a day in your life and you only eat raw foods and tap your Uber Eats app. Wherever you’re at in your cooking journey , there is so much to experience in the world of cooking and so many flavours to unlock. What are you going to try cooking next?

The Perfect Drink

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Imagine a scorching summer day, the sun is blazing, the sky is clear and you just went for a run in the park. There’s a table setup on the side of the path with bottles on it for the passing by runners. What’s in those bottles?  Universally we’re all supposed to drink water, it’s the most natural thing on earth and makes up about 60 percent of the human body. However everyone has a favorite drink, some more legal than others. From fizzy to flat, fruity to bland there are so many options in today’s age, it’s a drink connoisseur’s paradise out there. Luckily for you that’s exactly what you got right here, and we’ll be going over some fan favorites and some sleeper picks for quenching your thirst.

 

Let’s start off with one of the most underrated drinks on the market and if you’ve tried this then you know exactly what’s up. Sparkling juice. This is a sneaky one as there’s a lot of people out there who haven’t even heard of sparkling juice and to those people I say: where have you been? You can get it at most local grocery stores and they come in flavours like; apple, pomegranate, mango, and even grape. Want to feel fancy, but don’t want to pop that bottle of champagne? Sparkling juice. Want to cook up a cocktail with something a little on the harder side? Sparkling juice. It’s the perfect balance of taste, elegance, and versatility. Who says no?

 

Next up for you soda lovers were going to take a look at Fanta. The beautiful thing about Fanta is all the flavors that it comes in. It started with the original orange but has since branched off into lemon, pineapple, and grape among many more. It’s a little different from classic sodas like Pepsi and Coke in the sense that it’s still fizzy, but goes down your throat a lot smoother with what tastes like a real fruit “punch” to it.  What makes this drink even more interesting is the history behind it. It was created in 1940 by Nazi Germany at their Coca-Cola plant because they weren’t receiving any shipments from the United States, they couldn’t make the classic Coke we all love today. Instead they began concocting their own drinks and so came Fanta!

 

 

One of the more forgotten drinks out on the shelves has to be sparkling water. Now I know what you’re thinking, and you’re not alone. Why not drink regular water, why have the water sparkle for no reason? EVen though sparkling water is still just water, that carbonation gives it a taste that just can’t seem to be replicated. Even when you compare it to flavoured sparkling water, something about that plain H20 carbonation just hits a little different. What makes this even more convenient is the emergence of Soda Streams over recent years, making it much more convenient to make at home and saving you the consumer the feeling of wasting money that lots of us have when purchasing water out and about.

 

Are you an athlete? Chances are if you’ve done a sport competitively at some point you were running on a steadfast diet of gatorade. Similar to the many of the previous drinks gatorade has tons of flavour options with the new and limited time ones coming out semi regularly. Trying to cut down on a diet? Gatorade also released a zero option in late 2018 for people trying to slim down on their calorie intake making it a suitable option for athletes no matter what their weight goals are. For those looking for something a little sweeter in the sports drink market a new gatorade competitor has burst onto the scene, that being Prime Hydration. Prime after it’s initial release was one of if not the most popular beverage in the world for a period of time and consumers were dashing to stores the second they were in stock to buy them off the shelves. There was even a supply issue for months due to people buying up every last bottle and they were even being resold for up to five times their retail value. This was in large part due to the fact that famous United States and United Kingdom youtubers Logan Paul and KSI founded the drink and were marketing it all across their social media platforms.

 

Back onto the topic of sodas, there’s only one correct answer when it comes to the best tasting sodas. You may not be a cherry fan, but who doesn’t like a good flavoured cherry soda. Across the market there are various great tasting cherry sodas, most notably Dr. Pepper. EVen regular cola based sodas like Pepsi and Coke carry a cherry flavour in their ranks. Feeling double cherry? Although it’s hard to come by in Canada these days, cherry Dr. Pepper has to be up there when talking about the all time greatest soda.

 

Another goat worthy mention for the soda lovers out there is root beer. The market is rich in root beer options with some big brands such as Mugs, Barq’s, and A&W leading the way. They’ve all had their time in the spotlight with A&W’s iconic recipe, Mugs recent TikTok trend garnering popularity as well as Barq’s seemingly being the generation before us root beer of choice. Because of these three brands hogging the spotlight it only seems fitting to give some of the smaller brands a shout out. Not much can beat a “Dad’s Root Beer” on a hot day and they come in the classic glass bottles that always give a drink an extra bit of appeal. Preferring the can? Phillips Soda company’s “Galaxy Root Beer” is a hard to find yet expensive root beer that has its own unique twist on the classic drink.

 

Similar to Fanta, Mountain Dew has in a sense branched off from Pepsi into its own brand with as of August 2024 there being 28 different flavours of the citrus drink. Nothing beats the classic lemon-lime soda, however they do have some runner up spinoffs. Code Red and Voltage are among some of their more successful flavours, while quietly Major Melon and Spark bring a whole new twist on the beverage. There are also a ton of much lesser known flavours that are harder to come by in addition to a former Taco Bell exclusive in Baja Blast. Do you prefer Mountain Dew over Fanta?

 

 

Last but not least the greatest drink of all time, did you guess what it was? If you said chocolate milk you’re absolutely correct. Milk in general has to be one of the greatest things on planet earth, you give it a flavour? That’s game over for the competition. The refreshing taste of having a glass of regular milk with dinner gets taken to an all new level when you factor chocolate in. It’s sweet and creamy and you can drink it with just about anything, excluding chocolate of course. For the rare person that doesn’t see the hyper around chocolate milk, there are other not as good but suitable replacements like strawberry and even banana milk. Do you think that chocolate milk is the goat drink, if not what could top it?

Evening the score

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How exciting is this time of year!? The NHL regular season is less than a month away, and pieces are falling into place for this to be an all time season, no matter who you’re rooting for. One team ripe for a spectacular upcoming year is the Vancouver Canucks. Nobody could’ve predicted how perfect last season would go after the constant disappointments over the previous decade. To recap, the Canucks went into last season with little to no expectations as a team considered hopeful to snag one of the last playoff spots in the west. However they came out flying with an eight to one win over rival Edmonton Oilers in last year’s season opener before beating them again just days later. At the time of the annual Christmas break, Vancouver sat atop the league standings and stayed in the hunt for first until the very end. The good guys finished sixth overall in league standings as well as clinched the first place spot in their Pacific Division. With a strong foundation to build on coming off of last year’s campaign, there’s a lot to be excited about as October nears.

Electricity is in the air surrounding a few of the Canucks new acquisitions. Some big names like Jake Debrusk, Danton Heinen, and Daniel Sprong signed to the “Couv” this summer giving the Canucks offensive core a makeover. The cherry on top was seeing fan favorites Dakota Joshua and Arturs Silovs resign with the team, exhibiting their belief in the teams future. Of course you know this came at a cost with beloved faces Elias Lindholm and Nikita Zadorov leaving to Vancouver’s staple enemy the Boston Bruins in free agency. As much as this might seem like a downgrade, there was a method behind the madness. One of the least talked about and most underrated in any sort of roster transaction whether it’s a trade or simply signing (in this case unsigning) a player is the cap space. If you aren’t familiar with the salary cap, every team is limited to paying their players a maximum of whatever the NHL designates its salary cap to be for that given season. In recent years the salary cap is around 85 million per roster, however this number increases every year. Because of the importance of salary cap space, teams are going to have to make tough but smart decisions when it comes to constructing their roster. That is exactly what the Canucks did here. Zadorov and Lindholm signed for a combined total of 12.75 million dollars this season. Granted given their former contracts, the Canucks only received about 8.6 million in cap relief from their departures. Let’s move away from the numbers now and talk about what this means for the roster itself. Because of Vancouver’s savvy cap decisions, they managed to sign a young high potential forward in Jake Debrusk as well as re-signing breakout power forward Dakota Joshua to long term contracts. These two will be key pieces in the upcoming season for Vancouver as both Debrusk and Joshua will likely be getting time in the top six. Joshua is coming off a career year where he scored 18 goals and 32 points, while playing mostly on the third line. He also scored four goals in the playoffs, all of which came in clutch time. Some time closer to stars like Pettersson or Miller and he could be a safe bet for a full on 50 point breakout season. Debrusk on the other hand is a proven 20 goal scorer who seems to be again similar ironically enough to JT Miller whom he’s likely to share a line with this upcoming season. The Canucks star could be seen as a potential blueprint for Debrusk’s trajectory going forward with the club as he enters his prime.

 

 

Depth is talked about a lot around the week and has been something the Canucks have been desperately missing for the better part of a decade. You could go as far to say that this is the deepest the roster has ever been.  NHL ready Players like Mark Friedman, Nils Aman, Phil Di Guiseppe are overflowing the organization. When looking at great cup teams and recent champions, there’s a real argument to be made that depth is the biggest factor. One of the main reasons the Oilers were able to defeat Vancouver in the playoffs last year, was their superior depth. Scratch depth aside, it’s important to have penciled in regulars that you can insert anywhere in the lineup. Vancouver ultimately lacked that ability to move their lines around when things got stale. With one star player (in that series being Pettersson) not performing it throws the entire team’s rhythm off. Couple that with your top goal scorer missing a game and you got a problem on your hands. However, too much depth is a good problem to have and we’ve already seen the Canucks make some moves to address it this offseason trading forwards Ilya Mikhayev and former tenth overall pick Vasily Podkolzin for draft capitol. Going into this season coach Tocchet has an abundance of lineup options and wingers to play with his star centers and will make for an interesting dilemma come opening night.

 

 

How could you forget about goaltending? The Canucks also have a top five goaltender in the NHL, by award standards top three in Thatcher Demko but that also comes with an asterisk. As you may recall Demko after putting on a spectacle in Vancouver’s playoff opener last season went down with a knee injury following the game. This came after just his third game back from an unrelated knee injury the previous month. You see the pattern here? As good as Demko is between the pipes, he has a lengthy injury history and has raised questions on if he can be relied upon to stay healthy. As October draws near the goaltenders availability come opening night is still in the air nearly six months later. To address the internal concern the Canucks have brought in Jiri Patera as a third string goalie to come in if Arturs Silovs is given the reins. Silovs had a fantastic playoff showing in Demko’s absence and should have you excited as the next franchise goaltender of the Vancouver Canucks. WIth a good year this year and possibly some heavy minutes given the status of Demko, Silovs could be a guy they look to take over sooner rather than later if Demko’s issues persist. The team also has reportedly reached out to other NHL journeymen to give the roster that extra depth, because well you can never have too many goalies as we’ve seen in recent years. 

 

The Vancouver Canucks have a very bright future ahead of them with young guns like Raty, Lekkerimaki, Pettersson, Willander, and Bains all expected to be fighting for potentially the final spot on the roster. In addition to the confidence and swagger the team will be riding coming off of last season, the stage is set for the franchise to build off of what was a giant leap forward last year. The Canucks will kick off their season October ninth at home where they will host the Calgary Flames in what is expected to be the start of a very special season.

National Football What?

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Have you ever tried to get into a new sport and no matter how hard you try, you can’t quite grasp all the rules? Well that’s exactly what I’m going through right now as I attempt to get into the NFL. If you’re trying to get into a new sport it’s likely that lots of your friends are fans of that sport. For years now I’ve had tons of friends that are crazy about football as well as play it, and I figured it’s time that I get in on the action that everyone talks about. I’m going to be breaking down my first week of trying to become an avid football fan, American of course.

 

First thing I had to start with was what my favourite team would be. Seems like a good start right? Usually we get into a sport from a young age because our families are into it, and so we tend to gravitate to what’s on in the house. If you’re from Vancouver, I’m sure you’re just like me and was indoctrinated into the Canucks fan base from a young age. However, what if you didn’t grow up rooting for a team, how do you choose? I broke it down into three different categories; team name and city, team colours and jersey, and limited pre-existing knowledge of the teams. Obviously this doesn’t come without a bit of bias as I do have friends who cheer for their own separate teams, but I wanted to pick one for my own. After a lot of time and thought, it came down to two teams, which were the Detroit Lions and the Miami Dolphins. The Lions have the appeal of a young up and coming team (because who wants to wait forever to see their team win) as well as a city with a long interesting history. Meanwhile the Dolphins called to me immediately as their bright teal orange and white drew my eyes like a moth to a flame. It helped that I’ve always had an inkling to the city of Miami as somewhere I’d love to visit in addition to with my limited knowledge of the sport they are led by one of my favourite players in Tyreek Hill. Needless to say I decided to go with the Dolphins.

 

 

You got your favourite team now what? You start watching. Because I’m actually trying to get into the sport as a whole, I didn’t want to just watch my favourite teams games, and luckily for me the first thing I learned is that the first football game of the year is always a big game to draw viewers and that it was. It was a playoff rematch between the defending champion Kansas City Chiefs and the Baltimore Ravens. I tried to follow along but it was a little difficult not knowing all of the rules and often found myself texting my friends dumb questions like; “what’s an onside kick” or “what’s a blitz” but as the game went on I felt like I began to have a better grasp on what it;s all about. It was a little frustrating at times not completely understanding what’s going on which I’m sure you can relate to if you’ve ever been in this position, but it’s all part of the process. By the conclusion of watching my first full football game I now had more knowledge than I did prior, however the real learning would come on an action packed thirteen game Sunday coming up.

 

 

Out of the thirteen games that took place on Sunday I managed to catch probably about four games worth and I gained a lot of knowledge through the nine or so hours I spent watching the screen. From player names like Geno Smith, to positions I didn’t know existed such as cornerback. Even learned some new rules like a lateral. Some of my new found knowledge made a lot of sense and some of it not so much. One of the more interesting ones to me was learning what a safety was. I had no idea that if the offensive line was backed into their own endzone and couldn’t clear it during their down that the play is called a safety and the defending team is awarded two points. Ironically one of my closest friends favourite teams the Seahawks gave up two safeties in their game which was the first time that had happened in seven years! I also learned about a play called a lateral where players can throw the ball more than once on a play, provided the ball is thrown at least a degree backwards and that now pop culture star Travis Kelce is the king of the lateral. I also learned that player stats are measured in rushing and receiving yards, although I’m still not quite sure as to what is a good number for each position to achieve as it seems it’s varying. That was one of the more difficult things I’m still grasping with thinking in hockey terms of shots on goal, or blocked shots. The statline in football seems to be a lot more complicated and when i asked around as to how to know what a good number is for each category, everyone met me with the same answer: “just got to watch and it will come with time”. So I guess for now I’m still in the dark on what good stats are. I’ve also learned a lot of player names that I desperately have been trying to retain from all positions like George Kittle of the San Francisco 49ers or  Matthew Stafford the quarterback who was traded from Detroit to the Los Angeles Rams. It’s been a lot of info to retain and I’m going to need to keep watching every week, oddly enough it’s a lot like studying for school. Have you ever experienced this?

 

 

Luckily I still have another eighteen or so weeks until the big one comes (the Super Bowl) so I’ve set a goal to know everything I need to by the time that comes around because the last thing you want is to be asking stupid questions at a Super Bowl party right? It’s ironic because I now know how my friends who I got into hockey feel, albeit I think hockey is a much easier sport to understand. Football seems like such a whacky concept, the constant starting and stopping, the “O-Line” and “D-Line”. The way flags are thrown and sometimes is a penalty and sometimes is replaying a down?  Why are the plays called downs? Why is the quarterback only allowed to hear the coach for fifteen seconds? These are all questions that I hope you had when you started watching football as well. I’ve found a new found appreciation for people attempting to learn a new sport. It’s not easy and it takes a lot of thinking, time and effort. It makes me feel bad about maybe being a little sarcastic or snarky to people that were trying to get into my sport asking me questions. It might take a few years, but it’s the journey that you’re supposed to enjoy anyways right? Have you ever taken the time to learn a new sport from scratch and how would you go about it?

Culture shift in Leaf land

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On August 14th just a little over a month out from the start of training camp, the Toronto Maple Leafs announced that former captain John Tavares would be relinquishing the captaincy and giving it to star forward Auston Matthews. The 26 year old ironically was named the 26th captain in Maple Leafs history after yet another disappointing year from the franchise. The change likely comes in an attempt to shift the culture in the locker room after what can only be labeled as a waste of an era to this point. When John Tavares joined the Maple Leafs in the summer of 2018, Matthews was just coming out of his entry level contract and was not ready to take on the responsibility of leading one of the most historical franchises. The team chose to name the already established and experienced captain in John Tavares, and in his five years as the captain, the culture around the team was often in question. They severely underperformed in 4 of the 5 years, failing to make it past the first round of the playoffs and winning only a single game in the second while also failing to make an official playoff spot in the first year. Questions began to arise of if the players cared at all, and their heart was often doubted by fans and media alike. Ultimately the responsibility of leading the locker room and holding others accountable falls onto the team captain who often appeared monotone and robotic in his press conferences, reinforcing the idea of the team lacking heart. 

 

 

The team will enter a new era this season as the face of the six, finally will have his chance to dawn the C on opening night this coming October. Matthews has been the face of Toronto since being drafted first overall by the Maple Leafs back in 2016. The proclaimed chosen one to end Toronto’s curse is already widely believed to be the greatest player the franchise has ever seen at just 27 years old, joining the likes of Toronto greats like; Mats Sundin, Darryl Sitler, and Wendell Clarke. Matthews, since breaking into the league in 2016-2017 leads the league in goals as well as sits at eighth place in total points. Coming into his ninth season Matthews has won six of the NHL’s most prominent awards including; the 2017 Calder Trophy for rookie of the year, as well as the 2021 and 2024 Rocket Richard Trophy for finishing first in goal scoring as well as the 2022 Rocket Trophy where he also won the Ted Lindsay Trophy for “most outstanding player” as well as the Hart Memorial Trophy for most valuable player to his team.

 

 

The franchise center has been open about his frustration in recent years with the team’s lack of playoff success, and stated the individual awards aren’t what he’s looking for. “That stuff is nice, but it’s not like, fulfilling. It’s not what I’m after. I’m trying to be the best individual I can be, the best teammate, person and leader on the team I can be. Everyone in here is after one goal (the Stanley Cup). All the other stuff is not something I’m chasing after that makes me feel good”. Aside from the earlier years of his career, Matthews has been a real game breaker in recent years when the post-season rolls around, however unfortunately didn’t get his chance this past season in the trilogy with Boston where he went down with a mysterious illness in game three and was forced the play at less than hundred percent in game seven. “I got really, really sick after Game two, then I took a weird hit and couldn’t go any longer. That’s as detailed as I’m going to get. It was really frustrating, it sucks and it was killing me to watch. But I’m proud of the guys, how they climbed their way back in the series. I was fortunate to get to play Game seven, just tried to go out there and give it my all.” 

 

There was some big overhaul in leaf land this off-season as former head coach Sheldon Keefe was fired following yet another first round exit and the team brought in former stanley cup winner Craig Berube to be the teams new bench boss. Berube won the Stanley Cup in his first year as an NHL head coach back in 2019, when he brought the last place in the league St. Louis Blues all the way to the promise land in a matter of only a few short months. He brings a much different style of coaching to the club as he’s a far more defensive minded coach and likes to play an older school style system, compared to his predecessor who seemed to be more attached to mimicking the work of recently successful teams. General manager Brad Treliving had stated at their year end press conference that finding the right coach for the team would not be a decision taken lightly and the general manager had nothing but great things to say when he hired Berube on May 21st. “Ultimately, character matters. That is with your team, and that is, most importantly, with your head coach. I look at Craig, and ultimately, what brought me back to him was his leadership, his ability to build teams and have a team-first concept, his ability to connect with players, and his ability to hold people accountable. It gives me great pleasure and honour to introduce the next head coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Craig Berube”.

 

 

With the season less than a month away from kickstarting the Leafs have a fresh look with their new coach and new captain along with a somewhat overhauled roster. They brought in veteran defenseman Chris Tanev and Oliver Ekman-Larson for their backend while on forward it is expected that some of their young guns will get a bigger role such as; Fraser Minten, Nick Robertson, and 2023 first round pick Easton Cowan. The “Buds” will also be running a newly formed goaltending tandem of Joseph Woll and journeyman plus Stanley Cup champion Anthony Stolarz. The team also just signed Toronto native Max Domi to a long term contract extension which will cement his future with the team. The overhaul has Leafs fans and media excited at the prospect of a new-look Leafs roster and hopefully a culture shift from within the locker room. In addition longtime Leafs stars in Mitch Marner and John Tavares contracts are set to expire at the conclusion of this season, leaving the future of the team up in the air in what most are considering a more optimistic thing. Following the failure of last year’s playoffs the fan base has been looking for change and the prospect of an overhaul in the top end talent could be just what the franchise needs going forward. The Leafs kick off their season on the road in Montreal on October 9th before their home opener on October 12th against the Pittsburgh Penguins where the official on ice commemoration of Auston Matthews as captain will take place as well as the debut game for “coach chief” (Craig Berube). What do you think about the coaching and captaincy change? Will be enough to shift the culture in Leaf land?

Casual viewing or quick cash?

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You hear about addictions in mainstream media and perhaps you know someone going through it yourself. Maybe you are even facing challenges of your own. Whether it’s substance abuse like drugs and alcohol, or behavioral addictions such as watching porn and compulsively lying, addiction runs rampant in society. In recent years a new addiction has been quietly becoming more prominent than you probably realize, and little light is shed on it. I’m talking about sports gambling. In a matter of only a few short years it went from illegal in most areas of North America to plastered all over your television screens, and even the ads at your bus stop. I couldn’t tell you how many times while I’m watching a hockey game a commercial will come on, advertising a platform to gamble on the game. It feels as though every second commercial is telling me to sign up for Bet365 or get free wagers on Betway. Even on the overlaid ice and board ads they’re advertising it. It begs the question as to what caused this shift? The short answer is revenue.

 

 

The sports betting craze has even made national headlines recently as people across America have been pulling money out of the stock market and putting it into gambling on their favorite football team. Aside from the legalizations and a few ads what has caused the sudden rise in the market though? I’d answer with the current state of the economical world. People are struggling and looking for any way to make some quick cash, especially the younger demographic. With most regions setting the legal age to bet at 18, kids are now starting to gamble before they’ve even graduated high school. What better way to be introduced into the world of gambling than sports? Sports are a source of hope for many people in their lives when they might not have much else. Especially for younger men and women who are just entering the real world and are potentially feeling lost or hopeless with the current state of the world. Adding the hope of winning money on top of the game and it makes for an appealing impression.

 

Now I’m no different, and I can tell you firsthand how addicting the thrill of sports gambling really is. As someone who likes to believe they’re quite knowledgeable when it comes to sports, it feels like it should be easy money every time I pick up the app, however that couldn’t be further from the truth. That’s one of the main lies that sports gamblers tell themselves, that we know sports and so it should be easy cash. In reality gambling is gambling and as much as you may think you know, sports are unpredictable for a reason. It’s what makes them worth watching in the first place. Moreover the ability to gamble is so accessible. The days of having to travel to the casino are over, and you can place a bet at the click of a button on your phone. With most apps having the minimum bet amount set at just two dollars it’s easier than it’s ever been to start gambling your money away. You can even do it mid game, experience the rush of predicting a comeback, or maybe you’re doing it socially with friends who have money on the game. Because of the rise in online gambling, lots of people will now get together to put money on games similar to socially drinking which leads to peer pressure to get involved yourself. If you’ve ever sport bet with a group of friends, you’ll know the image that people will bring up when you’re unsure of locking in a bet.

 

According to the National Post the number of people signing up for sports betting has been nearly doubling every year since 2020. On top of the mainstream marketing these apps use, they also consistently offer promotions to bring new customers in daily. Some of these offers include a free first 25 dollars to give the gambler a taste of what they could be missing, or “Bet Boost” days where the app will automatically double the bets placed as an incentive for maybe those who are unsure of gambling that day. These apps rely on and make their profit on the addiction of the vast majority of sports gamblers. That in itself is an issue that isn’t talked about enough. The way sports gambling ads are shoved in everyone’s face everywhere and that these companies rely on our addiction. That’s the first red flag. The second is that most athletes are banned from gambling as a whole. These same athletes are being paid millions of dollars to promote it on national television to kids. That should be a consumer’s second red flag. Just last year Shane Pinto of the Ottawa Senators was suspended for half the season for gambling on a sport that wasn’t even his own. Doesn’t make a lot sense and seems to be pretty backwards right?

One of the bigger problems surrounding the sports betting epidemic is the lack of resources available to addicts. When it comes to substance addictions there are a ton of prominent and readily available resources to help people recover, that gambling and more specifically sports gambling doesn’t have. As put by John Holden, an associate professor of management at Oklahoma State University who studies sports gambling regulation: “Many states naively or some other way went about legalizing sports betting without adequately estimating the costs on problem gambling resources”. The market is moving at a pace that policy makers more than likely couldn’t have predicted. The user count is rising at an unprecedented pace, and the legality and restrictions surrounding it are just as hazy. Are the laws up to the standard they should be? Do you think that 18 is too young to begin gambling? What can be done to minimize the risk of potentially life altering repercussions? There needs to be more restrictions as to who can bet and how, as well as the way it is promoted. As said earlier, many kids are seeing their favorite athlete promote these sports bookies, incentivising them to bet on themselves, when in reality, how mature is an 18 year old kid? Do you think you’d be mature enough to control your gambling at that age, and make responsible decisions? There is a reason why substances aren’t available till you’re older and gambling should be the same. The glorification of it in commercials also needs to be toned down as well as some of the borderline false advertising. Most importantly, help centers for people who are struggling with gambling need to be more accessible and public. We’re living in a time where people are doing anything for extra money, and public pressure is a big factor. As a society it’s important to address these issues and shine light on them. Gambling itself is an individual’s decision, however it needs to be done safely and responsibly. As the market continues to grow, the policies and regulations around it also need to so that we are encouraged and the people closest to us are provided with all the information and tools to be safe.

Stage set for the Brockstar

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Over the past couple of season’s, one name has been at the center of a lot of media attention and that is Brock Boeser. Vancouver’s 2015 first round pick took the league by storm during his rookie season in 2017 notching 29 goals and 55 points before falling to injury at the three quarter mark.  Brock would return the following season, but never really got back to rookie season form. That was until this year.

 

The Brockstar was back from the second the puck dropped on the 2023-24 NHL season. In Vancouver’s season opener, Boeser put on a show for the fans by scoring four goals en route to an 8-1 victory over the Edmonton Oilers. This was just the start as Brock would go on to score 40 goals and 73 points in 81 games. Boeser found a more permanent home this season on the wing of JT Miller, helping him get comfortable compared to previous seasons where he would be often moved up and down the lineup.

 

Injuries were an ongoing issue for Boeser as he had been dealing with injury problems since his rookie year. He missed the start of last season with a wrist injury after getting surgery on it for a previous injury. It felt as if he was swimming upstream with the constant onslaught of wrist, hand, and back injuries. In addition Brock dealt with the loss of his father following the conclusion of the 2021-22 season. Nothing had been going right for Boeser.

 

Thankfully Brock persevered and the Brockstar as we know it is back, having a career high season and helping lead the Canucks to their first postseason appearance with a home crowd since 2015. Brock, who was a key component to the Canucks 2020 bubble playoff run is playing playoff hockey in Vancouver for the first time in his career and has a lot of eyes and expectations on him. He came up huge in game 3 for Vancouver, scoring a hattrick and giving the Canucks the upset win over Nashville.

 

With the bad luck of the past now in his rearview mirror and a more than hot start to this year’s playoffs. The stage is set for Brock Boeser to be a big time star for the Canucks as they look to make a deep run into this year’s playoffs, capture the Stanley Cup and bring glory to Vancouver for the first time in franchise history.

Time for NHL playoff change

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When the NHL changed it’s playoff format at the start of the 2013-2014 season, the goal was to create better divisional rivalries and in turn, a more entertaining playoff picture for the fans. However, there is a large sector of fans and even NHL executives that have seen enough as we cross the decade mark since this format change.

 

The prior playoff format saw teams in the East and West face off in a “best plays worst” style seeding where the first place team in each conference would play the eighth, the second plays the seventh, and so on. In this format, the top three seeds in each conference were awarded to the teams who placed atop their respective division. That format is flawed in its own rights as there were times where a team would seed lower than one that had less points, because of the division system, though many would agree it’s minor in comparison to some of our current format’s blemishes. 

 

Because of the Covid-19 breakout that shortened the 2019-2020 NHL season, the league saw a format that hadn’t been used before. A 24 team playoff format was implemented to account for the discrepancy in games played at the time of the season being canceled.  This format saw the top four teams of each conference duking it out for a reseed of the top four while the other eight would battle in a play-in round for the right to challenge in the first round. Although this was a one-off gimmick because of the pandemic, it seemed to be a big hit for the fans and has been a topic of conversation since to allow for more teams to enter the playoff picture.

 

The current format has gotten stale. Even though it has created bitter rivalries such as Los Angeles versus Edmonton, and Toronto versus Tampa Bay, these matchups have gotten old as we see them every year. It’s also been a large complaint that teams who rank higher in the regular season don’t get to play the worst teams as a reward, as the matchups are more difficult than the opposing format. 

 

In addition, the current standings tiebreakers have been a cause of controversy, allowing for teams that aren’t always deserving to squeak into the playoffs. This year the Washington Capitals secured the final Eastern conference wildcard spot despite having fewer wins than the Detroit Red Wings who were tied in points with them. The tiebreaker was regulation wins, which was revised from the previous overtime + regulations wins which also would have heavily favored Detroit. The Capitals also finished the season with a minus 30 goal differential being one of the worst among teams to make the playoffs all time.

Fans and executives alike have many proposals for what the NHL should do going forward in regards to their playoff format. From doing away with the wildcard spot, to adding a play in like the NBA to decide the final spots. After ten years it is due time for the NHl to make a format change.

Last chance for Leafs core

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It feels like every year come offseason the conversation circulating Toronto is that the Leafs core four can’t get it done when the stakes get high. In the Matthews era, the Leafs have had just one playoff series victory in seven outings, this coming last season. This has largely been blamed on Toronto’s top four players combining for almost half of the team’s cap space, leaving little room for a strong supporting cast. This is their last chance to get it done with this core. If they don’t do significant playoff damage this year, the question shifts to: who goes this summer?

 

The one name we can immediately scratch off this list is the league’s top goal scorer Auston Matthews who just captured his third Rocket Richard trophy. Finishing just shy seventy goals, Matthews has been one of the NHL’s most elite players since his debut in 2016 and he continues to get better on both sides of the ice every season.

 

William Nylander just signed an eight year contract worth 92 million (11.5 AAV) at the start of the calendar year, making it unlikely for him to be the odd man out either. Not that Nylander should be the man to go anyways, coming off a career high of 98 points in 82 games. He has been Toronto’s most consistent playoff performer in recent years and has been a noticeable absence in the first three games of this year’s first round against Boston.

Leafs captain John Tavares would be the ideal candidate for many as he no longer plays up to his 11 million per season contract. Unfortunately for Toronto, Tavares holds a full no move clause and it would be a stretch for him to waive that. In addition the Maple Leaf captain only has a pair of seasons remaining on his deal, where at the conclusion he will likely take a pay cut to finish his career in the six.

 

This takes us to forward Mitch Marner. Marner, who makes 10.9 million per season stands to be the most reasonable candidate for the Leafs to move. The 26 year old Toronto native, despite being a big time regular season performer, has been consistently criticized for not stepping up enough when the lights get bright. Although he led toronto in points during last year’s playoffs, many of those came as garbage points in blowouts and he has struggled in prior years against more physical teams like Boston and Montreal.

 

Toronto can more than likely get a large haul returned in a Marner trade. Enough is enough and barring an unforeseen legacy run in these playoffs, the Maple Leafs need to shake things up. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.  This experiment has gone on for far too long, and this is the last chance for Toronto’s core four.

Just the beginning for rising Canucks

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3284 days is how long it has been since Vancouver hosted an NHL playoff game. Going into this season Vancouver was critiqued by many as a league midcarder that would likely sit just outside of the playoff cutoff. Surprisingly, the Canucks came out the gates swinging this season sitting atop the NHL standings at the Christmas break and eventually going on to finish the year sixth in the league. In addition Vancouver captured their third best regular season finish in franchise history against all expectations that were placed on them heading into this season. There’s a community of people however, that are calling this season a one off and a fluke. I’m here to tell you why this is just the beginning of the Canucks rise to the top.

 

The general manager’s goal at the start of every season is to ice a team that can compete for the Stanley Cup come June. Canucks general manager Patrik Allvin did just that this season and he has a plethora of options this summer to keep the Canucks competitive moving forward. At the conclusion of this year’s season, the Canucks front office will have a lot of big decisions to make regarding the identity of the team moving forward. Big names and rising stars like; Tyler Myers, Dakota Joshua, and Filip Hronek are all pending free agents albeit some restricted, and likely not have the means to retain all of them. This begs the question: what should they do?

 

Vancouver’s number one contract priority this coming summer should be to resign Dakota Joshua. A big reason for the Canucks success this season has been the emergence of Joshua as one of the league’s most effective power forwards. Joshua put up a season high this year of 18 goals and 32 points while managing to shut down some of NHL’s top lines. Turning 28 years old this year “Dak” is coming into his prime and still has greatness ahead of him.

 

Second on the priority list is to deal with Filip Hronek. In his first full season in Vancouver Hronek has put up an impressive 48 points on the top pair with captain Quinn Hughes. Hronek has also been a great addition to what was previously considered a weak Vancouver defensive core, but with him being a restricted free agent this summer, the Canucks may elect to look for better value. The 26 year old was reportedly asking for somewhere in the eight million range and that may be out of  general manager Patrik Allvins comfort zone. Fortunately with him being an RFA the Canucks hold the power to trade his rights elsewhere. A potential move that they could make would be to flip him to another team for players and draft picks to potentially flip those for a better value defenseman. Either way Vancouver will come out with valuables.

 

Vancouver’s top prospects are expected to be in training camp and possibly even push for a roster spot come September. 2023 first round pick Tom Willander and 2022 first rounder Jonathan Lekkerimaki are two guys that could make a name for themselves and possibly break in their own roster spot. If these guys could come in next season and play somewhat effectively this could be a game changer for the Canucks as it would keep them young and on a budget. 

 

I think it’s safe to say that the Canucks are just good, it’s pretty difficult to fluke an 82 game season. There’s no reason they shouldn’t be great again next year if not better. The development of  the Canucks supporting cast with players like: Hoglander, Joshua, and Suter is expected to continue while their top Stars are entering their prime. A little money spent in free agency and some prospect surprises. This could be a team to reckon with moving forward.