Far be it from us to conflate professional sports with Bill Shakespeare—but the Toronto Maple Leafs’ actions before, during and after Tuesday's NHL trade deadline recall Macbeth’s famous words: full of sound and fury, yet ultimately signifying nothing. Charges of heresy will be duly acknowledged. In the end, the promised blow-up never materialized. None of the five big-money, no-trade-clause-holding players could be moved. Pavel Kubina was apparently ready to be shipped off (to San......

If you're reading this and it's between the hours of 7-9:30pm EST, do yourself a favour and tune into Hockey Night in Canada. You might be witnessing the end of an era in Toronto sports. Mats Sundin, captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs since 1997, is on the trading block. Earlier this week, TSN broke the news that interim general manager Cliff Fletcher had asked Sundin for a list of teams he'd be willing to......

Every day this week, Torontoist is exploring the future of repertory cinema in Toronto. We spoke to the theatre managers of four major rep cinemas to hear if rep cinema is dying, what it's like to exist in a YouTube society, and what original programming has them most excited. Today, we look at the rebirth of the Revue Cinema and its focus on the Roncesvalles community. Photo of Revue Cinema reopening by Mike Charbonneau. Nobody......

It's been the best of times, it's been the worst of times for the Toronto Maple Leafs; in fact, the past couple weeks have been nothing short of surreal. First, the best of times: wins against the high-flying Ottawa Senators and Montreal Canadiens, followed by a thoroughly unexpected Hockey Day in Canada victory over the league-leading Detroit Red Wings, have given the team a boost. Injured players are getting healthy. The return of the......

The saga of John Ferguson, Jr. is mercifully over: the beleaguered General Manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs, who's been a whipping boy for the team's misfortunes ever since his appointment in 2003, has been fired. Say what you will about Ferguson (and if you're a Leaf fan then you probably have): the way he's been treated by Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, particularly during his final few weeks in charge, has been nothing......

We have no problem admitting our man-love for Mats Sundin: he's been the captain of our favourite hockey team for most of our adult lives, he's one of the greatest Toronto Maple Leafs of all-time and he's a shoe-in hall-of-famer once he retires. Seeing him score his 500th career goal still ranks as the greatest sporting moment we've ever witnessed. We know we're supposed to be too old and too sophisticated to have favourite......

Just in case this is something you like to be reminded of, you're going to die someday. The good news is that day is likely to be further off than ever, because average life expectancy in Canada has risen, with a baby born in 2005 likely to live to 80.4 years of age. On the other hand, who wants to be an 80-year-old baby? CIBC has announced that they will be selling $2.75 billion......

Torontoist is ending the year by naming our Heroes and Villains of 2007––the people, places, and things that we've either fallen head over heels in love with or developed uncontrollable rage towards over the past twelve months. Get your dose, starting Boxing Day and running into the new year, three times a day––sunrise, noon, and sunset. When the Festival Cinemas chain was shut down last year by supervillains The McQuillain Kids (after inheriting the business......

Gate House goes coed. After a series of puerile, childish, vaguely misogynistic stunts, the infamous all-male U of T residence has been come down upon by that stuffy old dean. Of note is Gate House's claim to be an inspiration for the movie Animal House, just like every other "look at us we're so wild" frat house on every college campus ever, despite the fact that Ivan Reitman and Harold Ramis went to McMaster.......

Say what you will about the Toronto Maple Leafs, but they’re not boring. Incompetent, sure, but definitely not boring—not even during their recent, well-publicized losing streak. The Leafs are a middling 3–4–3 in their last ten games, yet they're oddly compelling to watch: they’re tied for third in league scoring (this, despite the inability of some of its key players to put the puck in the net) and they’re by far and away the......

The Toronto Argonauts can turn this Sunday’s Eastern Final into the perfect kickoff for the upcoming Grey Cup festival. If the Argos beat the Winnipeg Blue Bombers to reach the championship game, it'll give a huge boost to the week-long party, also known as “Canada’s national drunk.” Brad Watters, general manager of this year's Grey Cup, says that the team winning the 95th Grey Cup at home "would really turn the town on its......

Just over an hour ago, the TTC concluded its meeting to discuss and vote on measures to deal with its budget shortfall. Based in part on the results of its survey––which, in spite of widespread distribution, received only 17,000 responses––the Commission members voted unanimously in favour of raising fares over cutting service. With the exception of the new jump in Metropass prices, the cost increases per fare are relatively modest and around what most were......

Some biggish news announced this week in regards to two of this city's major theatres: Passe Muraille and CanStage (oh, I'm sorry, I mean "The Canadian Stage Company"—more on that later). Let's start with Passe Muraille, the plucky underdog. Probably the biggest morceau is that they're kicking off their 40th season with a remount of Michael Healey's ridiculously successful The Drawer Boy. If you missed all the (admittedly numerous) previous opportunities to see this which......

Those fans who are lucky enough to be attending the first two Raptors playoff games will be happy to learn that the team is giving away red T-shirts for fans to wear during the game. The official shirts will supposedly read "Let’s Go Red. Let’s Go Raptors." However, a few entrepreneurial fans think that they have a better idea for a T-shirt. These FUVC shirts are just one example of the anti-Vince Carter sentiment that......

It was one of the wildest final weekends in NHL history. The Toronto Maple Leafs delivered a knockout blow to the Montreal Canadiens in one of the most electric matches in recent memory, only to have the New York Islanders break our hearts and take the final playoff spot in a shootout against the New Jersey Devils the following day. The Stanley Cup Playoffs begin tonight, but for the second consecutive year, the Leafs won't......

With their 4-1 loss to the defending Stanley Cup champion Carolina Hurricanes Tuesday night, the Toronto Maple Leafs slipped back to a .500 record (19-19-6) yet again, and now sit tied for ninth place in the Eastern Conference, fighting for their playoff lives after having played more than half of their games this season. They're missing a hospital ward full of regular players due to injury (Mike Peca, Alexei Ponikarovsky, Ian White, Kyle Wellwood, Darcy......

Nope, Torontoist isn't referring to the classic movie series. With Halloween just around the corner, it's a different goalie mask creating this sequence of horrors. Although it may be Friday the 27th, the number 13 represents the total amount of goals Toronto Maple Leaf netminders - mainly Andrew Raycroft - have allowed to Ottawa Senator shooters this week. Even by factoring in his day off in between, Raycroft's goals against average over those 3 days......

Frank'z Finest Hot Dog Palace (335A Yonge St.) opened up back in May to lackluster reviews. Most reviewers found the hot dogs to be of no higher quality than the average cart vendor's, and similar quality complaints were made about the chili, french fries, and hot dog buns. Worst, the prices were higher than a vendor's, so on top of the mediocre quality. One of those reviews was mine. I disagreed about the chili,......

Inquests have been ordered on the death of two patients in the care of Toronto mental health institutes. There are suspicions that these patients were neglected. Under the coroner's act, inquests aren't mandatory in the case of deaths under psychiatric care. These incidents might change that. The city's 25th homicide victim may have been killed by an angry ex-girlfriend. A 19-year old woman turned herself in near Danforth and Eglinton. There are others involved in......

By merely parting with a fifth-round draft pick, John Ferguson Jr. made a strong statement today that his team is for real. The Maple Leafs General Manager acquired veteran defenseman Luke Richardson in a trade with the Columbus Blue Jackets this afternoon. Turning thirty-seven later this month, Richardson is expected to add his speed and youthful enthusiasm to a tired Leafs defense. For those of you who aren't familiar with the rugged blue liner, that......

Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment abandoned common protocol Thursday afternoon, firing the Raptors underachieving General Manager, Rob Babcock. Come to think of it, it's only common protocol when dealing with the hockey side of the business. Raptors officials are hired and fired like one-night stands. Prior to joining the team in 2004, Babcock certainly couldn't have envisioned the next eighteen months being any more devastating. He had been a controversy from day one, when Vince......

For the third year in a row, the Toronto Babcocks drafted a power forward. Did we say 'Babcocks'? Excuse the error, we meant Raptors. It's just when General Manager Rob Babcock seems so hell-bent on putting his stamp on the team, it's hard to not to think of his all-toughness all-the-time attitude toward the team. And Babcock's first round draft pick at the 2005 NBA Draft, seventh overall UConn forward Charlie Villanueva, is no different.......

Billy Koch is rather upset with the Toronto Blue Jays organization these days. After being released two-weeks ago, Koch is struggling to rationalize the teams quick decision. Well this struggle has seemingly led to anger. The Toronto Sun is reporting a meeting with Koch in which he took a bite out of his former team. Koch claims it was reportedly his lax work ethic causing his recent release. He then asks how a team could......

There's cause for celebration tonight: As you read this, the NBA is approving a proposed trade between the Toronto Raptors and the New Jersey Nets that would see the Vince Carter in a different uniform. A Raptor team that has struggled on and off the court this year is having it’s biggest tumor removed as General Manager Rob Babcock worked out a deal that will finally send Vinsanity packing. Raptor fans have consoled themselves with......

"It’s a sad day but life goes on," said Carlos Delgado today as the Blue Jays decided NOT to retain his services for 2005. Rogers Communications and penny-pinching General Manager JP Ricciardi neglected to exercise the option to offer salary arbitration to their high priced superstar. In doing so, the organization all but guarenteed a losing season for 2005. Not to say that eliminating $19-million from your budget is penny-pinching, but Ricciardi’s insistence on this......

Bramptonite and ex-NHLer forward Mike Danton was sentenced yesterday to a seven and a half year prison sentence for a bizarre murder-for-hire plot in East St. Louis. And by the by, the word 'bizarre' is not our word, but a term used by U.S. District Judge William Stiehl, when he said, "I do not believe in over 18 years on the bench I have been faced with a case as bizarre as this one." The......