Toronto Legends

Scarborough rap superstar Choclair talks about coming up together with Jully Black, Kardinal Offishall and Saukrates, morphing from ‘Junior’ to ‘Choclair’ [and how he got that name], literally getting called out of the classroom to rep his high school in rap battles, his appreciation for MuchMusic’s Michael Williams & Master T, the bump from the Little X-directed ‘Let’s Ride’ video, using paper-sc...

Financial Literacy Expert & Consumer Advocate Ellen Roseman talks about being BLOCKED by Suze Orman and Dave Ramsey, her Montreal roots, moving from covering Women’s Wear to Business at Maclean-Hunter, going from The Toronto Star to The Globe & Mail [and back to The Star], her initial feedback to David Chilton’s draft for The Wealthy Barber [“Where’s the beef?? You are no John Le Carre!”], intervi...

1992 Barcelona Olympics 110m Gold Medal hurdler Mark McKoy talks about being a gum-chewing Mr. International, why he still [after 30+ years] gets goosebumps watching his Gold Medal-winning run, where he keeps his Olympic Gold medal, his admiration for ‘exquisite’ hurdler [and eventual roomate] Ronaldo Nehemiah, devastatingly being prevented from attending the boycotted 1980 Olympics in Moscow, mis...

Comedy writer Darrell Vickers talks about being Head Writer for The Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson, how after being hired he did not actually talk to Johnny again for two and a half years [!!], moving freely past Ed McMahon’s bodyguard, working with guest hosts Garry Shandling/Jay Leno/Billy Crystal/Bill Cosby/Chevy Chase, why Johnny wishes his 2nd last show [Robin Williams, Bette Milder] had...

Ex-NHL Player and Coach of the Year Ted Nolan talks about starting from a small house of 12 without electricity nor plumbing in Garden River First Nation [“leaving for Kenora was like going to Disneyland”], learning he was drafted by Detroit Red Wings on the radio [“I was worried it was a military draft”], watching & learning from teammates Wayne Gretzky/Pete Mahovlich/Stevie Y/Mario Lemieux/Hanso...

Former MuchMusic & Entertainment Tonight Canada host Rick Campanelli talks about morphing from ‘Rick the Temp’ into ‘Rick the Franchise,’ how his father unplugging the house phone almost prevented his MuchTemp contest win, meeting both an AMAZING and a HORRIBLE celebrity within the same band interview [spoiler: involves Aerosmith], the endless sea of people at Woodstock ’99, going from 2 suits at...

The Carnegie Initiative’s Bernice Carnegie shares stories about her father Herb Carnegie, widely regarded as the best Black hockey player to never play in the National Hockey League: ·       The Black Aces Line: Herbie Carnegie, Ossie Carnegie & Manny McIntyre ·       Maple Leafs owner Conn Smythe offering $10,000 to anyone who could “turn Herb Carnegie white” ·       Paving the way for Willie O’R...

GZERO Media Publisher Evan Solomon talks about packing up & moving to The Big Apple/NYC, leaving his comfort zone to seek out ‘pleasurable discomfort,’ asking his holiness the Dalai Lama the most sensitive of life’s questions, how he tried with a combative interviewee to “Tai Chi-it but ended up getting rolled,” GZERO trying to see around the political corner to build non-partisan bridges between...

Legendary CityNews Anchor Gord Martineau talks about leaving the desk after 39 years, knowing at 14 what he wanted to do with his life, recognizing John [JD] Roberts was destined for news anchor greatness, being mistaken by the PM for Keith Morrison, Moses Znaimer being a genius visionary, surprising meetups with George Harrison/Janet Jackson/Annie Lennox, giving real estate advice to Ted Rogers o...

Stanley Cup Champion/Ex-Maple Leaf Ric Nattress talks about winning the Stanley Cup in Calgary with Lanny McDonald and his ‘little brother’ Doug ‘Killer’ Gilmour, being part of the biggest blockbuster trade in Maple Leafs history [‘the Ric Nattress Trade...LOL’], why he’s proudly a Hamilton mama’s boy, getting drafted by the Habs while busy scarfing Forum hot dogs, being paired with Larry Robinson...

Won For All President Joe Jackman talks about being invited to Toronto Maple Leafs training camp and running into someone named 'The King' Borje Salming, great years at St Michael’s College playing TWO sports for the Buzzers, transitioning from an ‘NCAA D-1 athlete’ into a ‘corporate athlete,’ pro-actively working with CURRENT athletes on their transition plans rather than waiting until they retir...

Offside: The Harold Ballard Story executive producer Michael Geddes talks about working with Vancouverite/90210’s Jason Priestley, the ‘Ballard Curse’ being responsible for 56 seasons [and counting] without a Stanley Cup [and 19 seasons without winning a playoff round!], uncovering both urban legends [threatening to turn the womens’ McGill Club into a Playboy Club] and realities [direct fan access...

Restaurateur/Entrepreneur Chef Joe Friday talks about cooking for ‘Spicy P’ Pascal Siakam and hanging with Kobe Bryant, his awareness of the fictional Detective Joe Friday, his Okinawa/Japan upbringing and transition to North Carolina, applying his martial arts skills to wrestling dominance, why DISNEY is the world’s #1 Food & Beverage program if you want a broad education, why he has conquered AL...

LyricVids.com co-founder Anthony Craparotta explains the WHAT and the WHY about Lyric Videos, talks about the inspiration for his rap moniker ILLVIBE [from A Tribe Called Quest], opening for Kehlani and Chris Brown in Croatia, turning an audio artpiece into a visual digitally animated asset, the utility of lyric videos for both current and legacy artists, the challenges of interpreting lyrics when...

Sports Artist David Arrigo talks about his breakout projects for Wayne Gretzky, driving the California coast in a Corvette with Guy Fieri, going speechless in front of Bono as he perused his art portfolio, handling all the detailed minutiae from KISS ‘Manager Al’ [or was it actually Gene Simmons??], his infamous ‘Grinch’ goalie mask for Mike Smith, starting his career with an air-brushed jean jack...

NHL Superstar Bernie Nicholls talks about McDonalds visits with Wayne Gretzky, leadership lessons from Dionne/Messier/Chelios/McSorley/Baumgartner, going from playing hockey in a town of 75 to playing in a city of 10 million, hanging out with Dr Jerry Buss and the Showtime Lakers, golfing with John Candy, Tom Hanks reppin' his jersey on Saturday Night Live, scoring 150 points [!!!] in a single sea...

World-renowned concussion/brain/spinal injury Neurosurgeon Dr Charles Tator talks about being a lifelong ‘local yokel,’ his mother being the original ‘helicopter mother,’ the era when the Maple Leafs won Stanley Cups ALL the time, why the BRAIN [not the heart] is your soul, why we need to focus on the front end of the concussion problem [PREVENTION], the good that came from the Steve Montador trag...

Toronto radio personality turned Host of NPR’s World Cafe Raina Douris talks about interviewing Springsteen/Neil/Questlove/Shatner/Streisand, the career advantages of being a loudmouth and not asking for permission [as well as being annoying but not TOO annoying], her adventures exploring Philadelphia/attending Eagles games, working for an Ivy League institution, CBC vs NPR, Junos vs Polaris, why...

Maple Leafs/NHL veteran Kris Versteeg talks about winning TWO Stanley Cups in Chicago, sharing drinks with Vince Vaughn, rooming with fan lightning rod Phil Kessel while Leafs fans tossed Eggo waffles, attending his high school graduation instead of the NHL draft [and learning he got drafted lying in the grass at 6am], going from selling rollerblades at SportChek to the Western Conference playoffs...

Big brother Tom Farley talks about the ‘Farley Magnetism’ and shares stories about Dana Carvey & David Spade’s 5hr tribute podcast, Chris NOT auditioning for Saturday Night Live, his ‘ogre with a heart’ being the basis for Mike Myers’ Shrek character [which was the 3RD recording of that part!], why he did NOT end up being The Cable Guy [Jim Carrey did], confirms there is an ACTUAL Matt Foley [alth...

NHL veteran Robert Picard shares stories from the Forum [‘The Flower blew right past me first shift of my NHL career!’], Maple Leaf Gardens [‘it was a circus...ringleader: Mr Harold Ballard’], fighting his way through the ‘Q’ [‘John Wensink was a crazy guy’], getting drafted by teams in TWO different professional hockey leagues, being traded to Toronto for ‘The Popcorn Kid’ Mike Palmateer, on and...

Original MuchMusic VJ Christopher Ward checks in from ‘temperate’ Santa Monica to talk about being chosen AHEAD of Mike Myers for the Second City touring company, Mike’s iconic Wayne Campbell character making his TV debut on City Limits, kicking off the inaugural broadcast of The Nations’s Music Station at 6pm on Aug 31 1984 with current Fox News anchor John ‘JD’ Roberts, an inspirational Greyhoun...

White Ash Group Managing Partner Graydon Welbourn talks about building his cannabis industry recruitment/staffing agency, why he moved from Calgary to Toronto, how he recalibrated his North Star, always carrying business cards [even without an actual business], transferring his networking/people skills to recruitment, why Canada has an opportunity to be a global leader in cannabis ahead of the US,...

NHL/Toronto Maple Leafs veteran defenseman Todd Gill talks leaving home for hockey after grade 10, his first games as a Toronto Maple Leaf against Montreal [back to back at the Forum & the Gardens!], learning the ropes from The King Borje Salming, the magical playoff run of 1993 [THREE game 7s!], running into the buzzsaw known as ‘Wayne Gretzky with something to prove’ in that fateful conference f...

Veteran Professional Sports Executive Bob Nicholson shares stories from TWO Toronto Blue Jays championships, THREE Toronto Argonauts championships, transitioning the Montreal Expos to the Washington Nationals, bringing Doug Flutie & Ricky Ray over to the Argos, setting unprecedented pro sports attendance records, the challenge of selling baseball seats at Exhibition Stadium [some grandstand seats...