Toronto Legends

NHL veteran/St Louis Blues Legend Gino ‘The Tank’ Cavallini talks about having the body of a man at sixteen, scoring the NCAA championship-winning goal in 4th overtime for Bowling Green, his first roommate Lanny McDonald [“I WAS Lanny in road hockey”], Mama Cavallini’s favourite player rankings [#3 Gino Cavallini; #2 Paul Cavallini; #1 Wendel Clark], great memories of the 1986 & 1987 playoff battl...

Radio veteran/record label rep/bestselling hockey author Kevin Shea shares his music & sportswriting experiences with Borje Salming, the Parachute Club, Eddie Shack, Blue Rodeo, Matthew Barnaby, Weird Al, the Hockey Hall of Fame, Steven Tyler/Joe Perry, Slash, Honeymoon Suite & Don Henley...and in a worldwide exclusive he reveals his radio DJ on-air ‘nom de plume’ [spoiler: ‘Sky Kelly’]! TORONTO L...

Strategic Performance Optimizer/Strength & Conditioning Coach Matt Nichol talks about working with Mats Sundin in Stockholm & Toronto, his first boss Pat Quinn [somewhat surprisingly] being a health & fitness innovator, Gary Roberts making it easy to get the other Maple Leafs on board, the humility of Wayne Simmonds/Andre De Grasse/Joel Anthony/Jordan Binnington, doing the simple things SAVAGELY w...

Driftscape Co-Founder/COO Dan Pronovost talks about the single app platform being a combination encyclopedia + Pokemon Go for both residents & tourists, developing a discovery app that does NOT monetize eyeballs, why coding by itself is worth nothing, why you can’t afford ‘elegant coding,’ the entire company working remotely even pre-pandemic, measuring employees NOT by hours but by performance, t...

Co-Author of 'Hockey Moms: The Heart of the Game' Theresa Bailey shares some stories from Auston's and Connor’s mothers, talks about how even NHL moms never stop being mothers FIRST, how both the kids AND the parents are growing/learning at the SAME time, why no child really wants to hear from their parents, the epiphany experienced when her 7 year old got a single shift after driving 3hrs to a ga...

Founder/Frontman of The Box Jean-Marc Pisapia talks about being Men Without Hats keyboardist pre-Safety Dance [and meeting Ivan at German language class], the influence of spending a month in the Soviet Union as a teen, the origin of L’Affair Dumoutier, opening for The Spoons on their first tour, the confusion around Sass Jordan’s membership in the band, filming Closer Together in the Dominican Re...

Hockey Pro/CBD recovery entrepreneur Kevin Tansey talks about playing for the Herning Blue Fox in Denmark [handball over hockey!], eating all the fresh fish he can handle, changing the stigma around CBD use, educating about the topical application of CBD [no, your leg won’t get ‘high’!], turning a horrible incident into a business opportunity to use CBD as the substitute for painkillers in the loc...

Toronto Argonauts Former Co-Owner/K2 Pure Solutions Co-Founder David Cynamon talks about gaining the entrepreneurial spirit selling 50 cent foot longs [fully loaded!] at Edmonton Eskimos games, the business mentorship of his father [sweat the details] and his father-in-law [balancing Happiness=Reality/Expectations], why the 2004 Argos Grey Cup championship is etched in his memory, posits that Rick...

Dragons’ Den Entrepreneur & Nuba Tisane Co-Founder [with her mom Amal!] Gina El Kattan talks about moving from Egypt to Oakville, jumping right into Business studies at University of Toronto, the lockdown power of the Clubhouse social networking app, FINALLY listening to her Dad’s plea to audition for Dragons’ Den, what REALLY happens during DD taping [no do-overs!], working on her MBA at Duke Uni...

Chalk Circle’s lead singer & co-founder Chris Tait talks about getting grounded for playing ‘God Save The Queen,’ the band’s friendship with Blue Peter, breaking out with the support of CFNY & MuchMusic, touring with Rush/Crowded House/Tears for Fears, Geddy Lee convincing them to try playing wireless [spoiler: so much fun it was a fail!], Geddy restringing his bass for Brad Hopkins to play upside...

Toronto Life’s Editor-in-Chief Malcolm Johnston talks about managing the Toronto Life ‘brand,' coming up with the annual list of the 50 most influential Torontonians, serving as ‘an anchor for Toronto residents,’ digging deeply into Canada’s most famous cold case, his concern about the ‘war on journalists & journalism,’ being in awe of Andre De Grasse & Josh Donaldson, his respect for The New York...

2 x World Juniors Gold/’92 Olympics Silver/Toronto Maple Leaf Kent ‘Mandy’ Manderville talks about the magical ’93 playoffs run, Wendel & Dougie’s leadership on AND off the ice, sharing a taxi with Pat Burns after 2 big losses, the Notre Dame Hounds, Cornell University, how he learned he was the 24th overall draft pick in 1989, his unique roommates/landlord living in the Annex, winning double Gold...

WHA/NHL ‘Hot Line’ hockey star Anders Hedberg [the 'Swedish Express'] talks about Borje Salming, 3 Swedes [and a Finn!] representing 70% of this year’s Hockey Hall Of Fame induction class, why Ornskolsvik has produced so many hockey stars, transitioning from Sweden to Winnipeg and finding out he’d be playing with Bobby Hull, moving with Ulf Nilsson from Winnipeg/WHA to New York City/NHL, playing w...

Broadcast Journalist turned Podcaster Wendy Mesley talks about her partnership/friendship with Maureen Holloway, not being retired but rather ONLY being retired from the CBC, pivoting to podcasting, wanting to BE Barbara Frum, the slight quantitative discrepancy on her Ryerson transcript, and recognizing the importance of words! TORONTO LEGENDS is hosted by Andrew Applebaum. TORONTO LEGENDS is pow...

Blue Rodeo bassist Bazil Donovan talks about learning the ‘guitar boogie shuffle,’ growing up in the Junction, Tiny’s beeper leading to his first gig for $30, listening to/learning from/eventually opening for John Fogerty, cutting his teeth on the baptism/confirmation circuit, answering the famous ‘bassist wanted’ ad in NOW magazine, the bandname origin story transitioning from the The Hi-Fi's, pl...

Chef Rob Rainford talks about choosing between cooking and basketball camp, how the Food Network ‘changed everything,’ whether you should wash your chicken [spoiler: does more harm than good], shooting 18 hours of content for 22 minutes of a TV show, what the 'Rainford Method' encourages, how his skill set allows him to ‘hit for the cycle in cooking,’ his embrace of Tik Tok and Instagram, being Ro...

The Toronto Six’s homegrown hockey talent Saroya Tinker talks about being an EIGHT-sport high school athlete, living at Yale amongst ‘the Normies,’ playing in front of Ivy League crowds at ‘The Whale,’ her incredible mentors within the Toronto Six organization, a roadmap to consolidation for a single professional womens’ hockey league, her friendship with fellow Toronto ice hockey professional Way...

Glass Tiger frontman Alan Frew talks about the New Year’s Eve name changeover from ‘Tokyo’ to Glass Tiger [and how author George Plimpton inspired the new name], opening for Boy George & Culture Club, sharing urinals at the Grammy Awards with Roger Daltrey & Doc Severinson, how being last to the bus gave him his ‘Beatles’ moment in Saskatoon, confusion with Rod Stewart about who actually was the f...

Canadian Ambassador to the United Nations Bob Rae talks about his incredible career as a diplomat, lawyer and politician, Canada’s role as the 7th largest donor to the United Nations, shares an actual ‘day in the life’ of our Ambassador, the funny/not so funny shaving cream incident caused by Frank Zappa at U of T’s Convocation Hall, the emotional joy of taking the same job for PM Justin Trudeau a...

Writer & Journalist Ivy Knight talks about pivoting from 10 years in restaurant kitchens to writing, her realization that the pressure had turned her into a ‘dickless man’ and a ‘rage machine,’ the wonderful mentorship of James Chatto, her role in the documentary “The Heat: A Kitchen [R]evolution,” getting published in The New Yorker, enjoying her neighbourhood’s transition from 'Crackdale' to Par...

The Toronto Star’s City Columnist Edward Keenan talks about innocently attempting to walk behind the President’s desk in the Oval Office [spoiler: don’t do it!], Mayor Tory’s debate frequency strategy [down from 50 to 2!], how the upcoming municipal election is his Super Bowl, the Globe’s Marcus Gee as a ‘fond acquaintance,’ his South Riverdale days & Degrassi connections, morphing from an intern...

Lynx Equity Limited Co-founder and President Brad Nathan talks about ranking #478 of Canada’s largest 500 companies, hitting $650mm in revenue while shooting for $1B, his entrepreneurial start drilling peepholes [legally!], an absolutely horrible interaction with a cantankerous Tommy Lasorda, attempting to outsource his paper route to his father, transitioning his leisure time from combat sports t...

As Toronto Raptors Broadcaster Jack Armstrong enters his 25th season [Hellooooooo!], he talks about his MVP [Mom!!], growing up in Brooklyn NYC, Fordham U road trips driving the team van to fine dining establishments [White Castle!!], differentiating between broccoli and skittles, his love for fellow Toronto Legend Chuck Swirsky, Vince/Jack/Chuck all sharing their first NBA game together [with Pau...

Two-time Olympic Champion/three-time World Champion Sprinter Donovan Bailey talks about solo vs team gold medals at Atlanta in 1996, his better-late-than-never appointment to the Order of Canada, being drafted by the BC Lions, his thoughts 25 years after the 150m SkyDome race against Michael Johnson, the enduring legacies of announcers Geoff Gowan and Don Wittman, meeting Nelson Mandela and Muhamm...

Filmmaker & Marketing Executive Barry Avrich talks about RENT-A-FAN CLUB, getting stuck in an altercation between Jackie Mason & Jerry Stiller, why you need to treat ‘yelling’ as performance art, why his Bob Saget anecdote was far too filthy to share, whether we can expect an update to Unauthorized: The Harvey Weinstein Project, how Hollywood is the “only place you can die of encouragement,” his f...