SPORTS Episodes

Sprinter and 4x100m Relay Olympic Gold Medalist Robert Esmie talks about why if you're Canadian you have to love Saturday nights in Georgia, a breakdown of that immortal 4x100m relay to win gold at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, his 'forever bond' with Donovan Bailey/Bruny Surin/Glenroy Gilbert/Carlton Chambers/Don Wittman, his interactions with PM Jean Chretien/Gordie Howe/Wayne Gretzky/Ron MacLean/Pinball Clemons/Carl Lewis/Michael Johnson, why HE is actually faster out of the blocks than Ben John...

Three-time Olympic Medalist/Eight-time World Championship Medalist/Canadian Hockey icon Vicky Sunohara talks about jumping on the backyard rink at two years old, getting BANNED from the boys leagues due to gender, earning a scholarship to play at Northeastern University, donning PINK jerseys at the inaugural IIHF Women’s World Championships, her Olympic experiences at Nagano/Salt Lake City/Turin, returning to the University of Toronto to earn her degree and become the first full-time coach of th...

Canadian tennis legend Daniel Nestor talks about his 12 Grand Slam doubles titles, his coming out party as a 19 year old defeating world #1 Stefan Edberg at the 1992 Davis Cup, winning his 2000 Olympic Gold Medal with Sebastien Leroux at the Sydney Games, winning [and loving the atmosphere--one million pounds spent just on FLOWERS!] at Wimbledon, playing a Pro-Am tournament where he was the ‘Pro’ and The Great One Wayne Gretzky was the ‘Am,’ his interactions with David Beckham/Donovan Bailey/Car...

Television PxP voice of the Tampa Bay Lightning Dave Randorf talks about his time at TSN, Saturday nights at Hockey Night in Canada, finishing his 4th season calling Lightning games with Brian Engblom, heading to the arena in flip-flops & then being back in his swimming pool 30min after the game ends, catching up with the Hulkster while sunbathing on Clearwater Beach, Jon Cooper remembering him from Vancouver’s Sports Page, the amazing-ness of HHOFer Phil Esposito, and the PTSD he still suffers ...

Media Triple Threat/Author Bruce Dowbiggin talks about co-writing with his son Evan [he’s like a sports ‘Rain Man’], the imminent integration of fellow sports journalist Eric Duhatschek into his own family, shuttling between Calgary and the 'Winter White House' in Florida, why newspaper columnists used to be the ‘Princes of the Pressbox,’ his career-changing investigative journalism into disbarred lawyer/former head of hockey players' union/convicted felon Alan Eagleson, why he doesn’t trade hol...

Winnipeg Jets/NY Rangers Swedish superstar Ulf Nilsson talks about his jump to the WHA’s Winnipeg Jets in 1974, why The Golden Jet Bobby Hull was both such a great player AND a great teammate, why The Hot Line [Hedberg/Nilsson/Hull] SHOULD be enshrined in the Hockey Hall of Fame, winning faceoffs against Gordie Howe in Houston, the behind-the-scenes maneuvering [collusion? racketeering?] that saw him and Anders Hedberg jump to the NHL’s NY Rangers as free agents, the ‘Potvin Sucks’ legacy of his...

Toronto Maple Leafs legend Inge Hammarström connects from the South of France to talk about being discovered [with Borje Salming] by Leafs scout Gerry McNamara, leaving Sweden to join the Leafs lineup in 1973, their first practice at Maple Leaf Gardens in front of owner Harold Ballard [shooting on a 50 year old Johnny Bower!], Bobby Orr wishing them well while others were literally threatening to kill them on the ice [and taking slapshots at their unprotected calves from behind], great times wit...

Former Maple Leafs/Flyers tough hombre Jay Rosehill talks about his 13 year pro career, learning he was drafted by the Tampa Bay Lightning while exiting the shower, living away from home for the first time while playing for the University of Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs, his NHL debut being thwarted by Nikolai Khabibulin’s poor paperwork, memories of his 1st NHL paycheque/game/goal, being mentored by Colton Orr as a teammate but later having to chuck knuckles with him as an opponent, memorable expe...

Toronto Argonauts historian & author Paul Woods takes us back to 1991’s Year of the Rocket, with great stories revolving around Raghib 'Rocket' Ismail, Wayne Gretzky, John Candy, Bruce McNall, Adam Rita, Mark Rypien, Dan Aykroyd, Matt Dunigan, Ricky Foggie and Michael 'Pinball' Clemons...with bonus stories about the Foot Stomp, the Flying Beer Can, Ricky Williams, Doug Flutie, former team president Keith Pelley’s return as CEO of MLSE, whether Joe Montana could have been an Argo [!!], and why Mc...

Elite Hockey Stength & Conditioning Coach Sean Skahan talks about his son Will’s expectations at the upcoming NHL Entry Draft, his 19 years of NHL S&C coaching with the Anaheim Ducks and Minnesota Wild [as well as with the elite college hockey programs at U Minnesota/U North Dakota/Boston College/Boston U], meeting Cuba Gooding Jr and the Governator Arnold Schwarzenegger, the importance of getting Paul Kariya to buy into training as a team rather than as individuals, getting his name on the Stan...

Author Jon Finkel talks about his new biography on the Macho Man Randy Savage! He shares the transformation from Randy Poffo>>Randy Savage>>Macho Man, the influence of his wrestling father Angelo and brother Leapin’ Lanny, his real-life marriage [and divorce] with Miss Elizabeth, his up and down relationships with Hulk Hogan and Vince McMahon, the ongoing power of his Slim Jim meat stick endorsement, and visiting the site of Randy Savage's untimely death in Seminole, Florida.


MACHO MAN: THE U...

NHL sniper Chris Kontos talks about his crazy hot 1989 playoff scoring run for Gretzky’s LA Kings, scoring FOUR goals in Tampa Bay Lightning’s inaugural game in 1992, winning an Olympic Silver Medal for Canada at the 1994 Lillehammer games, meeting Sylvester Stallone at the Fabulous Forum, his man-crush on Ron Duguay, and his amazing international hockey experiences playing in Finland/Sweden/Italy/Germany/Switzerland!


For everything Chris Kontos, please go to https://www.chriskontos.com/
TORO...

Former Labatt Brewing Company President Don McDougall shares the story of the birth of our Toronto Blue Jays, co-starring Paul Godfrey, Paul Beeston, Peter Bavasi, Pat Gillick, Herb Solway, Ted Rogers, Howard Webster, Page Wadsworth, Sydney Cooper, Charles Bronfman, Neil MacCarl, Bob McCown, Ray Kroc, Sid Oland and featuring a cameo by Alan Eagleson!


TORONTO LEGENDS is hosted by Andrew Applebaum at andrew.applebaum@gmail.com
All episodes available at https://www.torontolegends.ca/episodes/


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Heritage Auction’s Consignment Director Jason Simonds shares the incredible story behind the discovery of the Holy Grail/White Whale/Loch Ness Monster/Bigfoot of hockey cards...a full case of 16 unopened/sealed boxes of 1979/1980 O Pee Chee NHL hockey cards, which may [or may not] contain an estimated 27 Wayne Gretzky rookie cards. The expected value when the auction process is completed is somewhere around $3 MILLION US dollars!!! And that doesn’t even take into account all those sticks of chew...

Journalist/Broadcaster/Author Damien Cox talks about starting out from The Toronto Star’s Scarborough bureau [the Toronto Zoo beat], co-hosting Prime Time Sports with the Bobcat Bob McCown [otherwise known as The Cutting Edge...with listeners!], his afternoon show on The FAN and subsequent books with Gord Stellick, his stint on Hockey Night in Canada during the Strombo Years, his thoughts on the major players [Darryl/Lanny/Borje/Inge/Captain Video/Palmy/Tiger/Harold] involved in his new book on ...

Frameworth Sports Marketing President Brian Ehrenworth talks about his transformational business pivot experienced on The Madison’s patio as a result of beer + hockey sticks + ’The Killer’ Doug Gilmour, signing Mike Weir two weeks before he won the 2003 Masters, his industry-changing autograph exclusivity deal signed with a 15 year old Sidney Crosby [originally only done to save his Mike Weir deal!], his development of the Wayne Gretzky fantasy camps [and hitching a ride on The Great One’s priva...

1000+ game NHL centreman Laurie Boschman talks about his 30 years working with Hockey Ministries International, getting the call [on a rotary phone!] from Harold Ballard that the Maple Leafs had drafted him 9th overall in 1979, checking into his hotel behind Andre the Giant and worrying that HE was attending the same training camp, the surreal experience of his first Maple Leafs’ training camp with Sittler/Salming/McDonald/Palmateer/Tiger Williams, as a rookie learning from ‘that old fossil’ Lea...

Former NHLer & two-time Stanley Cup champion Chris Dingman talks about the WHL bus rides during his 4 years playing Junior in Brandon MB, getting drafted 19th overall by the Calgary Flames, his first NHL game lining up against Stevie Y and the Red Wings, winning his first Cup with the Colorado Avalanche in 2001, winning his second Cup with the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2004, his interactions with Tortorella/Belak/Bourque/Bowman/St Louis/Forsberg/Patrick Roy/Andreychuk/Sakic/Lecavalier, his overseas...

Legendary NFL/CFL Kicker Mike Vanderjagt talks about whether he or Donovan Bailey ‘owns’ the Town of Oakville, his WVU college kicking debut [9yd punt in front of 76,000 fans televised on ESPN], his Arena Football League experience with the Minnesota Fighting Pike [actually a Walleye in the logo!], his back-2-back Grey Cup championships with the Flutie/Clemons Argonauts [and how he lost & recovered the actual Grey Cup!], his 9 NFL seasons finishing as the most accurate kicker in history, why you...

Author Dr Norm O’Reilly talks about why the NHL makes a fantastic business case study, transferring lessons learned from the ice to the boardroom, why love him or loathe him Gary Bettman is a strong 'in control' leader, the future of NHL expansion both domestically & globally, why the Arizona franchise experiment is unlikely to die, how the NHL successfully led all major sports leagues into the Las Vegas market, the star power achieved with the book’s foreward written by Gary Bettman and its aft...

Author Randi Druzin talks about her new book Behind the Mask: A Revealing Look at Twelve of the Greatest Goalies in Hockey History, sharing interesting stories about Mike 'The Popcorn Kid' Palmateer, Henrik Lundqvist, Carey Price, Grant Fuhr, Vladislav Tretiak, Marc-André Fleury, Roberto Luongo, Tony Esposito, Gerry Cheevers, Rogie Vachon, Ed Giacomin and Roger Crozier. She also concurs that the greatest piece of goaltender artwork is Ken Danby’s ‘At The Crease’!


For more on Randi, please vis...

CBC Sports ski analyst Brian Stemmle talks about his experiences representing Canada at FOUR Winter Olympic Games, choosing to follow his dream of becoming Steve Podborski instead of Darryl Sittler, his FIRST race also being Steve Podborski’s LAST race as the Crazy Canucks era came to an end, why he didn’t want the doctors to cut him out of his racing suit after his horrible 1989 crash at Kitzbuhel, very nearly losing his $20,000 winner’s cheque in temporarily lost luggage, his celebrity encount...

Toronto Argonauts Legend #31 Michael ‘Pinball’ Clemons flashes that megawatt smile and talks about the upcoming 7th Annual Christmas with the Clemons event at Roy Thompson Hall, why Doug Flutie was the BEST football player he ever played with, how he took on a mentoring role with Raghib ‘The Rocket’ Ismail, his connections to the Blue Jays through the Mayor of Dunedin [his hometown], his love for ‘The Giz’ Henry ‘Gizmo’ Williams, why his photo opp with the late NBAer 7’6” Manute Bol was subtitle...

YouTuber & Podcaster Dave Mendonca talks about the talented team he came up the ranks with at The Score Television Network [Sid Seixeiro, Tim Micallef, Adnan Virk, Simon Bennett, Greg Sansone, Elliotte Friedman, James Sharman, Cabbie Richards], asking Jerome 'JYD' Williams & Matt Devlin to write the forewards to his book on the Toronto Raptors, his possibly illegally recorded phone interview with Beyonce, seizing the day to force himself into the frame with Liv Tyler & Ed Norton during filming o...