Whether or not his new movie, “She’s Out of My League,” is any good, this week’s Canadian of the Week honors go to Jay Baruchel.

The Ottawa native who grew up in Canada gets the chance to head up his own comedy after a few rounds of playing in the supporting cast in recent hits like “Knocked Up,” “Tropic Thunder” and “Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist.” He starred in the short-lived Judd Apatow TV comedy “Undeclared.”

Baruchel is a proud Canadian who has a tattoo of a red maple leaf on his chest. It was featured in “Knocked Up,” in which he played the friend of a Vancouver native who was living in the U.S. illegally.

The trailer (below) for “She’s Out of My League” looks like it follows the general recent rom-com trend. It has the look and feel of an Apatow film, but Apatow is nowhere to be found in the credits.

In the movie, Baruchel plays a shlubby airport security guy who finds a beautiful girl’s cell phone and she goes out with him to thank him. His friends can’t believe it and comedy ensues.

I’m reserving judgment until hearing more and seeing what the buzz is like, but it sounds like a fun weekend comedy.

Check out the trailer and see what you think. And good luck, Jay!

Pretty soon if you’re paying with plastic, you won’t necessarily be using a credit card.

The Bank of Canada announced recently that it will be issuing plastic currency, following a model that has worked in Australia, according to the CBC. The new bills are still fairly paper-like, but they’re made with plastic fibers that allow the bills to last longer and make them harder to counterfeit.

Sounds like a pretty good idea, and just another example of Canada’s foresight in North America when comes to currency. One-dollar and two-dollar coins (loonies and twonies, as they’re known), are fantastic when you’re feeding the parking meter or using a vending machine. It’s ridiculous that we haven’t successfully introduced such coins into U.S. currency.

And that ends my currency rant.

By Gordon Holmes
Special to Canadian of the Week

From Alberta’s Hart Family to Quebec’s Rougeau Brothers to Ontario’s Edge and Christian, the tradition of Canadian wrestling is full of larger-than-life personalities and unforgettable matches. Join us every week as we count down to Wrestlemania XXVI by taking a look at the Great White North’s finest contributions to the squared circle.

Editor’s Note: The “Modern Era” is defined as the period of wrestling that exists from
SummerSlam 1988 to the present day. Why 1988? Because that’s when I started watching wrestling. I know, I’m lame.

Previous picks:
10. Andrew “Test” Martin
9. John “Earthquake” Tenta
8. Lance Storm
7. Christian
6. Chris Benoit
5: Trish Stratus

4: Owen Hart
Height: 5’10”
Weight: 227 lbs.
Hometown: Calgary, Alberta
Greatest Match: Owen Hart vs. Bret Hart – Wrestlemania X

If this list was about the most beloved Canadian wrestlers of the modern era, you’d have had to wait three more weeks for the Owen Hart article.

Sure, some will say that people view Owen with rose-colored glasses since his unfortunate accident in May 1999, but I’d disagree. In a business fraught with con men, carnies, and creeps (how’s that for alliteration) you never really heard a bad thing about Owen Hart.

Maybe it was his legendary sense of humor. Seriously, if the WWE released a three-DVD set of former superstars telling Owen prank stories, I’d buy it in a second.

Maybe it was because he was a family man. In his book “Have a Nice Day,” Mick Foley tells stories about how Owen rarely went out after shows so he could save money. Apparently the only reason Owen wrestled was to make enough money so his family could live comfortably. Owen’s goal wasn’t championships or magazine covers, it was early retirement so he could spend his days with his kids in Calgary.

In fact, if the pay at the fire station had been equal to that of a WWE superstar, Owen would have rather done that and stayed home.

But alas, this list is more based on a person’s in-ring work, microphone skills, and overall influence than it is on their behind-the-scenes attitude.

As luck would have it, Owen excelled in all of those areas too.

In-Ring Work: Anyone who’s ever seen Owen’s matches with his brother Bret Hart, his brother-in-law Davey Boy Smith, or his family’s natural enemy Shawn Michaels will attest that Owen was in the upper echelon of workers in the ’90s. Tippity top on the list of Owen’s best matches would have to be his Wrestlemania X classic with Bret and his European Title tournament final against Davey Boy. Both matches are excellent examples of flow and storytelling without having to lean on gimmicks or weapons.

Microphone Skills: Owen may be responsible for one of the most memorable slip ups in interview history with his classic “Kick your leg out of your leg” miscue from the ‘94 Royal Rumble, but other than that he was usually very solid. Both Bret and Owen had to walk a very fine line in their feud so as not to make Owen look sympathetic to his more successful brother, but they both pulled it off perfectly. And then there were the Slammy Awards…

Championships come and go, but once you win a prestigious Slammy Award they can never take it away from you. When Owen claimed his second award (I say claimed, he didn’t technically win it, he just took it) the bragging speech that followed was pure gold.

Overall Influence: Owen very well could have been the prototype for the geeky heel characters that were later perfected by Edge and Christian. You could even make the argument that the Blue Blazer persona that Owen was developing before his tragic accident (“I always take my vitamins, say my prayers, and drink my milk!”) was a big influence on Shane Helms’s Hurricane gimmick and Kurt Angle’s World’s Toughest Nerd character.

More important than that is Owen’s influence on North American wrestling. Owen helped usher in a style that was more focused on technical wrestling and highspots after the steroid trials forced out the muscle-bound brawlers of the ’80s. In fact, Owen helped pave the way for such smaller, Japanese Junior-inspired wrestlers such as Chris Jericho, Chris Benoit, and Eddie Guerrero.

Not bad for a guy that would have rather have been a fireman.

Now, normally I put my pithy ending at the end of these posts and call it a day, but writing this has made me realize how much I truly miss Owen Hart. If you were a fan back in 1999, do yourself a favor and dig up the clip of Vader trying to keep a straight face after Owen knocked a waiter onto him at the 1997 Slammys. If you weren’t a fan back then, break out a copy of Wrestlemania X and discover for yourself what the fuss over Owen Hart was all about.

Gordon Holmes is the wrestling correspondent for Comcast.net’s SlamCast wrestling coverage and the “Survivor” correspondent for Fancast.com. He was also trained to take a beating by WWE Hall of Famer Afa “The Wild Samoan” Anoa’i. You can follow Gordon on Twitter at twitter.com/gordonholmes.

As American politicians fumble around in an effort to bring health care to those who don’t have it, Canada’s system is being looked upon as an example.

Depending on which side of the issue you stand, the example varies from positive to negative, but the fact that remains that Canada’s unversial health care system, impefections or not, speaks volumes for its citizens’ willingness to care for one another.

This week’s Heritage Minute takes us back to 1937 and the small village of Myrnam, Alberta, where a young girl couldn’t be saved because the three beds in the local “service station” that acted as a hospital were all full. This led to an agreement within the town for its people to build and maintain a hospital that would be open to everyone.

Robert Baldwin would later convince LaFontaine to take public office in Toronto, planting the seed for French-British cooperation that carries on to this day — despite some hiccups along the way.

“Canada’s existence owes much to the partnership of two moderate reformers: Louis Hippolyte LaFontaine and Robert Baldwin,” Historica Dominion writes. “By the end of the 1840s, Baldwin and LaFontaine had succeeded in convincing the British government that legislative power should rest in the hands of the elected assembly of the colony. Moreover, their historical compromise showed that French and English Canadians could work together to solve their political problems.”

Modest contributions poured in and people gave all they could afford, Historica writes. “Others volunteered to work for free. At the end of the meeting, the community had $8000, enough to begin building the hospital.

“On July 28, 1938 the hospital was completed. Four years later, the community decided to provide all medical services, except hospitalization, for free, Hospitalization cost $2.00/day.”

Myrnam is one of the handful of local versions of community supported health care that eventually created Canada’s Medicare system in 1966.

Heritage Minutes are 60-second short films that are shown in between some TV shows in Canada — and they’re amazing. We’re planning to bring you a “Heritage Minute” every Thursday on COTW.

Enjoy.

Apolo Anton Ohno, who broke the U.S. Olympic record for Winter Olympic medals in Vancouver last month and won a little TV dance competition called “Dancing With the Stars” in 2007 apparently doesn’t think much of Canadian Pam Anderson’s chances on the upcoming season of the show.

Talking to Jay Leno on “The Tonight Show,” Ohno was asked to handicap the season.

“Between, what is it, Pam Anderson and Evan Lysacek?” Ohno told Leno, according to People.com. “Pam Anderson, she’s a little top-heavy. I think Evan is going to do very well. Plus, he’s an Olympic medalist!”

Photo: Kevin Aranibar

He reportedly was spotted driving Sean Kingston’s Ferrari around Miami in February, and tells People.com that his friend Diddy promised to get him a Lamborghini for his big 16th.

“But we all know Diddy’s not gonna give me his Lamborghini,” Justin told the magazine’s site. “He’s all talk.”

Yeah, that Diddy.

Justin’s looking for something a little more environmentally conscious, though.

“I think I want a Range Rover,” he tells People.

After having hosted two Olympic Games (the Summer version in Montreal in 1976, and the Winter Games in Calgary in 1988), Canadians had enough. They set out to make their mark on their home soil when the Winter Games came to Vancouver. They took the surprising, unprescedented, and — some thought — unnecessarily obnoxious step of starting a movement to “Own the Podium.”

There was a bit of disappointment when women’s skiing sensation Jenn Heil came away with a silver in the earliest days of the Games, but she promised Canada’s long-awaited gold medal on home soil would come.

Boy, did it ever, eh?

Alexandre Bilodeau kicked things off with a gold in the men’s moguls, and it was a full-fleged gold rush after that. Not content with just the one gold on home soil, Canada’s Olympians came through with 14 of them, setting a record for the most gold medals in any Winter Olympic Games.

It was made that much sweeter on Sunday night, when the gold medal run was capped by Canada’s victory over the United States in men’s hockey, avenging a loss earlier in the tournament with an overtime goal from Sidney Crosby. The win became the most watched television event in Canada’s history, with half of the country’s population watching the entire game, and 80 percent of the nation watching at least a part of it.

All told, Canada came in third in the overall medal count, behind the Americans and Germans. But Canada’s 14 golds topped Germany’s 10 by a wide margin, and the U.S. and Norway followed with nine each.

It only makes sense that as the Olympic flame is extinguished these historic
Winter Olympics in Vancouver should be commemorated by naming the entire Canadian Olympic contingent — specifically its gold medal winners — our Canadian of the Week.

Here’s a list of the gold-medal winners:

Alexandre Bilodeau: Freestyle Skiing, Men’s Moguls

Maelle Ricker: Ladies’ Snowboard Cross

Christine Nesbitt: Ladies’ 1000m Speed Skating

Jon Montgomery: Men’s Skeleton

Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir: Ice Dancing

Ashleigh McIvor: Freestyle Skiing, Ladies’ Ski Cross

Kaillie Humphries and Heather Moyse, Women’s Bobsled

Women’s Ice Hockey Team

Charles Hamelin: Men’s 500m Short Track Speed Skating

Men’s 5000m Short Track Speed Skating Men’s Relay — Charles Hamelin, Francois Hamelin, Olivier Jean, Francois-Louis Trembelay

Speed Skating: Men’s Team Pursuit — Mathieu Giroux, Lucas Makowsky, and Denny Morrison

Jasey Jay Anderson: Snowboard, Men’s Parallel Giant Slalom

Men’s Curling Team

Men’s Ice Hockey Team

Hot on the heels of the 2010 Winter Olympics, where curling once again captured our imaginations, even if some of weren’t entirely clear on what was going on, a bunch of nude and semi-nude female curlers are being included in a calendar intended to raise money for the athletes.

While the 36-month calendar is filled with photos of nice-looking ladies, the big question on everyone’s mind seems to be whether 44-year-old Cheryl Bernard of the Canadian Olympic Team will be featured.

There was a rumor that an unidentified woman on the cover of a previous version (her back is to the camera) was Bernard, but Bernard has reportedly denied it’s her, and she now tells People.com that she won’t be stripping for the camera anytime soon.

“I think it’s okay for women to pose if they want to, but it’s not my thing,” she tells the site. “But it is nice to be recognized for what you do in your sport and for our fitness level, but I don’t pay attention to the other stuff.”

She went on to say that posing nude is “not … necessary in my life. It’s not on my Bucket List.”

By Gordon Holmes
Special to Canadian of the Week

From Alberta’s Hart Family to Quebec’s Rougeau Brothers to Ontario’s Edge and Christian, the tradition of Canadian wrestling is full of larger-than-life personalities and unforgettable matches. Join us every week as we count down to Wrestlemania XXVI by taking a look at the Great White North’s finest contributions to the squared circle.

Editor’s Note: The “Modern Era” is defined as the period of wrestling that exists from
SummerSlam 1988 to the present day. Why 1988? Because that’s when I started watching wrestling. I know, I’m lame.

Previous picks:
10. Andrew “Test” Martin
9. John “Earthquake” Tenta
8. Lance Storm
7. Christian
6. Chris Benoit

5: Trish Stratus
Height: 5’4”
Weight: 125 lbs.
Hometown: Toronto, Ontario
Greatest Match: Stratus vs. Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley – No Way Out 2001

If this were a ranking of the top women wrestlers of the modern era, Trish Stratus would be a no-brainer pick for the top spot.

Of the handful of women who have been legitimate draws in the past few decades, none of them have combined the superstar look, promo-cutting ability, and in-ring talent into one package the way Trish Stratus has. Sable had a million-dollar look but couldn’t talk or work. Lita could throw an impressive highspot or three when she needed to, but couldn’t cut a promo to save her life. And Chyna…well…I never quite got the appeal of Chyna…maybe the less said about her the better.

So, if Trish is the undeniable best female wrestler of the past twenty years, I think it’s fair to say she’s the Hulk Hogan, Steve Austin, or Rock of women wrestlers.

But how do you rank a woman wrestler against male wrestlers?

Sure, the in-ring and microphone basics are the same, but from a business standpoint, the pressure and drawing ability of a female wrestler isn’t as great as that of a male wrestler. Not to open up a sexual politics debate, but from a money-making standpoint the Women’s Champion isn’t as important to the company as the male World Champion. The Women’s Champion rarely main events shows and is rarely given enough time to put on a classic match.

I’m not saying that’s the way it should be, I’m saying that’s the way it is.

Comparing Hulk Hogan, Steve Austin, and The Rock to Trish Stratus isn’t exactly fair. It’s like comparing apples to super hot oranges.

So here sits Trish, arguably the greatest female wrestler of all time sitting at the number five spot on a list of the best Canadian wrestlers of the modern era.

Is it fair? Probably not. Is that the way I’m going to leave it? Yes.

That being said, Trish deserves credit for much more than her wrestling character and in-ring ability. She was The Miz before The Miz was The Miz.

Wait, what?

Basically The Miz and Trish got their jobs based on something other than their wrestling-based talents. The Miz was a minor celebrity from his appearance on MTV’s “The Real World.” Trish was hired because she was a nuclear-hot fitness model.

Both could have coasted for a while and enjoyed some success without ever improving. We’ve seen it before. Yes, I’m looking at you, Maven.

However, neither was content to rest on their laurels. Both worked to improve all facets of the craft. And now, The Miz walks around with three championship belts and Trish Stratus is considered to be the best female wrestler of all time (or a close second to the Fabulous Moolah.)

So, why didn’t Trish follow the standard eye candy route that The Kat and Terri Runnels paved for her? Because she’s a wrestler.

While Diva Search contestants were signing with the WWE because it was a paycheck that kept them out of strip clubs, Trish signed because she was a wrestler.

And by wrestler, I mean someone who when they enter the ring and are about to do something violent doesn’t think “Gee, I hope this doesn’t hurt too bad.”

They think, “This better look awesome.”

It may sound simple, but it’s not a mindset many outside the business have.

As someone with a wrestling background, I’ve been asked several times why I’d allow myself to be smacked with a steel chair or thrown through a table. The answer is simple; the mental pain of something looking terrible is way worse than the physical pain of something that looked awesome.

I’m not special. I’d say 95 percent of wrestlers have this same attitude.

Trish Stratus is a perfect example of this. She’s missing a knuckle from a match with Victoria (now Tara). She never had it repaired because it looks cool and she likes to tell the story. When given the choice of experiencing a hand taser or a shooting taser on the dreadful reality show “Armed and Famous” she chose the more painful shooting taser because it’d look better.

And that’s just one facet of what Trish brought to the table.

In fact, I’d go so far as to say if Vince McMahon were allowed to head into a lab and create the perfect Diva; she’d have the looks of Trish Stratus, the attitude of Trish Stratus, and the work rate of Trish Stratus.

The only thing I’d change? The catchphrase: “Stratusfaction.” I’ve always kinda hated that.

Gordon Holmes is the wrestling correspondent for Comcast.net’s SlamCast wrestling coverage and the “Survivor” correspondent for Fancast.com. He was also trained to take a beating by WWE Hall of Famer Afa “The Wild Samoan” Anoa’i. You can follow Gordon on Twitter at twitter.com/gordonholmes.

The spirit of Canadian unity is in the air as the 2010 Winter Olympics come down the home stretch, and nowhere is it more evident than in the apparent closeness and acceptance of French-Canadian athletes, including skier Alexandre Bilodeau, who won the nation’s first gold medal on home soil, and figure skater Joannie Rochette, who captivated the world with her brave performance Tuesday night just two days after her mother’s sudden death.

But much of Canada’s union is credited to a couple of politicians from the mid 1800s: Louis Hippolyte LaFontaine and Robert Baldwin.

This week’s Heritage Minute whisks us back to 1841, when LaFontaine preached a message of non-violence even when his French-Canadians supporters were blocked from the voting polls and deterred from casting their ballots for him in his run for political office. He lost the election, but his message endured.

Robert Baldwin would later convince LaFontaine to take public office in Toronto, planting the seed for French-British cooperation that carries on to this day — despite some hiccups along the way.

“Canada’s existence owes much to the partnership of two moderate reformers: Louis Hippolyte LaFontaine and Robert Baldwin,” Historica Dominion writes. “By the end of the 1840s, Baldwin and LaFontaine had succeeded in convincing the British government that legislative power should rest in the hands of the elected assembly of the colony. Moreover, their historical compromise showed that French and English Canadians could work together to solve their political problems.”

This week’s Heritage Minute covers quite a bit of ground, starting with the 1841 election in which LaFontaine kept his supporters from responding to violence with more violence, and ending with a historic union between LaFontaine and Baldwin that many believe set the unified nation on its course for the future.

Heritage Minutes are 60-second short films that are shown in between some TV shows in Canada — and they’re amazing. We’re planning to bring you a “Heritage Minute” every Thursday on COTW.

Enjoy.