I always enjoy going to Toronto Maple Leaf hockey games and make it a point to never leave the arena before the announcement of that evening’s Three Stars of the game.

A little research tells me that the tradition of choosing three stars for every professional hockey game began way back in the 1936 \ 1937 National Hockey League season. The principal radio sponsor for NHL games, Imperial Oil, wanted to promote its new “Three Star” brand of gasoline. This sponsorship of hockey by Imperial Oil (ESSO) and the Three Star tradition continued until 1976 when it was taken over by other sponsors.

In 1944, Maurice “The Rocket” Richard scored all 5 goals leading his team to a 5 – 1 victory and was awarded all 3 stars. In 1999, Wayne Gretsky received all 3 stars for his final game in Canada one night and all three stars again the next night for his final game in the USA.

My mother, a devoted Tuesday night Toronto Symphony Orchestra subscriber, used to give me her 3 star selection from some of the concerts. “3^rd Star: the cello section: wonderful ensemble and lovely sound in the Tchaikovsky. 2^nd Star: the English horn player: his solo in the overture gave me a major goose-bump! 1^st Star: the incredibly handsome guest conductor. When he came on stage, you could hear a loud gasp from every woman (and some men) in Massey Hall.”

Well, after photographing hundreds of winter buds from trees, shrubs and vines starting back on January 1, 2016 for my “Bud of the Day” series, here are my 3 Stars.

3^rd Star: for beauty of shape and colour: the Sycamore \ Plane tree

2^nd Star: for gorgeous colour and texture: the Filbert tree

1^st Star: for originality, visual impact and the almost human appearance: the Butternut tree

Miles Hearn