The Sports Fan Project

As I explored a travel partner for the 30-hour jaunt to Toronto for both a visit to the Hockey Hall of Fame (Event No. 27) and an NHL Opening Night Original Six Matchup between storied rivals the Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal Canadiens, I wanted to ensure it would be someone who would appreciate the history of both the Hall and the Leafs-Canadiens game.

Hands down, my first choice was Paul, my long-ago work colleague at the Ypsilanti Press. I’m unsure why, but this metro-Detroit native – who now resides in Birmingham, AL – lives and dies with the Maple Leafs every season. He and I traded a series of texts but some recent unforeseen expenditures precluded him from traveling north. Which turned out to probably be a good thing because he encountered a medical issue the day before we would have departed.

I next turned to Jim, one of my first co-workers as as middle school teacher. Jim retired in June and we’ve discussed going to a game together. Why not an international one, I figured! Sadly, the game conflicted with both Homecoming Week for his youngest child as well as his anniversary.

That led me to another Jim whose son, Andrew, and my son, Jake, have been best buddies since kindergarten. A lifelong Detroiter, Jim knows his sports and sports history. Plus, as a bonus, he’s a Teamster (he drives for Tri-County Beverage) and it never hurts to have a Teamster with you, right?

Jim was in! And, as a happy bonus, the professional driver even volunteered to drive!

With the the Hall of Fame visit in our rearview mirror all that was left was to make our way to Toronto’s Scotiabank Arena … or not.

But First … Detroit Tigers’ Baseball

You can take this pair of Detroiters out of Detroit but you can’t take Detroit fandom out of this pair of Detroiters.

Game 4 of the American League Divisional Series between the Tigers and Seattle Mariners was scheduled to begin shortly after 3 p.m. With Seattle leading the series, 2-1, seeing as much of this potential season-ending game was a priority for us two Tigers’ fans.

As might be expected from someone who chauffeurs cases and kegs of beer around the metro-Detroit area, Jim had identified a brewery/restaurant nearby for just such an occasion. Fittingly, the place was named Beertown.

We told the hostess straightaway what our intentions were: An early dinner, a few beverages, and watching Tigers’ baseball. We all agreed the bar would be the best spot for the only two Tigers’ fans in the place (The Blue Jays and New York Yankees played their Game 4 that night).

So we settled in and watched Seattle administer what seemed like hundreds of paper cuts en route to a 3-0 lead heading into the bottom of the fifth and were probably three outs away from asking for our bill, settling up, heading over to the arena, and leaving the Tigers to their own devices.

Then the bottom half of the Detroit’s batting order produced a 3-spot in the home half of the fifth and we were suddenly ordering another round.

Four more Tigers’ runs followed in the bottom of the sixth and – as we nursed our beverages through another inning – Detroit scored another in the seventh. We asked for the bill and watched Detroit rookie pitcher Troy Melton face the minimum again in the eighth. We caught a Tigers’ add-on run in the bottom of the eighth as we headed for the exit, feeling pretty secure in how it was going to end.

Detroit eventually won, 9-3, to force a deciding fifth game in Seattle two nights later.

My Third-ever Opener

As I’ve documented pretty much ad nauseam, I’ve been a sports fan for well over 50 years.

However, during those 50 odd years, prior to attending this Leafs-Canadiens game I’d been to exactly two openers as a fan:

• Detroit Tigers vs. Cleveland Indians, April 8, 1985 – I peered through intermittent snowflakes from the centerfield bleachers on this blustery 40-degree first pitch to watch the Tigers open defense of their World Series title.
• Colorado Rockies vs. Montreal Expos, April 9, 1993 – This was the Rockies’ franchise home opener. We were in the right field of the old Mile High Stadium where I was none-too-pleased to see Dante Bichette starting instead of Dale Murphy whom I’d never seen play prior. (Murphy did enter the game as a defensive replacement and notched a RBI single in the seventh inning.)

This was my first-ever NHL opener.

Back home in Detroit it’s become a big to-do with a red carpet entrance for the Red Wings’ players to walk down complete with fans and waiting cameras and reporters to interview them as they strut their stuff. If such a moment occurred in Toronto I’m afraid our Tigers’ fandom prevented us from witnessing it.

We did stumble upon an emcee outside the main gate who was hosting a trivia contest with fans for giveaways and former Maple Leaf winger Rick Vaive was present to greet the fans, pose for photos, and sign autographs. (Disclosure: I had to ask a Torontonian who the player was.)

‘Canada Nice’ is Very Real

From the random fan who informed me that was Rick Vaive, to the ticket scanners at the main gate who welcomed Jim and I, to concessionaire who informed me as a first-time Maple Leafs’ attendee I was eligible for a commeorative lanyard, to our section’s usher, to our rowmate who offered up a few peanuts in the shell as he walked by, I dare say everyone we interacted within Scotiabank Arena was endearingly pleasant.

I’m sure there were some yutzes among the 19,037 who packed the place, but I was hard-pressed to find them.

Which made for a lovely environment, though not entirely what I expected for such a rivalry as Leafs-Canadiens. There were no shortage of red, white, and blue jerseys with the C on the chest in the building, but if there was bad blood between fans that too went unnoticed. Mainly they sat side-by-side, drank their beers, and enjoyed the game.

Perhaps it was the Blue Jays’-effect.

We Went for Hockey but a Baseball Game Broke Out

Make no mistake, we were there to see the Maple Leafs take on their countrymen from Quebec, the Montreal Canadiens. By the way, the nickname Canadiens is spelled with an ‘e’ rather than ‘a’ because it is the French spelling of Canadiens e.g. le Club de hockey Canadien. Thus the difference between Candiens and Canadians (English spelling). Also the ‘H’ on the jerseys is not, as commonly misinterprested, for les Habitants but rather for Hockey.

Sorry for the digression:-)

As I was saying, we were there for hockey but many of those gathered had at least one eye on their devices most of the night checking the score from the Bronx where the Blue Jays were trying to eliminate the Yankees.

The scoreboard operator got into the act as the games went on, showing portions of the Jays-Yankees game during media timeouts in Scotiabank Arena.

Ultimately, following the Maple Leafs’ 5-2 victory, the baseball game was broadcast on the over-ice video board as well as the concourse monitors (Rogers Communications owns both franchises). I’d estimate 8,000 or more fans remained to see the final innings of the Blue Jays’ game.

And There Was Hockey

And it was a good one!

The teams traded goals in each of the first two periods before the Leafs’ Morgan Rielly scored the eventual game-winner about nine minutes into the third period. Toronto’s Auston Matthews and William Nylander added empty-net goals in the final two minutes to complete the scoring.

Much like the Hockey Hall of Fame where it hits the right notes for fans of all ages, the staff at Scotiabank Arena understand its audience as well. While Carlton the Bear mascot is here, there, and everywhere – including up on a scissor lift waving a flag – there’s not too much schlock involved with the overall production. The main thing (hockey) was the main thing as I’d think is probably the case in Montreal, Ottawa, Winnipeg, Calgary, Edmonton, and Vancouver.

Sure, this is entertainment, but it’s also the beloved national sport of Canada and there seemed to be some intentionality – at least on Opening Night – to ensure hockey was the focal point.

Well, at least when baseball wasn’t;-)

A Few Final Shots

^{Clockwise from upper left, Carlton the Bear on a scissor lift getting the crowd fired up; the view of center ice; Leafs’ goalie Anthony Stolarz puts his hand gear back on following a break; my traveling partner, Jim, mugs for the camera with Carlton in the background (note the Olde English D); the Maple Leafs with a third period power play; the Maple Leafs share Scotiabank Arena with the Toronto Raptors, who’ve won more titles this century (one) than the Leafs; Hall of Fame Canadiens’ goalie Ken Dryden, who went on to serve as GM of the Maple Leafs was honored with a video tribute prior to the game following his death on September 5.}