So, I was hanging out at the bar where I work after my shift and chatting with the two waitresses that were closing, and I remembered a story from my childhood that came out of some hockey discussion, and because I love thinking about it, and this way I'll have it written down somewhere, I thought to share it with you. This is quite a long story, but if you have the time to read it, I think you'll enjoy it.
I was probably about 12 years old when this happened, I don't know exactly when it was, because I am horrid at dates.
Anyway.
I left school early one day with my mother to drive up to Strathmore and meet my father, who was working up there at the time. When we arrived at the motel he was staying at, there was a bag on the bed from Jersey City and he said it was a present for me. It was my first real Toronto Maple Leafs jersey, which I still own to this day.
You see, he was taking me to my very first NHL game. The Maple Leafs were playing Calgary at the Saddledome and me and my Dad are huge Leafs fans.
So, after putting on my jersey, grabbing an 5' by 3' Leafs flag, and painting my face/hair Blue & White, we were ready to go.
Now, it was a pretty nerve-wracking trip. Not only did it take us over an hour to find our way to the Saddledome in traffic, the Will-Call office didn't have the tickets for us. The company my Dad was working for owned season tickets but I guess someone else had already picked them up.
"Don't worry," my Dad told me. "We'll just find a scalper."
I didn't know what a scalper was, but I assumed my Dad knew what he was doing. After about 10 minutes, we found a scalper who had a single ticket in the 2nd bowl. The game would be starting shortly, so he sent me in with this message.
"I know where your seat is, if I find another ticket I'll come find you at the first intermission, if I can't find a ticket, you enjoy your first NHL game and I'll be waiting right here for you."
Now let's be honest here. I was terrified. I'm a fairly shy guy now, and I was exponentially worse as a child, but I knew there was no way that I could be the one standing alone outside the Saddledome all night while my Dad watched the game, so I bucked up, and walked into the stadium.
With the help of a couple very friendly attendants, I found my seat, and immediately realized I was surrounded by British Soldiers. They were already drunk, cheering for Calgary, and not happy to see that their spare ticket had gone to some random child.
Through the first period, I sat as quietly as I could, tucked my flag under my chair, and just enjoyed the game as best I could wondering if my Dad was going to make it in too. Calgary scored the first goal of the game and the Brit next to me started waving a small Calgary Flames flag in my face and I was too frightened to do anything but continue to sit perfectly still.
The first intermission came, and I was too nervous to even get up to go to the restroom, but after about two or three minutes, I noticed my father coming up to my seat two steps at a time. He had made it in!
He told me he had found the guys he worked with that had claimed the season tickets, and they had a spare. Then he handed me $20 in case I wanted some food, and told me to just enjoy the game. After that short conversation, my mood changed entirely. I felt a weight lift off my shoulders and felt I could truly enjoy the game.
Once the 2nd period started, some Leafs fans were sitting just a few seats away from me, and one was calling me out to wave the flag, and when I wouldn't, he asked me to give to him to do it justice. I did, and he waved it for all he was worth. Toronto scored the next goal, and the next after that. Suddenly my team was winning 2-1. Now it was me waving the over-sized flag into the face of the Brit next to me! The second period felt like it flew by and I was laughing and talking to all the people around me, whether we were cheering for Toronto or Calgary. There was a kind of community there where we were all there to enjoy the same thing, and there was no enmity.
By the end of the 2nd, Toronto was up 4-1 and the season ticket holders had started to clear out of the lower bowl. My father came to find me again and said that the seat next to him was open and that I could come watch the rest of the game from a much better seat.
I said my goodbyes to the two men next to me who I had been sharing some light-hearted ribbing with, and started following my Dad down to the lower bowl. When I had gotten about a dozen steps away from my section, I turned around and heard all the Brits around me cheering.
They were all yelling "Go Leafs Go!"
I'll never forget that moment.
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