Toronto Maple Leafs Thursday

​Last Friday was Luke’s birthday and, really, what’s a birthday without a little surprise? So on Thursday night, Elizabeth brought an unsuspecting Luke to a Toronto Maple Leafs hockey game!

We arrived at Union Station 20 minutes before the game started, and it was only once we were outside of the Air Canada Centre that the surprise was finally revealed. Once Luke found out that we were not going out to dinner, but were going to an Toronto Maple Leafs game, he was thrilled to say the least.

We had each been to a couple of NHL games, separately, quite a while ago but we were excited to check out the Toronto Maple Leafs at home as the fans are known to be wild and the atmosphere is supposed to be amazing – spoiler alert: we were not disappointed.

Before finding our seats, we picked up our first round of food and drinks for the night. As is to be expected from a sporting event, our wallets (specifically Elizabeth’s) were not feeling the love.
 
The spectacle started a few minutes after we grabbed our seats with images and videos projected on the ice and the crowd. It concluded with the national anthems and massive Canadian and Toronto Maple Leafs flags being passed around the stadium.

Once the action began, the San Jose Sharks scored within the first two minutes so it was not off to a great start. Before the first period finished, it was 2-0 for San Jose. The crowd seemed a bit down, but before we knew it the Leafs had scored a few times and were leading 3-2 by the end of the second period. The Leafs scored again in the third period, but not before the Sharks got two goals and tied it at 4-4 going into overtime. The room was so tense.

Unfortunately, a couple of minutes into the 3 on 3 five minute overtime period, San Jose scored and everyone's dreams were crushed... BUT, the experience was still awesome. We got everything we could have wanted out of the game (except a win from the Leafs) with lots of suspense, crazy dancing kids, a penalty shot in the middle of the game, and an overtime period; we certainly got our money’s worth!
 
The rest of Luke's birthday weekend was spent with lots of cupcakes, a bit of curling, a weekend out of town in Orangeville for a friend’s wedding reception, and a chilled out Sunday.
 
Here are some more photos of the big game (and a couple from Orangeville):

(slideshow)

Want to know what we were up to during this festive time last year and the year before? Well, we were visiting the UK for Christmas both years! This week in 2014, we checked out some sights in Bristol, and in 2013, we explored more of Luke's hometown of Bath, taking in some great but slightly less famous attractions.

We're heading back to Newfoundland this week for Luke's first Newfie Christmas, and we can't wait to catch up with everyone there! Happy Holidays!