The Toronto Maple Leafs haven’t won Lord Stanley’s Cup since 1967, and, until last week, they hadn’t even made it past the first round of the playoffs since 2004. It’s safe to say the team’s hyper-passionate fans have a bit of stored up energy.
When John Tavares scored in overtime of Game 6 at Amile Arena to defeat the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-2, the faithful who were gathered in Maple Leaf Square, the plaza outside Scotiabank Arena, erupted in a wild party that spread throughout downtown. It was so raucous, the Leafs decided to expand the outdoor viewing venue with more zones and two more video screens, raising the capacity from 5,000 to an estimated 7,000 for the second round series, which began at home with a 4-2 loss to the Florida Panthers Tuesday night. Game 2 is back in Toronto Thursday night.
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The Arena, which replaced the venerable Maple Leaf Gardens in 1999, seats 19,800, and obviously has never been home to a championship hockey team. The Raptors defeated the Golden State Warriors to win the 2019 NBA title in six games, but the clincher was the last NBA game played in Oakland’s Oracle Arena. Meanwhile, the watch party outside Toronto’s building turned into a madhouse dubbed Jurassic Park.
For hockey games, it remains Maple Leaf Square, and if the home team ever lifted the Cup, the scene following that victory would reach another level.
“It’s special to be a Leaf,” Tavares, who was raised in Ontario, said. “Growing up here you get a sense of the history and tradition and what it means to the city, to the people and how incredible Leafs Nation is.”
Seats for Tuesday night’s game were ranging from $3,287 in the lower bowl to $233 in the standing room only section on Stub Hub. For those who can’t afford those prices, it’s hip to be in the Square.
Entrance is free, although fans must request a maximum four passes through the Maple Leafs app beginning 24 hours prior to each game, home or away. On-site food and beverage sales are handled by the arena’s concessionaires.
Maple Leaf Square is a 1.8 million square foot complex covering 2.1 acres that includes the public square, a hotel, condominiums, office and retail space. It was jointly developed at the cost of $500 million by Cadillac Fairview, Lanterra, and Maple Leafs Sports & Entertainment.
Tickets for the watch parties are hard to obtain, said a reporter from the local Oakville News, who watched the Game 6 win over the Lightning from the plaza. The crowd was jammed as he entered two hours before game time.
“I stood in my spot for what seemed like an eternity,” Lukas Bernasiewicz wrote. “Once it was puck drop, my heart was racing. Everyone else’s was, too.”
It was a rainy night Tuesday, and even with the Game 1 loss to Florida, the crowd outside the arena was no less subdued.
The Leafs are the last of the Original Six teams remaining among the eight in this year’s playoffs. They’ve won 10 Cups in their history, but haven’t even been back to the finals since the NHL expanded by six teams in 1967-68, or since Johnny Bower played goal and Davey Keon was the captain.
The New York Rangers and Boston Bruins have already been eliminated, the Bruins continuing a long string of Presidents’ Trophy winning teams to fail in the postseason, losing to the Panthers in seven games. The first round also shook out the defending champion Colorado Avalanche and a Lightning club that went to the finals the past three seasons, winning two Cups.
It leaves the Leafs vs. the Panthers and New Jersey Devils vs. the Carolina Hurricanes in the East, and the Vegas Golden Knights vs. the Edmonton Oilers and the second-year expansion Seattle Kraken vs. the Dallas Stars in the West.
A Cup final between the Leafs and Austin Matthews and the Oilers and Connor McDavid, might be the most attractive of all the possible matchups. That series would gut the U.S. television market, but it would pit two of the best players in the game against one another and deliver the cup to Canada, which hasn’t had the trophy since Montreal defeated Los Angeles in 1993.
The Panthers, Kraken and Knights have never won the Cup. It’s a long way to go, but Leaf fans who jam the arena and plaza this week hope their team puts the death knell to those memories of 1967.
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