Читать книгу Hope and Heartbreak in Toronto. Life as a Maple Leafs Fan онлайн

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For some reason the line was moving on the morning of Game 5 of the Campbell Conference Final. The rhythmic clicking of the machine spitting out tickets continued as I neared the front of the line. Every ticket that was being issued was decidedly low-end: high greys, standing room — the bottom of the barrel, seating-wise. With a limit of two each, my friend in front of me landed a pair. Then it was my turn.

I got the last ticket, a grey in the second-to-last row of the Gardens. I know it was the last one on offer because as the machine tried to punch out a second one it stopped with the ticket still half inside the machine.

“I’m sorry,” said the agent.

I didn’t care. I was going to the Gardens that night. The second ticket that sat stuck in the machine had been earmarked for anyone I could find who was willing to pony up, as I recall, $40 for the seat. I would be sitting alone, but I had a seat and a ride down to Toronto with my friend who had secured the pair in front of me.

That spring in the Toronto area was unlike anything anyone could have imagined even six months earlier. It was the first prolonged playoff run by the Leafs in fifteen years and a by-product of the hiring of Pat Burns as coach and one of the most lopsided trades in the history of the NHL. Doug Gilmour and a collection of other players, including defenceman Jamie Macoun and role player Kent Manderville, had come to Toronto from the Calgary Flames for Gary Leeman and spare parts.