Toronto Triumph

Well, the Toronto game obviously went well. We took Habs Fan's suggestion and had our pre-game meal at The Bottom Line (much better than this Bottom Line). It bills itself as Toronto's classiest sports bar, which seems like an odd thing to want to be, but whatever. We walked in and there was actually a Caps fan (Ovechkin jersey) in there, with three Toronto fans, despite Fred's firm belief that we would be the only Caps fans at the game. We sat next to a couple of surprisingly friendly Leafs fans, who were good-naturedly miffed at having to sit next to two fans from the opposing team. I couldn't say that about everyone around us, including a couple of guys behind me who screamed the entire game and commented on the conversation I was having with the Leafs fan sitting next to me. At one point I asked why the mascot was a polar bear called Carlton, momentarily forgetting that we had been to see Maple Leaf Gardens earlier that day on Carlton Street. One of the jerky Leafs fans behind me sniffed, "She doesn't even know why the bear is called Carlton." Sorry I don't know the history of every mascot in the NHL, jerkwad. I'd like to see that guy come down to the Phone Booth and try to understand all of our "traditions," like the Horn Guy and Goat. But I digress.

Before the game was the presentation to the ref for working his 1,000th game. GMGM was on hand to present a silver stick.Hanlon always looks so surly, or serious, or something. Not complaining as long as it works!
This was awesome. How about "Canada's Biggest Caps Fan?" Fred would disagree with that, saying that he's Canada's biggest Caps fan, but hey- the guy gets credit for showing up in a retro jersey.
What a fight!The Leafs not only sold pink jerseys, but baby blue and periwinkle ones as well. BARFOLA.Sweet, sweet victory. It was well worth the trip.These girls were very obliging; they had already taken off all their antlers, noses, and hats, and put them back on for the pic. Yeah, I know it's all Leafs stuff but I had to admire their holiday spirit.
The funniest part of the whole evening was that we didn't get taunted until AFTER the game. Some guy yelled at us, "You're not real Caps fans. I bet you can't even name three players besides Ovechkin." Fred and I promptly named Clymer, Sutherby, Eminger, Clark, and Brashear, not like this guy would have known if they were actually on the team or not. And we were approached by a couple of Leafs fans on the concourse, but their ribbing was all in fun. We actually met a Caps fan (who was not wearing any gear; he was with his Leafs fan friends) who lives in Arlington, not far from us, but he was home in Toronto for the holidays. Now that's something! I didn't get to ask him why he was a Caps fan over Toronto.

Another interesting thing was that the Leafs fans were completely unaware that they are getting a new logo next season, despite there being articles in the Toronto papers. They thought we were making it up! I got a kick out of it, because it just seemed like something that would spur a lot of discussion. But I guess they have bigger things to worry about right now...