By Avry Lewis-McDougall
On Saturday evening, a bar filled to the brim with Toronto Maple Leaf fans all jumped together in unison as for the first time since 1985, their team will pick first overall in the NHL Entry Draft. It’s now most likely the landing spot for Auston Matthews, the top ranked American forward who spent this past season tearing it up in Switzerland.
For me, as the only born and and raised Edmontonian in the Tilted Kilt in the downtown core of the city that night, I could do nothing but throw my head back and brace for impact with the heckling.
Leading up to this lottery there was a sense of hope from this fan base, surely finishing in 30th would mean they’d finally get that #1 pick right? There was also a sense of terror at the idea of the Oilers once again holding that coveted pick. I couldn’t help but laugh a bit at it all, now the odds for the Oilers getting that pick once again were well below 1 percent but there were so many people in the largest city in Canada who openly wondered, what if it happens again?
When I heard that The LeafsNation was going to be throwing a formal lottery day party like what OilersNation would be throwing, I had to come down and check it out to see how the range of emotions would go for Leaf fans. (A couple of the official emotions for a draft lottery party include “optimistic to “get out of my way I’m going to puke”) Last year I watched it by myself in Toronto at my apartment, something that Id didn’t really want to do again.
There were some good buddies at the party but I also wanted to see live the reactions to the idea of another lottery win for the Orange and Blue. I’d probably be forced to sprint like Usain Bolt at the Olympics out of the bar if it happened, but it would have been worth it as I sat down at one of the tables with friends, and people whom I’d just met, but with all knowing that I was an outsider.
To steal a wrestling term, I was the biggest heel in the building. The only thing I didn’t do when I walked into the Tilted Kilt was have a tooth pick in my mouth, utter the line “Say hello to the bad guy” and flick the said toothpick into the nearest camera lens.
As the lottery began, the bar went quiet except for the occasional comment. The masses cheered for when teams like Ottawa, Boston and Montreal ended up no where near the top 4. Straight up belly laughs at Vancouver with the 5th pick and then, Edmonton. With Bill Daly holding the number 4 envelope something in me said “this is probably Edmonton” as the crowd chanted “Edmonton, Edmonton” we saw the drive to #MakeItFive come to an end. Did that hurt? Yeah. I felt within seconds more deflated than a football in the New England area.
Probably for the first time in the history of the NHL, a crowd in Toronto gave a standing ovation to an Oilers logo coming across a television screen. The run of improbable endings at this event had come to an end and fans in 29 cities couldn’t have been happier.
My night didn’t end without taking a few verbal jabs of course. I had people clapping in my face and took some ribbing me but nothing mean spirited and I took it in stride, taking my coat and and fedora as I left the table and pretended to walk out of the bar to a chorus of cheers, that even I couldn’t help but crack a smile at.
After the drama of Edmonton being out of it, Columbus finished in third and then it came down to Winnipeg and Toronto. If things were anymore quiet I swear you would have been able to hear someone across the bar belch after crushing a plate of wings.
When the Leafs won, 99.9999% of the people in attendance jumped in the air. This truly was one of the biggest moments in modern day Leaf history, much like the lottery was for Oiler fans last year.
All in all it certainly was a different experience. Sure, I’d been to a ton of games as a fan and as a media member across North America but to be at a party where you were the exception among the masses was kind of cool. I’d been around opposing fans for games but I was never the ONLY person predicting a different outcome than the best one for the masses.
Auston Matthews is going to be a dynamo for the Toronto Maple Leafs but not getting him is not the end of the world for the Oilers.
They have options at the #4 pick with names like Jakob Chychrun or Jesse Puljujarvi most likely available at that spot or heck for all we know they may trade it away for something else from now to before June’s draft in Buffalo.
Toronto, you were a fun city to watch the Lottery in with people, who knows if we’ll do it again, but if we don’t these past two years watching alone and with people truly have been an adventure.
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