Jonas’ First Hockey Game

I have made an important parental decision: Jonas will be raised a Toronto Maple Leafs’ fan. I grew up a die-hard Leafs’ fan, then developed a strong dislike for the franchise when I worked at The Hockey News. I found the organization to be incredibly arrogant from the top down. Sure, I enjoyed listening to Pat Quinn’s post-game media conferences, but he is an incredibly arrogant, miserable man. I, like a lot of others, shared the opinion that the Leafs were a bunch of whiners – from Darcy Tucker to Shane Corson to Tie Domi to Bryan McCabe. The only Leaf of the past decade I had much time for was Alexander Mogilny. He was a talented player on the ice and a great interview. He always treated me with respect.

Now that Pat Quinn is out as coach, I have decided to give the Leafs another shot. I am a big fan of coach Paul Maurice. In addition to being a good hockey man, he is a funny and insightful guy. My favourite Maurice story was told to me by a colleague who covered the Detroit OHL franchise when Maurice coached there. According to my buddy, there was a decidedly androgynous season-ticket holder who sat just behind the bench. It drove Paul crazy not knowing whether the fan was a man or woman. So, between periods of a game he asked another fan to follow the person in question to the rest room and report back. I can’t remember the rest of the story, whether the fan was male or female. Or perhaps the fan never went to the can. At any rate, I always get a chuckle out of the story. I’ve heard a lot of other favourable Paul Maurice stories over the years. Many of them involve humility and generosity. I wish him all the success as the Leafs’ coach.

So, Jonas and I sat down to watch the Montreal-Toronto game last night. It was my little guy’s first game. He cried, fed and slept through the game, but it was a father-son bonding experience nonetheless. The Leafs’ lost in a shootout, but I thought they played well. Jonas let out a wail at the end of the shootout, at which time I said “there there Jonas, the Leafs still get a point for the loss.” He then shot me a look that said: “I know, you idiot. I just soiled myself and I’m freaking starving.”

He won’t remember his first game, but I certainly will. Just as I will remember the first smile, his first word, and his first step.