BEDFORD, NS – In the early, dark hours of morning Toronto Maple Leafs lined up outside the BMO Centre in Bedford to try to get a glimpse of some players on the ice.
The Toronto Maple Leafs opened their on-ice training camp Friday morning, and there’s no doubt about fan support for the team in the area, and even across the Atlantic provinces.
“Let’s go Toronto,” shouted a young Toronto fan.
First in line was Greg Smith, followed by hundreds of other Leaf fans.
“I landed here at 9:00 o’clock last night and I’m feeling it,” Smith said. “I’ve been up for about 24 hours, little tired, I got a two and a four-year-old that are going to be joining me here. They’re excited and they’ll keep daddy up.”
Bud Audas had the solution to waiting in line for hours, a seat. “I think this is the answer, this is the answer for lineups right here.”
“We Beleaf,” read one sign and a group of school age children shouted it out as they waited in line, including 8-year-old Austin Day.
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“Toronto’s my favourite team,” said Day. “I have my room painted as Toronto and I only got one jersey.”
That’s a Dion Pheneuf jersey.
Leaf fans from all over the Atlantic provinces were in the lineup. Once inside, the fans anxiously waited for the players to come onto the ice, including relatives of NHL Hall of Famer Al MacInnis, who travelled from Cape Bretion.
Clarance MacInnis says he jumped on the Leafs bandwagon the last time they hoisted Lord Stanley’s Cup.
“Watched the Leafs win the cup in ’67, black and white TV,” Clarence said..
His daughter Kim MacInnis says her father’s blanket is special to him and she’s almost as big a fan.
“Me and my brother were born Leaf fans and we’ll die Leaf fans. I married a Leaf fan and I have two little Leaf fans,” said Kim.
The fans were pumped when the players came onto the ice. New Head Coach Mike Babcock had the players doing drills right away.
Matt Mabee left Saint John at 1:00 o’clock this morning to head to Halifax.
“It was a long drive but it was definitely worth it,” said Mabee. “We’re a little tired here but it’s nice actually to see them on the ice, it’s really cool.”
Initially they were only going to let in 400 fans, but that changed.
“When the coaching staff of the Leafs saw the number of people in the parking lot, they said ‘let’s try and get as many in as we can,'” said Bill Cruickshank, the General Manager of the BMO Centre.
Dave Matthews left before the changes, but he’ll be back. “I think all leaf fans, even judging from this lineup out here, are showing great optimism toward the future,” Matthews said.
The camp continues a the BMO Centre through Saturday and Sunday.
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