WINNIPEG — It was a dream day for Brendan Leipsic capped off by a big play.
The 21-year-old Winnipegger scored his first NHL goal in his first NHL game on Saturday. For his Toronto Maple Leafs, it was the game winner against the Vancouver Canucks.
A memorable but also nearly missed moment for his parents.
“Until I could actually see the arena and know I’m there, I kept wondering if we were actually going to make it,” said Greg Leipsic, Brendan’s dad.
Greg and his wife Kathleen found out Friday afternoon their son was being called up from the AHL’s Toronto Marlies by the Leafs. They had less than 36 hours to get to Vancouver for the game.
“We had to make the effort to see if we could catch it,” said Greg. “There were some hiccups and we almost didn’t (make it) but thankfully we did.”
The first problem – there were no flights to BC anywhere in the prairies. Brendan’s parents instead flew from Winnipeg to Minneapolis Saturday morning. They then hopped on a different plane bound for Seattle but the flight was delayed an hour. After they landed, they rented a car for the 2 1/2 hour drive to Vancouver but a backed up border crossing forced the pair to wait another hour. To make things worse, they were pulled in by customs. Brendan’s parents eventually made it to the rink with just 15 minutes to spare.
“They found a way,” Brendan told Leafs TV following Saturday’s game. “It was kind of planes, trains and automobiles to get there. It was definitely a really special day.”
Brendan’s parents though weren’t the only ones watching the left winger in his NHL debut. Greg’s phone buzzed the entire game with texts from fellow Winnipeggers, friends and family.
“There’s not a lot of people who are getting excited about the Leafs taking on the Canucks these days,” said Greg. “They’re just over the moon for this. That’s the part that’s so darn special.”
Among those sending congratulatory notes was former Winnipeg Jet Teemu Selanne.
The NHL superstar tweeted a picture of Brendan and him eating pasta several years ago. Selanne first met the Leipsics when he played in Winnipeg and is now considered a close friend of the family.
But the most excited to see Brendan’s moment was those who helped him the most to get there.
“You know how hard they’re working,” said Greg. “The tears may be because you realized how lucky they are. There’s so many hockey players trying to get to the NHL. For him to get that game was really special.”
Even more so that his parents got the game as well.
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