For his 50th birthday my friend, Will, invited me and a few other friends out to a Toronto Marlies hockey game. They're the Toronto Maple Leafs AHL (American Hockey League) affiliate and play out of the Ricoh Coliseum on the C.N.E. grounds.
We met at the arena just before the game where Will gave us our tickets. He had bought front row seats for everyone along the glass in section 112 (near the end of the rink at the corner).
The seats gave us nose-to-nose views of the players while they were our end. But views were distorted by the glass when play was in the far end of the rink. Then we had to watch the video screen above centre ice to see the action.
Leafs top prospect William Nylander (#8 pick overall from the 2014 draft) was one of the players in action for the Marlies. In 16 games played this season he has 9 goals and 21 assists.
All the players are fast and highly skilled. You can really appreciate it watching close up. It's incredible to see.
Toronto opened the scoring against their rivals from Binghamton, the Senators, less than a minute in. I thought it was going to be a rout for us, but I was wrong. By the end of the period the Senators had mounted a comeback and led 2-1.
The second period was all Marlies. We scored 3 unanswered goals to take the lead at 4-2.
In the third both teams traded goals to keep it close. First the Senators scored to close the score to 4-3. Then the Marlies struck to restore their two goal lead, 5-3.
But, with less than a minute remaining, Binghamton scored after pulling their goalie. It was madness. Could we hold them off?
The answer is, yes. With time expiring we potted an empty-netter to win a nail biter, 6-4. How thrilling!
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