Toronto Mayor Ford Supports Leafs with Blue and White Day

Nine years and two days. That’s how long Toronto has waited to watch their Toronto Maple Leafs play a playoff home game, so it’s no surprise the city is bursting with excitement ahead of tonight’s game against the Boston Bruins at the Air Canada Centre.

Earlier today, mayor Rob Ford declared Monday to be Blue and White day in front of a large crowd at Scotia Plaza in downtown Toronto. Judging by all Leafs jerseys on hand, there’s going to be a major party tonight.

“The thrill of playoff hockey is in the air in this great city folks,” Ford said while wearing a Maple Leafs sweater. “The Toronto Maple Leafs’ long journey back to the playoffs is finally over.”

Toronto has all the momentum in the series too. The Leafs are coming off a big 4-2 win Saturday in Boston that evened the series at one game apiece. And while the Leafs were busy earning that win in Beantown, their loyal supporters gathered in front of the ACC to watch the game on the big screen and cheer them on. That made a big impression on Toronto’s players.

“They had the video up on the computer today,” Joffrey Lupul told the Toronto Sun Sunday. “With all the fans celebrating and all the cheering. That’s pretty exciting for us players.”

The Leafs gave their supporters lots to cheer about in Game 2. Toronto pounded away on the Bruins, winning the battles in the corners and in front of the nets. Lupul stepped up with two goals and Phil Kessel finally scored a regular strength goal against his former team. So there are a lot of good vibes floating around. Still, the Boston Bruins are currently pegged as a -130 favourite at Sports Interaction. The Maple Leafs have played well at home recently, winning seven of their last 10 at the ACC.

“It’s been a long time,” Nikolai Kulemin told reporters. “It’s a big game for us, for our fans, for our team. We’ve been waiting for this a long time. I appreciate our fans for that. They keep cheering for our team. Nobody likes to lose every year. “