We were excited to hit Toronto for our third stop on the trip and with due reason. Toronto marked our Canada Day game and we had the guys out in Red and White to play Canada’s game on the most Canadian day in the year. With Second Harvest collecting food we played what turned out to be a very intense game. The score was close and the weather was great so not much more can be asked for.
Toronto had one goal: To raise more food than Montreal. Coming into the game we had raised 189 lbs of food in Montreal and 100 lbs of food in Ottawa giving us a trip total of 289 lbs of food. Earlier in the day we set a goal for the trip which was to raise a tonne of food – 2000 lbs. Toronto must have found out that’s what we wanted to do because not only did they beat Montreal, but they doubled our total output after coming together to collect 322 lbs of food!
We were thrilled to have Duke the Dog come out and play and after starting in net he played out and was a shot blocking machine. “Super” Dave and his Blackhawks jersey got Vic’s Team Red breaking into Chelsea Dagger with each goal he scored. It was great to see people come out in jerseys of all teams. We had the Canucks, Capitals, Red Wings, Blackhawks, Habs and Thrashers all represented. Oh, and the Marlies of course.
We couldn’t have asked for a better location or better weather and with a big thanks to the Withrow Park Ball Hockey League we had a bunch of great players come out to make our game the best of the trip so far. Tomorrow is a travel day as we start the longest single trek between games towards our next stop in Winnipeg. Saturday we play game 4 in Manitoba. After a back and forth affair, Richard’s Team White managed to get a win when Richard scored the big EN goal with seconds left on the clock. The goal sealed the deal in a 16-14 affair narrowing the trip’s series at 2-1 in favour of Vic’s Team Red.
By the Numbers
1 – Awesome big blue dog named Duke who was a shot blocking machine! Thank you to the Toronto Marlies that came out and supported our event!
1 – Goal for Vic. He scored his first goal of the trip on a gorgeous breakaway after picking up his own rebound.
1 – One time too many that the Red Bench broke into Chelsea Dagger after “Super” Dave scored a goal in his Blackhawks jersey.
3 – Points for Vic yesterday. He picked up 1 goal and 2 assists in the losing effort.
4 – Points for Richard in a game that saw Team White pick up the win. The effort saw him pot the empty net goal which was the back breaker for Team Red. He walked away with 1 goal and 4 assists.
6 – Cities left on the tour. Winnipeg, Regina, Calgary, Edmonton, Victoria, Vancouver
7 – Goals scored by Michael Forbes of the Withrow Ball Hockey League. Were it not for him, Team White would not have stayed in the game.
14 – Goals for Team Red in our Toronto game in their first loss of the trip.
16 – Goals for Team White in our Toronto game as they walked away with their first victory of the trip.
25 – Hours of driving since the trip started in Montreal.
322 – Pounds of food raised by Toronto for Second Harvest! Toronto not only reached their goal of beating Montreal, but managed to beat our combined total through the first two games of the trip.
2049 – Kilometers driven from Toronto to Winnipeg
2694 – Kilometers driven from the start of the trip.
Snapshots
Toronto was one great game. The perfectly clear skies plus the very high level of competition made it the closest game of the trip so far! Thanks to Duke the Dog, mascot of the Toronto Marlies, for coming out and not only keeping it light but also picking up a stick and playing! Just goes to show hockey has universal appeal to all Canadians! It was a very tight checking game, but Team White finally pulled out a win, 16-14, needing an empty netter from none other than Mozy19 to secure the win. Most importantly, Second Harvest of Toronto received 322lbs of food! Onwards towards Winnipeg!
Video
For those of you that couldn’t make it out to our Toronto game, fear not. We’ve thrown some highlights together for you to enjoy and hopefully if you’re living in one of the cities we hit next we’d love to see you out!