Shanahan and Tory got together Tuesday to promote Tuesday Dec. 19 as Toronto Maple Leaf Day. On Dec. 19, 1917, the Toronto Arenas — who would eventually become the St. Pats and then the Maple Leafs — played their first game, and the first game in the newly formed National Hockey League. (The Arenas lost 10-9 to the Montreal Wanderers on the same night the Canadiens beat the Senators 7-4.)
To commemorate it, the Leafs will play the Carolina Hurricanes, dressed in throwback Toronto Arena jerseys. The game will be played at 2 p.m., with the Leafs hoping to pack the Air Canada Centre with as many kids as possible. Season-ticket subscribers are asked to bring a child with them that game, or to donate the ticket back to the MLSE Foundation, which will give it to a school-aged fan.
“Our birthday comes on a Tuesday,” Shanahan said. “It is a school night. So the decision was made to do it at two in the afternoon, get kids in the city incentivized a little bit to get the afternoon off school and come watch a hockey game and make the arena a very youthful place with our next generation of hockey fans.”