海角大神

It was unseasonably cold, with a miserable rain that hadn鈥檛 let up for days. But the crowd was exultant, their faces smeared blue as they cheered on their Maple Leafs amid the high-rises of downtown Toronto.

The unknowing would be forgiven for thinking Tuesday night鈥檚 game was to clinch hockey鈥檚 famous Stanley Cup. Instead, it was only the first game of Round 2 of the playoffs 鈥� the quarterfinals.

So why all the fuss? It was the first time in 19 years that the Maple Leafs made it even this far. For the largest city in hockey-obsessed Canada, the two-decade string of playoff futility was at turns darkly comic and tragic but always a subject of deep civic angst.

Yesterday鈥檚 game was like the first sunny, balmy day after a dark Canadian winter. 鈥淩elief,鈥� says fan Scott Desmoulin. 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 think we鈥檇 ever do it.鈥�

One tattoo shop is offering a promotion for the Maple Leaf logo. The popular Canadian franchise Boston Pizza unofficially changed its name to Auston Pizza, a nod to Leafs superstar Auston Matthews (and the fact that highly touted rival Boston infamously lost in Round 1). One of the chain鈥檚 billboards cheekily reads: 鈥淏oston鈥檚 out. Auston鈥檚 in.鈥�

The reveling drew the mockery of the rest of a nation that loves to hate the Leafs. They are calling it over-the-top 鈥� and premature. After all, the Leafs lost Tuesday night, with Game 2 of their best-of-seven series with the Florida Panthers Thursday.

Yet Toronto fans remain undeterred, perhaps offering a small life lesson in their determination. 鈥淭hey can say what they want to say,鈥� Mr. Desmoulin says. 鈥淲e know where we are. It鈥檚 been a long time, for sure. So I want to enjoy it.鈥�