Fans of the Toronto Maple Leafs are gearing up for a big Saturday night that could see their team win an NHL playoff series for the first time in nearly 20 years.
It will be a busy night at The Regal Beagle, a Vancouver bar that has been a hub for Leafs fans for more than a decade.
The Regal Beagle was packed Thursday night as Leafs fans watched their team drop a 4-2 decision to the Tampa Bay Lightning at Scotiabank Arena to force Game 6 in the teams’ first-round series.
“We’re playing a little tight, so I don’t love it,” said Leafs fan Matt Hamilton early on in Thursday’s game.
The Maple Leafs, as the team’s fans know all too well, haven’t won the Stanley Cup since 1967 and last won a playoff series in 2004. Toronto has struggled in the post-season ever since, including an infamous Game 7 meltdown against Boston in the first round of the 2013 playoffs.
“It’s in my DNA now where I’m expecting the worst,” Hamilton said.
A Leafs banner hangs behind the bar at The Regal Beagle along with jerseys of former Leafs goaltender Curtis Joseph and current team captain John Tavares.
Manager Clark Howson was disappointed by Thursday’s result, but managed to find comfort in the company of fellow Leafs fans.
“This is a home away from home,” said Howson, who is originally from Oakville, Ont., the same town where team captain Tavares grew up.
“That’s how the Beagle works with us. It’s a very family-friendly and honest place.”
While Howson was hoping the Leafs would clinch on Thursday night, he can take solace in the fact that Saturday night’s Game 6 will be good for business.
He expects a packed house, but says space will be made for longtime customers who follow the team through thick and thin.
“It’s basically all the regulars that have been here the whole season that we prioritize towards letting them in,” he said. “It’s very loyalty-based.”
He said The Regal Beagle’s reputation as a place for Leafs fans developed over time. The bar’s owner is from B.C., and around 2010 he gave the thumbs-up to showing Leafs games with the sound on.
“It just kind of picked up,” Howson said. “We started with about 20 people who watched all the games all the time to a packed room all the time.”
No matter what happens in the playoffs, Howson says he’ll still follow the Leafs. He’s been a fan of the team his whole life and has no plans on stopping.
“The whole thing is we haven’t won for 55 years … you can’t quit on something that you’ve been put so much time into, you know,” he said. “It doesn’t make any sense.”