You don’t say no to an opportunity like this.
Madison Maness was recently asked to be one of three people to skate with the Toronto Maple Leafs flag at their home playoff games — and she got to skate at the first one Wednesday night.
Madison's mom Stephanie, explains that after Madison participated in the Little NHL (The Little Native Hockey League) tournament in March, “The Leafs had reached out to the organizers of that tournament and were looking for somebody to carry the flag out for them during playoffs. “They were looking for an Indigenous female hockey player and they recommended Madison."
Skating in front of thousands of Toronto fans during first-round playoffs at Scotiabank Arena would have made anyone nervous, but this hockey player with the Mooretown Lady Flags took it all in stride.
“I was really excited and I thought I would be way more nervous, but I wasn’t nervous at all,” Madison told The Journal. “I hit the ice and I was a little bit nervous and I kept going and I was like, ‘this is fun.’
“They were talking to me [through an ear piece] so I couldn’t even hear the crowd. I didn’t even know they were there — I just kept looking at the ice.”
It was Dad, Jamie, who was a bundle of nerves.
“I couldn’t sleep the night before. I had anxiety; I was more a wreck than she was,” Jamie Maness said. “I was so so nervous for her and she nailed it and did a good job.”
A hockey player since she was three-years-old, Maness also got to high-five the players, which she admits was pretty cool. She also got to stay to watch the game.
Back home, her friends couldn’t have been more excited.
“They were so supportive and texting me good luck and all that stuff,” Madison said.
While the Leafs might have lost the game Wednesday night, for Mom, her daughter’s moment is one for the highlight reel.
“I’m not going to lie, when she was out there doing her thing yesterday [Wednesday] I was definitely crying. It was a big moment and we couldn’t be happier to be participating in this with her,” Stephanie Maness said.
“She has two younger sisters who look up to her and were excited for her… it’s great for women’s hockey as well.”