The City of Halifax is celebrating the Mooseheads’ historic 6-4 win over the Portland Winterhawks at the MasterCard Memorial Cup.
Leading 5-2 with under six minutes to go, the Mooseheads watched as Portland cut it to 5-4 with 1:14 left.
That's when Nathan MacKinnon scored into an empty net to send Halifax to its first Canadian Hockey League title.
“Honestly, I was excited. It was one of the most exciting games I’ve watched,” says Trevor Steinberg, a former NHL player and a coach at Saint Mary’s University. “It was the most anticipated game, and I’ve watched a lot, but I was more interested in that than any Stanley Cup.”
Roughly 200 fans braved the rain at the Halifax Stanfield International Airport on Monday night as the Mooseheads touched down, hoisting the Memorial Cup high above their heads.
A steady flow of fans also drifted through the Mooseheads merchandise store on Monday in the hopes of finding the perfect item to show their support for their beloved team.
“It’s been just crazy busy, non-stop,” says employee Kimberly Cormier. “A lot of online orders, people lining up at the door.”
Fan Amber Oosthuyzen bought a large stack of T-shirts for her colleagues.
“I think it’s awesome! It’s great to see the city buzzing about it,” she says.
Cormier says requests are already flooding in for Memorial Cup merchandise, which is expected to arrive on Wednesday.
A large parade is set to take place to celebrate the historic win; the team will carry the Memorial Cup to Grand Parade beginning Tuesday at noon.
“It’s not every day a city gets to stick out their chest and say ‘we’re number one,’” says Mayor Mike Savage. “I think Halifax is the best place to live and the best place to play hockey and we have the best junior team in the CHL and that’s worth to come out and celebrate.”
With the celebration plans well underway, some fans are already thinking ahead to next year.
“I want them to keep winning,” says fan Drew LeBlanc. “I want them to win next year too.”
But Steinberg says fans may have to lower their expectations and expect to lose some of the team’s major talents.
“I truly think that Nathan, with an exclamation mark, made his mark,” says Steinberg. “He’s the best player in the world right now.”
After being selected first overall in the 2011 QMJHL draft, MacKinnon is heading into the NHL draft on June 30 as the second-ranked North American skater by NHL Central Scouting.
However, when asked about the NHL draft following Sunday night’s win, MacKinnon said he’s not thinking about it right now.
“You know what, I’m not thinking too much about the draft right now,” he told reporters. “This is probably the best moment of my life and obviously I wanted to have a good tournament. Not sure how the draft will go but right now I’m just going to enjoy this.”
The official Mooseheads celebration will take place in Grand Parade at noon on Tuesday.
Metro Transit will offer free shuttle service from the Mumford and bridge terminals between 11 a.m. and 12:30 p.m., returning to the terminals between 1 p.m. and 3 p.m.
Free ferry services will be running from Alderney Landing between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m.
Some team members will be signing autographs after the celebration at Grand Parade.
With files from CTV Atlantic's Kayla Hounsell and The Canadian Press
