Surprise Standout Earns Winning Belt in Maple Leafs Victory Over Hurricanes

Sunday's game between the Hurricanes and Maple Leafs ended up going exactly how Toronto intended. Coming out a bit slow, they picked things up in a big way after finding their groove, and backed by a solid start from Joseph Woll; it was light work at the end of the day.

There were several players who would be considered a good candidate to receive the Maple Leafs' championship belt that's handed out after every win to the player who best helped the team secure the victory.

On Sunday however, the team decided to do something a bit unexpected yet heartwarming.

Assistant Equipment Manager Tom Blatchford ended up working his 1500th career game, and ended up being the recipient of the belt as the team acknowledged his hard work and dedication.

Blatchford originally started out as Equipment Manager for the Belfast Giants in the British Ice Hockey Super League (a now defunct pro hockey league out of the United Kingdom). After a small hiatus he ended up being hired by the Toronto Marlies during the 2005-06 season.

After three years with the Marlies, he was brought up to work with the Maple Leafs in 2008-09 and has been an Assistant Equipment Manager ever since.

The belt tradition itself started in 2022 when then-WWE superstar Adam 'Edge' Copeland presented Morgan Rielly with a Toronto Maple Leafs Heavyweight Title Belt as a memento, and while it was originally intended to be the award for the team's fantasy league; they decided a player of the game was more apropos.

It's a lot better of a tradition than the previous iterations, such as when they had a ball from the 2019 NBA Championship-winning Toronto Raptors, or a scarcely used camouflage jacket that was passed around in 2015.

It just goes to show how important that Blatchford is. The team really puts an onus on giving the right person their flowers post-game, and for how hard Blatchford worked for 1500 games, he surely deserves this at the very least.