NHL Heritage Classic in Hamilton was 'hockey heaven' for fans

Twelve-year-old Christian Di Cesare said he went to bed Saturday night dreaming about watching his favourite NHL team play at the Heritage Classic game in Hamilton.

"I dreamed watching the Toronto Maple Leafs score goal after goal after goal," he said.

Di Cesare and his dad were among the thousands of hockey fans who watched Toronto take on the Buffalo Sabres at Tim Hortons Field on a cold and snowy Sunday.

Blue jerseys and hats dotted city streets ahead of the outdoor game and later filled the stands around the field-turned-rink. It was a sell-out crowd with 26,119 fans in attendance.

Some people came from New York to cheer on the visiting team.

"This is kinda hockey heaven almost," said Sabres fan Michael Wielgosz.

Those in the crowd also got to hear pop-punk singer Willow perform before the game and Brampton's Alessia Cara sing during the first intermission.

Buffalo wins after tie game in second period

After a quiet first period, Toronto's Ondrej Kase, Buffalo's Peyton Krebs and Toronto's Auston Matthews scored a goal each within the first three minutes of the second period. Fans were chanting "MVP" for Matthews, who is the league's lead goal scorer.

Then Buffalo scored again.

Anthony Restaino, a New Yorker cheering for Toronto, wasn't pleased.

"I just hope to God we get past the first round of the playoffs this year," he said, adding he felt bad for Matthews.

Before hope for a Toronto win was further extinguished, the excited crowd gave a warm welcome to the Canadian women's national hockey team, which took home gold last month at the Beijing Olympics. The sole Hamilton player on the team, Sarah Nurse, received an especially loud cheer as the players waved to the crowd, medals in hand. 

"The Canadian women, top of the world," the announcer boomed. 

Then it was Buffalo's turn to shine. The team scored three more goals in the third period to suck the life out of the hometown crowd and win the game 5-2.

Seeing no hope of a comeback, many Toronto fans started leaving with 10 minutes left in the game.

Naya Mariano-Johnson, 12, wanted the Leafs to win, but still left feeling inspired.

"It's cool to see the people who do it professionally and then us who maybe want to do it professionally," she said.

The rink will remain Monday, when the Hamilton Bulldogs will face the Oshawa Generals, the first outdoor match between two Ontario Hockey League (OHL) clubs to be played in Ontario, according to the OHL.