It was a once in a lifetime moment for Madison Maness.
The 12-year-old from Aamjiwnaang First Nation was the Toronto Maple Leafs' fan flag bearer on Wednesday night, as the club faced the Boston Bruins in game three of their first-round playoff series.
Maness, who is a member of the Mooretown Lady Flags U13 team, skated onto the ice during the pregame, waving the Leafs' iconic blue and white flag.
She said it was an amazing experience.
"We got there and had dress rehearsal and I was really nervous," said Maness. "After the rehearsal, I was fine and calm. I thought I was going to be more nervous, but I was really excited. I never thought I would be able to do this, I've been a really big fan for multiple years now."
Maness said the opportunity came up when the Leafs reached out to the organizers of the Little Native Hockey League (NHL) tournament that she played in over the March break.
"They were looking for a native, girl hockey player that was 12 years old," she said. "My dad's friend Marian Jacko (Little NHL President) knows me pretty well and is a big Maple Leafs fan. She suggested my name and I kind of just fit the bill."
Maness said she'll never forget high-fiving all of the players before the game.
"My dressing room was also right by where the Boston Bruins were warming up," she said. "We were walking back and a player threw me a football, which is really cool."
Maness said her Flags teammates have been really supportive.
"They've been posting a bunch of stuff (on social media), and sending me a bunch of good luck messages and all of that stuff," she said. "It was really nice. Aamjiwnaang has been really supportive, as well as all of my friends."
Unfortunately for Madison and the rest of the Leafs fans, they lost the game 4-2 and Boston grabbed a 2-1 best of seven series lead.
Game four will be played in Toronto on Saturday night.
