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Summary

Auston Matthews & Mitch Marner Surprised A Fan In Florida Who Called Them His Heroes (VIDEO)

He will probably take that over seeing them play anyday. 🏒

Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner meeting a fan in Tampa Bay, Florida.

Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner meeting a fan in Tampa Bay, Florida.

Editor

What was shaping up to be a disappointing night for one Toronto Maple Leafs fan turned around pretty quickly when he was surprised by his two heroes.

Pictures of a young boy holding a sign at the Leafs game in Tampa Bay, Florida on Tuesday night went viral, as his sign revealed he was there to see Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner — but the two stars weren't playing.

"I came from Toronto to see my heroes," read the sign, with the numbers 34 and 16 on it.

Matthews and Marner were kept out of the lineup Tuesday to rest up before the start of the NHL playoffs at the beginning of May.

The fan was seen pressed up against the glass as the players warmed up for the game but his "heroes" were nowhere to be found.

In other videos posted to Twitter, you can see the opposite side of the kid's sign with a note that he hoped Matthews would see.

"Hey Auston can I please have a stick it's my birthday!" the sign read.

While you can only imagine the disappointment this young boy must've been dealing with during the game, having come all this way to see his two hockey players only for them to not be on the ice, at one point things changed drastically.

He may not have gotten to see Matthews or Marner in action, but in the end, he got far more than he could've asked for.

In a video of their own, the Maple Leafs identified the young fan as Blake and shared the moment he was surprised by Matthews and Marner.

The three took a picture together, and both players signed his sign, his Marner t-shirt, and Matthews granted Blake's birthday wish by giving him a stick.

Starstruck Blake only seemed capable of responding with a few thank yous throughout the entire wholesome interaction.

"Nice moment," one person wrote in the comments. "Kid’s eyes are like saucers and he can barely say a word."

Several other people responded with kudos to the Leafs for making Blake's dream come true and giving him a moment he'kl likely never forget.

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    • Editor

      Stuart McGinn (he/him) was an Editor at Narcity Media. He spent nearly a decade working in radio broadcast journalism before joining the team, covering everything from breaking news to financial markets and sports. Since starting his career in his hometown of Ottawa after attending Algonquin College, Stuart has spent time working in our nation's capital, in Kitchener-Waterloo and in Toronto. If he's not out walking his dog Walter, there's a good chance he's running to train for his next marathon.

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