MLSE clarifies Nick Suzuki stick fiasco; Habs fans not thrown out, kid's dad caught in a lie

On Saturday night in Toronto, just prior to the start of the Habs/Leafs game, a young Canadiens fan and his dad were hoping to get the attention of Habs forward Nick Suzuki to get their hands on a warm-up puck. Suzuki attempted to oblige the young fan by tossing a puck over the glass. Unfortunately, the boy did not catch the puck and it struck him in the face and caused a fat lip.

Further to this, the Montreal Canadiens reached out to the boy's father to take down his information so that they could also send the boy a brand new Nick Suzuki jersey.





During the late stages of the game, security had caught a glimpse of the young fan and his father walking around with the stick. The boy's father claimed on Twitter that he and the boy were asked to leave the game, which was not entirely accurate.

According to John Lu of TSN, an MLSE spokesperson clarified what had actually occurred was that, due to safety protocols, the stick could potentially be dangerous to other patrons, so when security spotted the boy with the stick, they had asked him and his parent to check the stick in with Fan Services, where they would have been able to retrieve it at the end of the game.

The MLSE spokesperson revealed that the boy and his father chose not to cooperate with security, adhere to Arena safety protocols and check the stick in with Fan Services, instead electing to leave with 10 minutes remaining in the contest.


A former MLSE employee also confirmed that the organization takes its fan experience very seriously and that the protocol of checking game sticks in with Fan Services is commonplace.

So, while the Canadiens are aiming to do the fan a solid here, perhaps this is simply a case of a parent causing a stir in a rival market for the sake of causing a stir and garnering additional attention.