toronto maple leafs

Maple Leafs fan passes away after watching 'bucket list' win

Being a Toronto Maple Leafs can be truly poetic at times.

Peterborough's Craig Meredith joined his friend Mike at Scotiabank Arena for the Maple Leaf's game against the New York Rangers on Wednesday, with Mitch Marner scoring the overtime winner in Toronto's 3-2 win over New York.

After going crazy for Marner's winning marker, Mike "couldn't have been happier" heading back home for what would be his final time as he passed in his sleep that night.

Attending his first Maple Leafs game was the last thing on Mike's bucket list, according to Pete Dalliday.

"He couldn't have been happier heading back to [Peterborough]," Dalliday, a former Peterborough Lakers lacrosse player, wrote in a tweet Thursday. "It was the last thing on his bucket list. Mike said goodbye to the world this morning in his sleep a happy man."

Dailliday is now the play-by-play commentator for the OHL's Peterborough Petes and NLL's Halifax Thunderbirds.

"A sad but incredible story. Good job, Craig Meredith. You're a good fella with a big heart," Dailliday said.

Never a happy moment, Rangers fans on social media seem to be glad that Marner scored the overtime winner for Toronto, giving Mike an exuberant experience on what was his final night.

"I'm not even mad about the loss anymore because it led to this," wrote one Twitter user. "May he rest peacefully, and I'm so glad he got to see a dream come true before he left the earth."

"Absolutely incredible that he got to experience that before he passed," former TSN SportsCentre anchor Dan O'Toole added. "What a way to go."

The Maple Leafs return to NHL play on Friday night to take on the Ottawa Senators in the Battle of Ontario.

And there's little doubt that Mike will be watching from above.

Lead photo by

Pete Dalliday


Latest Videos



Latest Videos


Join the conversation Load comments

Latest in Sports & Play

This small town in Ontario will transport you to Europe

Two new pickleball clubs opening in and around Toronto

This is what Canada's Wonderland looked like in the 1980s

Details emerge about Matthews' injury that kept Leafs star out of playoffs

Toronto will get a WNBA team for the 2026 season

Sheldon Keefe says Leafs 'deserve the Stanley Cup' in goodbye message to team

50 natural wonders to explore in Ontario this summer

Leafs fire head coach Sheldon Keefe after five seasons on the job