Ervil Di Justo has been watching the Toronto Maple Leafs for 30 years.
He and his daughter always wear the away shirts.
The reason is that they are supporters of the Montreal Canadiens.
During the ongoing Stanley Cup playoffs, father Ervil Di Giusto and daughter Danny Di Giusto from Toronto became celebrities in North America.
It started with the TV cameras zooming in when they stood up and celebrated an away goal to the Tampa Bay Lightnings in the first round.
This week, they were seen on TV cheering when the away team scored the Florida Panthers.
Then it exploded and went viral on the Internet when pictures of them in game jerseys with the Ottawa Senators, Philadelphia Flyers and Seattle Kraken were discovered.
discovered after 30 years
The father and daughter, along with their season tickets, wear the away jersey for every game at the Toronto Maple Leafs.
They stand against any opposition that meets hockey mad city pride.
– I’ve supported teams against the Toronto Maple Leafs for 30 years. I was already wearing contrasting shirts at Maple Leaf Gardens. I don’t understand that it took this long for everyone to figure it out, says Ervil Di Justo of the Toronto Star.
Two bitter rivals
The 56-year-old has players Jean Beliveau and Guy Lafleur as idols.
The daughter, who is in high school, was a goalkeeper herself and grew up a Carey Price fan.
– I told my daughter that “There’s going to be a whole generation of Toronto Maple Leafs fans who won’t get to see them win the Stanley Cup. Do you want to be on that side or do you want to join me and cheer for the Montreal Canadiens?”
Dani Di Justo has started accompanying him to matches this season and is said to have collected almost all 31 of the opposition’s shirts.
The Toronto Maple Leafs from English-speaking Ontario and the Montreal Canadiens from French-speaking Quebec are classic Canadian rivals.
“It could be much worse.”
In April, during the Toronto Maple Leafs’ 7-1 victory over the Montreal Canadiens, Danny Di Giusto threw an entire beer mug at him.
– It’s mostly just comments from people in the arena and now also on social media. The fans here aren’t that serious, which I appreciate because it could be a lot worse. Especially in the playoffs when it’s the first time they’ve been in the second round in 19 years and that means a lot to them, while I’m here in the opponent’s jersey, says Danny Di Giusto.
Supporters across North America from Montreal, to Boston, to Tampa and across the continent have called them champions.
– I don’t mean to say we hate the Toronto Maple Leafs. I don’t like to hate things. But anti-hero? It looks pretty good, says Danny Di Giusto.
The Montreal Canadiens have missed the Stanley Cup playoffs in five of the last eight seasons, but they were in the final in 2021 against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
The Toronto Maple Leafs fell 2-0 in the best of seven games against the Florida Panthers in what amounts to the Quarterfinals.
