RALEIGH, N.C. — Sarah Ayres has watched more than a hundred games from the top of Section 317 in Toronto’s Scotiabank Arena.
That’s where she and her husband, Dave, stand when he’s serving as the emergency back-up goalie. It’s a vantage point from the top corner behind the net and provides a fine perspective of the play up-and-down the ice.
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That’s where Sarah was standing when Maple Leafs forward Kyle Clifford steamrolled Carolina Hurricanes goalie Petr Mrazek on the ice below.
A now-famous Tweet was sent by Sarah and she then watched as her husband helped orchestrate one of the NHL’s most remarkable stories, well ever, as he beat the Maple Leafs.
FUCK ME!!!!
— 🇨🇦Sarah Ayres🇨🇦 (@35Ayres) February 23, 2020
At the time of the Tweet, Sarah had close to 1,300 followers, as of Tuesday she had close to 18,000.
“It was like an eternity just watching the guys standing on the ice and I’m just thinking what’s going on, is (James) Reimer coming back?” Ayres said. “It felt like forever for him to get on the ice, then he stepped on. Then I actually grabbed the guy who I didn’t know, beside me, and screamed, ‘That’s my husband.’”
This interaction grabbed the attention of others in Section 317, who witnessed Sarah go through “every single emotion,” as Toronto scored on the first two shots against Dave.
“Everybody was cheering and also saying, ‘Sorry, sorry,’” Sarah said. “And I said, ‘No it’s ok, he’ll be fine.’”
Dave stopped the next eight shots he faced, meanwhile Sarah had three beers brought to her by strangers in Section 317. She only drank “maybe half” of one, she didn’t want to risk having to take a trip to the bathroom during this moment.
After standing for the second period Sarah watched the end of the game from a seat in the section after one of the ushers, who the Ayres have gotten to know well, pointed her to a vacant seat nearby.
“I sat down for the first time, which was really, really good,” Sarah said. “I didn’t want to leave (the section) for fear of missing something.”
Sarah was still in Section 317 when Dave was named the first star of the game, talking to her mom, Maureen Spinney, on the phone.
“I thought maybe he’d be the third star,” Sarah said. “But then they did the two Hurricanes as the third and second star and thought, ‘Oh my gosh, there is no way they are putting a Leaf as the first star in this one.’
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“I was screaming,” she added. “I was probably the loudest one in the building.”
Sarah and Dave had been texting before he went into the game, but after the game it was more radio silence as he went through the wringer of media interviews and celebrated with the Hurricanes. About an hour after the game ended Sarah was able to congratulate him in person.
“He came down the tunnel from the dressing room and it was just the best feeling to see his smile and I think it was the longest hardest hug we’ve had,” Sarah said.
“I think I was still cherry-faced, my face was still red from being on the ice,” Dave said. “When I saw her. It was a big relief to see her and see how happy she was, and it was fantastic.”
Sarah went back to the locker room with Dave where he showed her the official game sheet and a bottle of wine that was a gift from Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour. After that, Dave did another interview, this one with TSN, and then Sarah helped Dave carry his pads back to their truck.
That trek to the truck was one of the calmest moments Sarah has had in the past three days. Dave’s performance has transcended hockey, he’s been on national news and late-night talk shows. He’s been flown across the country and the Hurricanes flew him into Raleigh so he could be honored by fans at Tuesday’s game against the Dallas Stars.
Sarah nearly wasn’t able to join Dave on this adventure because her passport had expired. She spent five hours on Monday working on getting it renewed and just made a flight from Toronto that landed in Raleigh 20 minutes before Dave flew in from New York.
It was quite a day but I pulled it off!!! pic.twitter.com/AaXpoBd38f
— 🇨🇦Sarah Ayres🇨🇦 (@35Ayres) February 25, 2020
When the Hurricanes introduced Dave to local media members on Tuesday morning in a 30 minutes press conference, Sarah was with him beaming throughout the interview, laughing when questions where posed about whether book and movie rights had been sold yet.
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Sarah herself estimates she’s done at least a dozen interviews since the incident and life has been a “complete whirlwind.” Sarah runs an eye-lash extension business called Lashed Out in Bowmanville, Ont., and has had to put clients on hold for the time being.
“I told them earlier this week, I can’t do anything until at least Wednesday,” she said. “It’s probably going to be longer than that.”
On Saturday, there might be a slight return to normalcy. The anonymity will be gone, but Sarah and Dave will be back in Section 317 just in case he gets called into action when the Maple Leafs host the Vancouver Canucks.
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