Councillor Rob Ford, who was often criticized as mayor for missing votes at council, was back in the old habit Tuesday night.

Ford was spotted via the usual social media I’m-at-a-Leafs-game-with-Rob-Ford” posts at the Leaf’s game to watch the boys in blue (mercifully) beat Tampa Bay 3-1.

Back at city hall, councillors were voting whether to study whether Woodbine race track should be the future home for a casino. When Ford missed those votes, several city hall watchers went looking for his whereabouts. Woodbine is in Ford’s ward and he had also missed the debate and vote at executive committee – where he is not a member but permitted to attend and ask questions as a visiting councillor.

The Sun’s Don Peat tweeted that Ford had apparently gone to a funeral visitation for a family friend. Twitter called hogwash, re-tweeting pictures of Ford at the game, wearing the same suit and tie he had earlier worn on the council floor – including when he stood to apologize for making racial slurs.

Dan Jacobs, Ford’s executive assistant, told me on Wednesday that Ford did first go to a funeral visitation for a family friend. When asked about the game, Jacobs said he attended afterwards.

“Once he was done there, he went to the Leaf’s game with his son, because his son had never been to a Leaf’s game before,” he said.

One picture posted on Twitter shows Ford posing with two women and a small boy who appears to be Ford’s youngest child. Ford spoke last week about the strain on his family of his rare and aggressive cancer. He expects to learn Thursday if doctors can operate to remove an abdominal tumour.

Jacobs said he wasn’t at city hall when Ford left Tuesday around 5 p.m. as council was discussing the Woodbine item.

It’s not clear when he left the visitation and travelled to the ACC for the 7:30 p.m. game, as his council colleagues debated a controversial item about appointments to the board of health.

Ford’s attendance records at council as mayor grew continually worse over his four-year term. At the beginning of 2014, his attendance was the 24th best of 45 total members. He missed just over 20 per cent of the votes in 2013. He famously skipped council and executive meetings to coach the Don Bosco Eagles football team in Etobicoke.