It was just supposed to be another Thursday night beer league game for The Colts at Canlan Ice Sports on the outskirts of York University.

But then Maple Leafs Mikhail Grabovski and Nikolai Kulemin walked into the dressing room, and the men couldn’t believe their eyes.

“This is awesome. I love it. Being a lifelong Leaf fan and experiencing something like this is unbelievable,” said Colt Bernard Grzinic. “It’s a dream come true. So surprised.”

The same excitement occurred across the hall where Leafs Colby Armstrong and Tim Connolly suddenly showed up to coach the Delta Force.

Instead of just another game in the Adult Safe Hockey League (ASHL), the match was transformed into a Toronto Maple Leafs game experience complete with Joe Bowen broadcasting the play by play for fans and announcer Andy Frost introducing each player as he skated onto the ice.

The Colts wore Leaf uniforms while the Delta Force skated in jerseys belonging to the event’s beverage sponsor.

Players knew ahead of time that they’d been selected to play in a special game, and were stunned when they entered their dressing rooms and saw jerseys with their names hung in their stalls. But they had no idea the Leafs would be behind the bench.

“I was already shocked but this (Leaf coaches) was just unbelievable,” said Mike Addie, 36, a bank fraud investigator from Richmond Hill, who on game nights acts as the captain and goalie of the Colts. “I’m very surprised. We made the big time.”

Some of the Colts players have been playing for 10 years, Addie said.

“The neat thing about our group is how we’ve essentially grown up together. We were all in our 20s when we started and had girlfriends and just starting our careers. Since then we’ve had weddings, kids, our responsibilities have changed and our cars have gotten a little nicer but we still enjoy it enough to get out once a week and play.”

Neither Grabovski nor Kulemin had ever coached before and both seemed a bit in awe of being asked to coach and being inside a rec league team’s dressing room.

“This is so weird. I don’t like being a coach but I try,” Grabovski said after he and his linemate shook every player’s hand in the dressing room.

His strategy to win?

“Keep it simple. Score goals. Work hard,” Grabovski said.

Kulemin said it felt strange to be behind the bench.

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“It’s so much fun. These guys are older than me,” Kulemin said. “I don’t think I should coach now. Maybe later.”

Earlier in the evening former Leafs Darryl Sittler and Darcy Tucker signed autographs.

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