Most diehard sports fans will admit that naming their first-born child after their favourite player has crossed their mind at least once.

But one Toronto Maple Leafs fan in Kingston, Ont., has taken that dream a step further, naming all five of his children after members of the team. And it’s not the names you might expect.

Kadri Lee Amey, born Oct. 27 and named in honour of Leafs centre Nazem Kadri, is now the fifth of her siblings to be named in honour of current or former Leafs.

The four other children of Misty and Dave Amey — two girls and two boys, in that order — are Justice Tucker, 11 (after Darcy Tucker), Angel McCabe, 10 (Bryan McCabe), Domi, 9 (Tie Domi) and Colton Orr, 5.

“Those guys, they don’t get all the recognition but they do the grittiest, the grindiest work out on the ice, night in and night out,” Dave said.

“I don’t want to knock the superstars like the Kessels, the Crosbys, but it’s not about the name on the back. You play for the logo on the front and that’s what I felt those players did the best.”

Dave said he came up with the children’s names. Justice Tucker came from Darcy Tucker’s on-ice relationship with former Leafs captain Mats Sundin. The cross-crease pass the two used was a “guaranteed goal, every time,” Dave explained.

“That was in the net almost every single time, and goalies knew it was coming,” he said. “So that’s kind of how I looked at it with my first daughter. As long as I set her up for success, she will succeed every time.”

The other Amey children were named in a year significant to a particular Leafs player, he explained, usually inspired by the resilience of their respective players.

“No matter what that guy took, he always came back, and he was always there for his team,” Dave said of Angel’s namesake, Bryan McCabe.

While he said he doesn’t condone violence, Domi and Orr were picked because Dave admired how they stood up for their teammates.

“Those guys would step in and say, ‘Enough’s enough, you’re not picking on these guys. Come pick on this guy,’ ” he said.

As for Kadri, he’s got “sweet hands . . . and he’s a really gritty player,” Dave said.

Nazem Kadri wished the family “all the best” in reply to a tweet by Dave’s wife, Misty, about their daughter’s birth.

While Dave bleeds blue and white, the names have been a tougher sell for Misty, who’s not a Leafs fan. Although she’s yet to veto any of Dave’s ideas, she said she initially preferred Kadri as a middle name before coming around to it being a first name.

“It’s not just a Leafs thing, it’s a hockey, sports thing. I’m not really, never was, into sports,” she said. “When he first mentioned it, it didn’t sit very well and then the more I heard it, it actually sounded kind of nice. It was something that grew on me.”

Misty said she’s learned a lot about the sport through her children’s names and now watches each Leafs game with her husband.

Candace Alper, a baby name expert on parenting blog YummyMummyClub.ca, said she loved the idea of naming children after famous role models.

“I don’t think I’ve come across anything quite this expansive,” she said. “If you’ve named your kid after somebody like a sports hero or any hero for that matter, the fun and important and really cool thing will be to explain why.”

While there’s some risk in naming after celebrities that aren’t universally admired, Alper said it’s no greater than the inherent risk of any particular name.

“If your kid is lucky enough to grow up with a legacy like that attached to their name, maybe they’ll grow into it,” Alper said. “It doesn’t mean they have to become hockey players or even hockey fans for that matter, but if those pieces are things that they could apply to anything that they do and touch in life, then that’s cool.”

If the couple were to have another child, Dave said former Leafs goalie James Reimer could be next in line for a name, continuing with the theme of unsung heroes, rather than the club’s current crop of up-and-coming scorers.

“If I were to have another baby next year,” said Dave, “there’s no way on earth I’d pick Auston Matthews.”

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