Maple Leafs get into the Halloween spirit as young fan gets wish to meet Auston Matthews

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On ice, it’s easy to tell the Maple Leafs by their numbers. 

But the team’s Halloween party this week was a chance to show some creativity with unique costumes.

“There were some good ones, there always are,” said alternate captain Morgan Rielly, who went as Beetlejuice. “It took me about an hour of makeup. It was fun, a good chance for our team to get together. 

“I know Auston (Matthews) is a big Star Wars guy so no surprise he was Darth Vader. The Swedes (William Nylander, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Pontus Holmberg) were all the different Houses of Harry Potter. That was good, too.”

Winger Bobby McMann voted for Rielly as best dressed and went for the ironic twist himself — an over-the–top Will Ferrell from the movie Blades of Glory. 

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“As if I’m not on the ice enough,” McMann joked.

Chris Tanev liked Ryan Reaves’ ensemble as Martin Lawrence from 1995’s Bad Boys.

“The younger guys probably didn’t have a clue who he was,” Tanev said. “(He mimicked) the scene where he’s in his boss’s house and pops an Ecstacy pill by accident. He did a great job.” 

The Leafs also set up a Thursday morning meeting at Scotiabank Arena with Matthews and Grayson Haire, the seven-year-old boy from Trenton, Ont., who became a social media sensation for his 3D outfit of the Leafs captain’s hockey card.

Matthews re-posted the TikTok video of Haire walking around in the get-up, complete with his sweater and signature black moustache, which Haire sported on Thursday. 

The game against the Kraken falls on the anniversary of the first regular-season game the Leafs ever played in the month of October, their 1942 match at the Gardens against the New York Rangers, a 7-2 win.

Toronto’s Halloween record since then is 14-11 with two ties.

Lhornby@postmedia.com 

X: @sunhornby