As the Toronto Maple Leafs ended their season by getting routed 6-1 by the Florida Panthers in Sunday’s Game 7, the stakes were just as high for a Barrie, Ont. business owner.
Emil Kamel, owner of North Swing Golf Lounge and a diehard Leafs fan, attended Game 7 at Scotiabank Arena after making an ambitious promise to his guests if the Leafs would have won.
“We decided to post that we will cover everyone’s tab in our watch party if the Leafs win,” said Kamel in an interview with CTV News on Monday.
North Swing Golf Lounge announced the promotion via social media hours before Sunday’s puck drop.
“I had some people ask me, ‘is this a scam,’ or ‘what’s going on, what’s the catch,’” recalled Kamel. “After Game 6, I said, ‘you know what, this is so celebratory if the Leafs can pull it off,’ so I wanted everyone to celebrate with us.”
After no goals were scored in the first period of the do-or-die tilt, the Panthers scored three straight in the second period.
“A lot of people were messaging me, saying, ‘hey, you may have saved some money.’ But I was more excited to celebrate and actually pay our customers tabs,” admitted Kamel.
The tabs could have amounted to thousands between bar tabs and golf simulator rentals according to Kamel.
“We even let two Panthers fans in the building, and I think they were in a pretty good spot. They couldn’t lose,” he chuckled. “Either their team wins and they’re happy, or their team loses and they have a free ability to get covered by the house.”
Instead, North Swing Golf Lounge will turn their focus to golf for the rest of the spring.
“I think next year’s our year,” concluded Kamel about his hopes for the Leafs.
