NHL team throws repeat birthday party for 11-year-old fan after viral tweet

A young hockey fan just had what might be the best birthday do-over in history.
 By 
Karissa Bell
 on 
Original image replaced with Mashable logo
Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

A young hockey fan just had what might be the best birthday do-over in history.

Kade Foster, an 11-year-old Toronto Maple Leafs fan, got the chance to celebrate his birthday with his favorite hockey team one week after his dad's tweets went viral, and it's just as heartwarming as you'd expect.

The celebration came about after Kade's father, Jason Foster, tweeted a photo from his son's planned birthday party, where none of his friends' showed up. Jason turned to his Twitter followers asking if they could share birthday wishes.


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Twitter did its thing and thousands of people tweeted messages for the young NHL fan. It also quickly made its way to Leafs team captain John Tavares. Tavares called Kade on Monday, his actual birthday, and let him know the team was inviting him and his family to their game in Toronto the following Saturday.

The Leafs went all out for the occasion. Kade and his family got to watch the Leafs' morning skate and meet the entire team ahead of the game.

The occasion was particularly special as Kade's father had previously tried, and failed, to get tickets to see the Maple Leafs earlier in the year during their training camp, according to nhl.com.

Then, during the game, the team capped off the daylong celebration with a surprise birthday cake as the entire arena sang happy birthday, alongside Leafs mascot Carlton the Bear.

It doesn't get much better than that.

Topics X/Twitter

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Karissa Bell

Karissa was Mashable's Senior Tech Reporter, and is based in San Francisco. She covers social media platforms, Silicon Valley, and the many ways technology is changing our lives. Her work has also appeared in Wired, Macworld, Popular Mechanics, and The Wirecutter. In her free time, she enjoys snowboarding and watching too many cat videos on Instagram. Follow her on Twitter @karissabe.

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