Meet the Leafs fan who screamed with joy over the Game 4 rally and went viral
Billy Kapogiannis kept screaming long after the television camera stopped recording. He found himself yelling as he left his seat inside Amalie Arena and realized he was still going even after crossing a street, walking outside in a warm, victorious evening in Tampa, Fla.
“I just couldn’t stop,” he said with a laugh. “I don’t know what the hell came out of me.”
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His reaction made him famous to television viewers and social media users on Monday night, releasing a primal scream after watching Leafs forward Alex Kerfoot cap an unlikely comeback with an overtime goal to secure a 3-1 lead over the Lightning in their first-round playoff series. Kapogiannis was seen on the Sportsnet broadcast screaming into his phone, before abandoning the call to scream into space.
By Tuesday morning, raspy and happy, he had forgotten who was on the other end of that call.
“It could have been Jesus Christ at that point, I don’t know,” he said. “I just answered: ‘Hi, Jesus! It’s the Leafs!’”
What a reaction. #LeafsForever pic.twitter.com/Dez6rm9ENO
— Brady Trettenero (@BradyTrett) April 25, 2023
Kapogiannis is a restaurant server and entrepreneur from Aurora, Ont., just north of Toronto, who flew to Florida on a whim. Sam Cortese, a friend and colleague, was standing next to him when the camera zoomed in after the win. Cortese was laughing as Kapogiannis screamed to the heavens.
“That’s the passion, that’s what being a Leaf fan is,” said Kapogiannis. “That’s what the world doesn’t understand: We’re not fans, we are Leaf fans, and there’s a difference.”
He cheers for teams in other sports, including the Dallas Cowboys.
“When it comes to the Leafs, I don’t know what happens to me,” he said. “I just go mental, if you want to know the truth.”
Tampa built a 2-0 lead through the first period and kept adding distance into the second. The Lightning were ahead 4-1 when Kapogiannis leaned over to Cortese to say he had to use the restroom. It was near the halfway point of the third period in Game 4.
He was on his way to the facilities when Auston Matthews scored. It was 4-2, and Kapogiannis made it back to his seat in time to witness the events that followed.
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“I’m getting chirped all night,” he said. “This one guy in front of me just kept chirping and chirping and chirping. I’m like, ‘Relax, bro: (The series is) still 2-1, take it easy.’
“And bang! And bang! And bang! The goals kept coming. I’m like, ‘Oh my god, I’m going to lose my mind over here.’”
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Kapogiannis works at Avenue, an Italian restaurant in Kleinburg, a 45-minute drive north of Scotiabank Arena. Cortese is a chef. They are also partners in VTL Indoor Golf & Academy, an indoor golf facility in Vaughan. (It was a customer who offered them the tickets in Tampa.)
At 59, Kapogiannis is old enough to have been alive when the Leafs won their last Stanley Cup, but not to have any living memory. He has been a fan of the franchise for his whole life, with the playoff run of 1993 seared into his memory.
He said he has twice served former Leafs captain Darryl Sittler. Once, he said, the retired forward left a sweater inside the restaurant. Someone passed him a cell number for Kapogiannis, who set the sweater aside for safekeeping.
On Monday, Kapogiannis spotted someone in Tampa wearing a Sittler jersey. He snapped a photo and sent it to Sittler.
He said Sittler texted back: “Go Leafs! Enjoy.”
The Leafs were also still in Tampa on Tuesday morning. With two days between games, they opted to stay the night, before returning to Toronto for a practice on Wednesday.
Toronto coach Sheldon Keefe suggested the extra day would help players decompress from the chaos of their frenzied comeback from a 4-1 deficit. (It would also, he said, give staff more time to decide if forward Michael Bunting would return to the lineup for Game 5 on Thursday, following a three-game suspension for elbowing Tampa defenceman Erik Cernak in Game 1.)
“We’ve got to prepare to win one hockey game — one very challenging hockey game,” Keefe said in a brief Zoom session with reporters on Tuesday. “Anything else outside of our preparation, and then our execution when game time comes, is a distraction.”
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Kapogiannis was still dealing with the endless distraction of his mobile phone. His nephew called him during the game, as well as his niece and his brother. At first, the messages were about his appearance on the television broadcast.
When those images hit social media, his phone became a pinwheel of dings and notifications. Cortese was still sorting through his messages on the morning after. They were scheduled to fly out later in the evening.
They would head back to the arena for a few photos. Kapogiannis would smile, but it was difficult to do much more screaming. His was hoarse.
“I have no voice,” he said. “I just kept screaming.”
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(Photo: Courtesy of Billy Kapogiannis)
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