On the same night Mitch Marner racked up a natural hat trick for the Vegas Golden Knights in the Stanley Cup final, Luke Combs welcomed William Nylander to his stage where the Maple Leafs star shotgun a beer in front of delighted fans at the country star’s concert.
Audience videos posted on social media late Saturday night showed Nylander joining Combs on stage along with Toronto Blue Jays pitchers Kevin Gausman and Patrick Corbin at Rogers Stadium.
The screen had the caption “Nylander Toronto Blue Jays” as Nylander, Gausman — the scheduled starter for Toronto against the Orioles at 1:37 p.m. Sunday — and Corbin emerged from backstage to cheers from the crowd. The trio brought out beers and were soon joined by Combs. All four then downed their drinks in unison as the crowd roared its approval.
In the past, Combs has brought out the likes of Cole Caufield and Nick Suzuki, Peyton Manning, and Zach Werenski onstage to shotgun a beer during the song “1, 2 Many” which normally appears near the end of the set.
Many players on the Blue Jays team were at the Combs concert but only Gausman and Corbin hit the stage. Gausman then shut the Orioles down on Sunday for the first four innings before giving up four runs in the fifth.
“It was cool,” Gausman said after the game about the concert. “I’ve never got to do anything like that before in my life. When I was asked, I said ‘yeah’ (because) I’m never going to get asked to do something like that again. So, yeah, I did it for sure. It was cool.
“I think it’s great to get away from the game. We spend so much time together but guys are a little different when they’re here. To get guys away from the clubhouse without having their focus on the job is nice. They can kind of let their hair down a little bit and have fun and a watch a great show. It was awesome.”
Nylander and the Maple Leafs missed the post-season this season for the first time in 10 years and finished with the fifth-worst record in the NHL. But Toronto won the draft lottery in early May, securing the right to select first June 26.
Marner is the leader in points with 28 in the playoffs this season including three goals and an assist in Vegas’s 5-4 win in double overtime.
The appearance on stage will likely be included on Nylander’s YouTube channel, which documents his life off the ice. His last video two weeks ago showing what he’s been doing since the Leafs were eliminated has more than 120,000 views and hundreds of comments.
Combs was playing the second of two shows at Rogers Stadium after performing there Friday.
With files from Hayden Godfrey and Gregor Chisholm
