While cheering on opposing teams, a proposal from a Flames fan in Game 4 of the Battle of Alberta received a resounding “yes” from the Oilers’ loving girlfriend.
Tessa Monias and Payden Partaker were in Rogers Place on Tuesday night, for their respective teams, when Partaker said a camera was approaching him.
He says, “Hi, buddy, I see your girlfriend is an Edmonton fan, when the Oilers score, I’ll point the camera at you and wrap you up,” he said.
Partaker said at the time that he whispered in the camera’s ear, “When the Oilers score, I’ll make a proposal to my girlfriend.”
With a surprise gesture from the camera, the plan was underway. Partaker didn’t know it, he didn’t have to wait long. Just 21 seconds after the first period, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins opened the scoring, causing Partaker to fall to his knees much earlier than expected.
“She was so busy watching and cheering on her team,” he said. “He didn’t even realize I was on my knees.”
“It was like, in a state of shock and I couldn’t believe it, it was amazing,” Monias said. “I still can’t believe it.”
Partaker was expecting an interlocutor here and there, but there were no detractors around.
“I was hoping that at least one Edmonton Oiler fan would tell me, ‘Don’t do it, it’s a Calgary Flames fan,’ but the fans around us really felt like family,” Partaker said. “They were congratulating us and they were happy for us.”
The team rivalry between the pair is deeply sown, each cheering on their father’s favorite team. Calgary for Partaker, Edmonton for Monias.
“It made us strong, because we had to hear hazing from both sides,” Partaker laughed.
Partaker said his plan if the Oilers didn’t score was to propose it in the final seconds of the third period.
“It was going to happen no matter what happened,” Partaker said.
Filed with Carlyle Fiset of CTV News Edmonton