A dream come true for a local singer. Ella Paciocco sang the national anthem this past Saturday at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto prior to the Maple Leafs and Montreal Canadiens preseason game. It was her first time singing O Canada for an NHL game. Speaking on AM800’s Mornings with Mike and Meg, Paciocco says she submitted a video after hearing Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment was looking for a national anthem singer. “We didn’t hear back from them for a while, and they came back to us asking for another anthem video, and then randomly, like maybe a week ago, they reached out and asked if I could sing for this preseason game,” says Paciocco. She says it didn’t feel real at first. “It was a dream come true,” says Paciocco. “I’ve always been a huge Leafs fan, and my entire family are Leafs fans.” Paciocco says she was really excited going into it but the morning of woke up sick. “I was having a lot of tea and honey, lozenges, and taking really hot showers and doing everything I could the morning of, and it ended up pulling through at the end,” says Paciocco. Paciocco has sung O Canada at Windsor Spitfire games. She also sang the Star-Spangled Banner earlier this year at a Detroit Pistons game at Little Caesars Arena and last year at a United Football League game in Detroit at Ford Field. She’s in Grade 9 at St. Thomas of Villanova Secondary School in LaSalle.
