Chan and Morris capped their five-year quest of attending a game at every NHL arena at the Calgary Flames vs. Edmonton Oilers game at Scotiabank Saddledome on Saturday, then got engaged after Chan proposed to Morris on the JumboTron.
Tweet from @NHLFlames: The 'Dome was Julie and Joanna's final stop on their @NHL arena tour, capping off a five-year journey ... and starting a new chapter in their lives. pic.twitter.com/vMiVhAynWf
"I was completely overwhelmed. I was completely caught by surprise," Morris told NHL.com. "It was a very interesting experience for me because the second I saw her get down on a knee, it was as if she and I were in a room by ourselves. ... I forgot that we were on such a big stage, and then it quickly all came back when I heard the cheers and everyone was all around us and excited, but there was a brief moment where it felt surprisingly intimate."
Chan got the idea to cap the tour with the proposal in February, after they finished a 720-mile trip where they saw games in Buffalo, Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal. She contacted the Flames, who were caught off guard by her inquiry.
"They didn't believe my story at first; I guess they thought it was so unique and out there," Chan said. "Every day I was on the phone [with the Flames] and was able to convince [them] more and more that I was real. They said 'this is either a super-elaborate prank, or you're the real deal.'".
Chan is originally from Boston, and Morris is from Detroit, but they both live in West Hollywood, California and are Los Angeles Kings season-ticket holders. They met while working together at Netflix, and the arena tour started shortly after they started dating five years ago. Their first game together was a Kings home game against Morris' beloved Detroit Red Wings on Feb. 27, 2013.
They fully committed to seeing every NHL arena shortly after and aimed to attend as many games as possible while using as few vacation days. Typically, they'd fly from Los Angeles to their destination Friday for a game Saturday and return home Sunday. They only used two weeks of vacation time for hockey trips in the five years of the tour.
Morris and Chan also strived to immerse themselves entirely in each game and arena. Chan bought a game puck and jersey at each of the 31 arenas, though the Flames provided personalized jerseys to each Saturday. They agreed that Madison Square Garden in New York was their top arena of the tour.
"We try to be really immersive and see what it's like purchasing stuff at the store," Morris said. "We'd go to all the vendors and try to figure out what the best food option is. We try to look at it holistically."
Besides forever serving as the site of their engagement, the Saddledome was the couple's 10th new arena of the 2017-18 season. After Morris said yes, they were bombarded with congratulations by fans of both teams for the rest of the game.
"We were just overwhelmed by how warm and how supportive everyone was," Chan said. "We couldn't walk out to the concourse without getting tons of hugs and congratulations. That was what made that particular trip, and that stadium so special, because everyone was so great."
