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The Toronto Maple Leafs have a history that stretches back to 1917, and the Original Six team is far and away the most popular NHL franchise based in Canada.
That’s pretty impressive when you consider the majority of their fans weren’t even alive the last time the team earned the right to hoist the Stanley Cup, as Toronto hasn’t won hockey’s ultimate prize since 1967.
The Maple Leafs also have plenty of haters thanks in no small part to the inordinate amount of media coverage they receive in the Great White North compared to arguably more successful teams, and the backlash is compounded by people who take issue with the many Toronto supporters with a tendency to cling to a past they didn’t even witness and the fact that the team can’t even spell “Leaves” correctly.
It’s hard to imagine anyone despises the Leafs enough to attend a game to root against them on sheer principle, especially when you consider the average ticket to a contest at Scotiabank Arena sells for around $150.
However, that appears to be the case with a couple of fans who would assuredly be guests of honor at the Playa Haters’ Ball if it existed in real life.
On Tuesday, a couple of spectators clad in Panthers jerseys were spotted rooting for Florida during the team’s 4-2 win over Toronto in Game 1 of their second-round Stanley Cup Playoff showdown.
It didn’t take long for people to realize those fans were seen wearing Lightning jerseys when the Leafs hosted Tampa Bay in the first round (where Toronto exorcised some demons), and while you could simply assume they had some sort of connection to Florida, things took an interesting turn when the internet unearthed another picture of one of them wearing a Coyotes jersey at a game earlier this season.
These fans showing up to Leafs home games wearing the visitor's sweater is LEGENDARY levels of hate pic.twitter.com/01xi0SIZUy
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) May 3, 2023
Find someone who loves you as much as those people hate the Maple Leafs.