March 29, 2011; Toronto, ON, CANADA; Toronto Maple Leafs players salute their fans after defeating the Buffalo Sabres 4-3 at the Air Canada Centre. Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports

It appears that even people outside of earth are happy to see the lockout come to an end and NHL hockey return to arenas shortly. Canadian Astronaut Chris Hadfield tweeted from space on Sunday that he was looking forward to cheer on the Toronto Maple Leafs again. He was able to send out the tweet from orbit at the International Space Station and also included a picture of himself holding a Maple Leafs plaque. Hadfield will be spending five months in space, and in March will become the first Canadian to control the orbiting station.

Of course there were many non-Leaf supporters that had no problem cracking some jokes about the tweet. My personal favourite was from Mike Lake, an Alberta Tory MP and Edmonton Oilers fan, who pointed out that man walking on the moon in 1969, happened more recently than the Maple Leafs last Stanley Cup victory. Lake went on to add that Hadfield may make it to Mars before Toronto once again hoists the Cup.

Now that I think about, Hadfield was probably excited that he could route for his team in the one place he wouldn’t be ridiculed, outer space. However, thanks to the power of social media, Maple Leaf fans aren’t even safe from taunts if they leave the planet.