Maple Leafs: Rival Fans Bitter Over Auston Matthews Dominant Debut

It may have taken a dozen years and a hundred heartaches, but the Maple Leafs future finally revealed itself as a bright one last night.

But devastated in the wake of Auston Matthews’ record-setting debut lay thousands of Maple Leafs haters who are oh-so-quick to point out that they lost the game in overtime. Some may even be so bold as to point out how Matthews’ defensive gaffe in OT led directly to the Sens winner.

That overtime loss was about the only thing they had to say, for obvious reasons. I can assume that they watched only for the hope that Matthews would end up being an Alexander Daigle type of bust. Through 40 minutes, it is safe to say that it was time for them to panic.

But should this really be tolerated? Our number 1 pick sets an NHL record and we have to listen to chirping from the peanut gallery about giving up an OT goal on the road? Seems like as good of a time as any to really torch some of these killjoys treading on Leaf Nation’s glorious night!

After watching my beloved Toronto Blue Jays oust the Texas Rangers this week I loved watching Sid and Tim on Sportsnet roast some of the losing team’s players, such as Odor. It was pretty hilarious, and justifiable:

So I thought I’d do Leafs Nation a solid and draft a few rebuttals to the salty fans of our rivals. In the spirit of Sidney Seixeiro, here are some responses to the now infamous “but they still lost” chirps by Leaf haters:

Boston Bruins

After all the times we had to listen to “Thank-you Kes-sel” your team ended up with the NHL equivalent of a can of Heinz baked beans and a break-open ticket for Dougie Hamilton and Tyler Seguin. Getting older and picking entirely off the board for 3 consecutive 1^st rounders should really bode well to crawling out of middle of the standings purgatory, which is also now home of the:

Montreal Canadiens

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The Habs remind me of Spectre from 007 film franchise. That is, you have one main villain (Price) and a collection of no-name henchman who can’t shoot very well.  Unless Carey stays injury-free, wins every award in the NHL including the Art Ross, you’re going nowhere.

If William Nylander was on your team, not only would he be your 1C, but you’d have him anointed as the second coming of Guy Lafleur. I predict many draft picks in the 8-12 range, and trust me when I say, those are never fun.

Finally, the declining Shea Weber should be a huge upgrade over the younger/faster/higher upside PK Subban too. I don’t know about you, but I love the way your franchise is currently trending! Heading down faster than a guy wearing a turtleneck trying to draw a penalty, and it is great.

Ottawa Senators

Once your team has an “internal cap” you no longer have chirping rights. But hey, Dion Phaneuf should really have a great impact on the team. He did wonders for the Leafs. Probably had the highest win-share of any player of our team for the past 5 yrs.

Problem is, it was the other teams getting the wins. Having to eat the Pylon’s whole term and salary just to get a bunch of dead money off the books for only 2 years, due to internal financial issues, that’s just an embarrassment.

When the team is sold or the internal cap is gone, then we can resume the Battle of Ontario. Fair? Until then, go back to the kid’s table and try and figure out some sort of moneyball system for hockey. When the Senators go on the ice, they should play Thrift Shop by Macklemore.

Buffalo Sabres

Evander Kane/ Zach Bogosian for Tyler Myers/Drew Stafford/ 1^st / Prospects. Nice move! Evander should have a great season in those 20 games he manages to stay healthy. Matthews > Eichel. Deal with it. All kidding aside, your 15 yr. rebuild is going GREAT. It gets old hearing the 1967 jokes from a team still looking for Stanley Cup numero uno. You can join Ottawa at the kid’s table.

Is making fun of these fan bases immature? Maybe I still remember when I was about 11 years old growing up in Ontario. In my neighbourhood, there was this one family of Habs fans. When the Leafs would beat Montreal, like clockwork, I’d go knock on the door and stand there and make fun of them on their front porch.

And obviously, being Montreal fans, arguing with an 11-year-old jerk of a kid is perfectly acceptable.

The Leafs haven’t given us much to gloat about lately, but it appears as though the tides have finally turned. Aside from a shaky game by a goalie coming off of injury, the Leafs are undoubtedly the front-runner out of all aforementioned teams. Maybe not this year, but in the medium to long-term, it’s not even close!

Next: Matthews Faces Shameful Media Scrum

So if our rival fanbases want to talk about losing a point in overtime, on a road-opener, with the youngest team in the NHL, let them. It still doesn’t change Auston Matthews scoring four goals in his debut . . . no matter how much they wish it did.