The Most Unique Toronto Maple Leafs Art on the Internet

Mixing the Toronto Maple Leafs with art and social media have created a truly unique piece of prose that can’t be found anywhere else.

The world’s most beautiful sport has been put on hold. So too have most things that require social gatherings. It’s a necessary measure but it has Toronto Maple Leafs fans missing the poetry of hockey.

Without on-ice action, there is a void of poetry but not for much longer. Prepare yourself for what is about to be the oddest mix of hockey and art. This will take the form of a much-maligned poetry style, the haiku.

A traditional haiku is made up of three lines where syllables are counted. Their sum needs to be 17 syllables. It’s broken down by having five in the first line, seven in the second, and five in the third. Haikus don’t need to rhyme and most often they do not. Also, there aren’t any capitalization or punctuation rules. The way capitalization and punctuation get used is up to the individual poet.

Understanding these traditional haiku rules, Twitter was used to put together some new art. The artists are the ones who usually paint beautiful pictures with their sticks and skates, the Maple Leafs.

Combing through the Toronto Maple Leafs and its players’ accounts, individual tweets were pulled in order to create a pair of traditional haikus.

Haiku #1

The first haiku is a combination of tweets from the Maple Leafs official Twitter account.

https://twitter.com/MapleLeafs/status/1234512688178434049

You are not alone.
A phenomenal first goal
Bear Hugs between Buds

These poems are up for interpretation. They may mean something different to each of their readers. That’s the beauty of poetry.

Haiku #2

The next Haiku is a combination of tweets from the players. The Leafs newest player, Kyle Clifford and their captain, John Tavares, authored the first two lines. The final line comes from defenseman Timothy Liljegren.

Happy thanksgiving !!
Big shout out to my good friends
Represent the stripes

Haiku #3

Two more official Maple Leafs tweets help make up the next poem. In order to complete the haiku, Matt Frattin‘s tweet is used.

Frattin was drafted by the Maple Leafs in the fourth round, 99th overall, in the 2007 NHL Entry Draft. He played with the team in parts of four seasons. He also played 174 games for the Toronto Marlies. Though he’s no longer a member of the team, his involvement over two terms with the Buds and the fact that he wrote the tweet while with the organization, allows Frattin to be included in this art project.

St. Pats practice threads
Bob Cole and the birthday boy
Thanks and no problem

While these tweets weren’t likely intended to be art, it’s what they have now become. Perhaps, with the players staying away from the arena, they’ll create their own haikus.