Toronto Maple Leafs fans, take notes.
The Toronto Maple Leafs fanbase is divided.
It’s a unique situation across all major sports. Every hockey fan seems to have an opinion about the Leafs, they either love them or love to hate them. And within our fanbase, there is a clear split between the “toughness first, trade Nylander, back-in-my-day” crowd and the (usually younger) “skill-above-all, analytics matter” crowd.
And then there are folks like me, who see the positives of both sides and try to keep the peace while stating just how dumb the divide really is.
I wanted to talk just about that, while also reminding everyone that instead of tearing each other down, there are 31 other fanbases that are hoping for nothing but the Toronto Maple Leafs completely failing in this bold new approach to building a team.
Below you’ll find some hot takes and (good-natured) ribbing about all 32 NHL teams (Seattle doesn’t get a free pass just because they don’t properly exist yet). I organized the teams by division, using the realignment that’s been proposed for a couple of seasons from now, once the 32nd team is established.
Most of my “criticisms” are directed towards the teams themselves, but some go to the respective fanbases. All of them, with exception to the Toronto Maple Leafs segment, should not be taken too seriously. Most of it is in the interest of good fun and stoking up the competitive flames that have petered out over the long break in play. Without further ado, let’s begin.