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Top 5 Most Hated Toronto Maple Leafs Members of All-Time

By Stephen Nixon

BOSTON, MA - APRIL 21: Jake Gardiner #51 of the Toronto Maple Leafs reacts after Sean Kuraly #52 of the Boston Bruins scored during the second period of Game Five of the Eastern Conference First Round in the 2018 Stanley Cup play-offs at TD Garden on April 21, 2018 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
BOSTON, MA - APRIL 21: Jake Gardiner #51 of the Toronto Maple Leafs reacts after Sean Kuraly #52 of the Boston Bruins scored during the second period of Game Five of the Eastern Conference First Round in the 2018 Stanley Cup play-offs at TD Garden on April 21, 2018 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images) /
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BOSTON, MA – DECEMBER 8: Jake Gardiner #51 of the Toronto Maple Leafs  . (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images) /

#4. Jake Gardiner

From one defenseman to another, Gardiner is another player that went from loved to hated very quickly. When Gardiner was acquired from Anaheim with Joffrey Lupul, it was one of the best deals the team had ever made.

Gardiner’s skating and ability to keep his head-up at the blue-line was something fans adored about him. He was the modern-day NHL defenseman that looked like a top-defenseman at times. However, that all came to a screeching end pretty quickly.

Although his offense was great, his defense wasn’t fun to watch and it proved to be costly at the biggest moments. Game 7’s weren’t particularly fun for any Toronto Maple Leafs player, but it was a living Hell for Jake Gardiner. I know that plus/minus isn’t the best statistic to follow anymore, but Gardiner was a minus-10 in his last three Game 7’s in Toronto.

When it’s that bad, that means something. Gardiner was on the ice when Boston scored to finish their miraculous comeback in 2013 and was also at the center of a horrific giveaway for Boston’s game-winning goal in 2019. Even if the Toronto Maple Leafs and Gardiner were able to come to terms on a league-minimum contract, I don’t think the Leafs could have done it.

Gardiner’s time in Toronto had been so tough in the biggest moments, that the fan-base would have been even more cruel to him if he returned. It’s unfortunate to see a fan-base destroy a player so much, but that’s what happened with Gardiner. There’s a main highway in Toronto called the Gardiner Expressway that fans would rather sit on for a week than have to watch Jake Gardiner ever play a playoff game in the blue-and-white.

Important note: Gardiner never deserved the ire of Leafs fans. He had the unfortunate habit of making it really ugly when he made an error, but a statistical analysis of his play showed he was an above average top pairing defender during his prime.  You could make a case study about confirmation bias using Jake Gardiner, but you’ll never change how a good portion of the fans feel about him.

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