The Toronto Maple Leafs Are Victims of Serious Disrespect

The Toronto Maple Leafs should be getting respect from the public. Recently, select players from the team were openly slighted.

The Toronto Maple Leafs are no longer in the hunt for Lord Stanley’s Mug after their far too familiar first-round exit from the playoffs. The players now have an opportunity to physically distance themselves from the sport and take a much-needed break.

A break can’t come soon enough as the Maple Leafs players have been receiving far too much disrespect as of late. This began once the Montreal Canadiens won Game 7. Fans took to social media to point fingers and demand trades. It’s not uncommon but it also isn’t fair to choose any one individual and lay the blame on them for the team’s inability to progress through the playoffs.

Taking some of the worst punishment is Mitch Marner. There is no doubt that he would have liked to have had more individual and team success but again, he is just one of many who were stymied by one of the NHL’s best goaltenders, Carey Price.

Toronto Maple Leafs Get No Love

Where things got a little strange, is when the Leafs sniper, Auston Matthews, decided to go on a group date with the world-famous Maple Leafs fan, Justin Bieber. Together, dressed in their finest sweatsuits, they and their entourage went to take in UFC 263 at Gila River Arena in Glendale, Arizona.

The relationship between the pop star and the Maple Leafs has been established for quite some time. Bieber even once hosted Matthews, Marner, and Tyson Barrie in his hometown of Stratford, Ontario for a shinny game. The MMA event this past weekend is

UFC noticed the Leafs fan and tweeted about him but snubbed the first overall draft pick of the 2016 NHL Entry Draft. Despite Matthews being in his hometown and clearly giving one of his fans the thrill of a lifetime, getting to sit next to him at a high-end sporting event, UFC didn’t even acknowledge him.

Luckily, others spotted this outrageous behavior and tried to make things right by highlighting that not just Bieber was making his entrance, but Matthews as well. TSN and Sportsnet even sent tweets that used the same video as UFC and pointed out that the hockey sniper was there too. TSN wrote, “Justin Bieber and Auston Matthews arriving at #UFC263” and Sportsnet tweeted, “.@AM34 and @justinbieber pulled up to #UFC263.”

The disrespect was on full blast on Saturday night. Even though the Canadian broadcasters did their best to right a wrong, they still managed to snub goaltender Jack Campbell’s backup, Frederick Andersen. Perhaps, they all believed that Andersen wasn’t a part of the crew because he wasn’t modeling Bieber’s clothing line but at the very least, Andersen deserved a mention. He was clad in a black Air Jordan hoodie, distinguishing him from his Arizona tour guide and his singing groupie.

The Toronto Maple Leafs clearly need more love this offseason. Make sure to do your part. If you truly need to film the players when they’re out in public with their fans, be sure to recognize them all and tag everyone appropriately. Also, (and I know this will be difficult) try to be nice to others on social media.