I’m an advocate for outdoor games but the Toronto Maple Leafs vs. Buffalo Sabres is a terrible matchup.
For years, the Toronto Maple Leafs have been considered the laughing stock of the NHL, when in fact, their southern neighbors down the QEW are the biggest joke of the league.
Being a fan of the Leafs is a struggle. They continue to lose in the First Round of the playoffs, in the most excruciating way possible, but at least there’s hope. Buffalo, on the other hand, hasn’t made the playoffs in 10 years, and they won’t be doing so any time soon.
Since 2014, the Sabres have had four draft picks within the top-two and they’ve still continued to be abysmal. Instead of using those high drafts and turning the franchise around like the Leafs did when they selected Mitch Marner and Auston Matthews, Buffalo has somehow gotten even worse.
Sure, the Sabres have had more playoff success than the Leafs over the past 30 years and have actually reached a Stanley Cup Final, somewhat recently, but overall, I’d say 99/100 sports fans would rather be a Leafs fan than a Sabres fan right about now.
Toronto Shouldn’t Play Buffalo in Outdoor Game
Reports indicate that the Toronto Maple Leafs will face the Buffalo Sabres at Tim Horton’s Field in Hamilton on March 13, 2022. Although that’s a fun idea, it makes zero sense that Buffalo gets to play in that game.
The Leafs and Sabres are not rivals.
Buffalo is the closest NHL team in proximity to Toronto, but that’s the only thing they share. The John Scott vs. Phil Kessel incident from 2013 was a fun storyline, but that happened eight years and most of the fanbase probably forgot it even happened.
Obviously it makes sense to have Buffalo in this game because Hamilton is the halfway point between Toronto and Buffalo, but the Sabres are terrible. By March 13, 2022, Buffalo is going to have already been eliminated from playoff contention for two months.
People are going to watch this game and attend this game regardless of who Toronto plays, but it would have been a much bigger spectacle if we saw Toronto versus one of either the Montreal Canadiens, Boston Bruins or Ottawa Senators.
During the past decade, we’ve seen Toronto face the Detroit Red Wings twice and Washington Capitals once. Obviously there’s an “Original Six” component with Detroit, but with Washington, there was nothing other than one playoff series in 2017.
At least there was some connection with the Capitals, where there’s absolutely nothing between the Leafs and Sabres right now.
The NHL should have done a better job marketing this game and we should have had the opportunity to see the oldest rivalry in hockey, instead of Toronto more than likely beating the Sabres 6-0 on a football field.