There are mixed feelings about the Toronto Maple Leafs new goal song, but I personally think they nailed it for a new generation of fans.
Every old-school Toronto Maple Leafs writer in the world will be using the phrase “pursuit of happiness” to reference the Toronto Maple Leafs path to a Stanley Cup this season, which will be annoying, but I digress.
For the past few years, every Auston Matthews goal scored at Scotiabank Arena has been followed by “You Make My Dreams (Come True)” by Hall & Oates. It’s a fine song by itself, but it didn’t fit the vibes for the modern-day fan.
After a two-year debate, an announcement of a new goal song came three hours prior to puck drop of the home opener, which made fans online excited and anxious. The team also announced that they will have a few different goal songs throughout the year, based on different theme nights, but for the majority, the song we heard on Wednesday night (five times!) will be the main goal song for the 2023-24 season.
The anticipation killed us, and although it looked like the Leafs may never score a goal on Wednesday, they eventually did and we finally heard the new song, which is a remixed version of “Pursuit of Happiness” by Kid Cudi and Steve Aoki.
It felt a little weird not hearing “You Make My Dreams (Come True)” anymore, but I quickly realized it was a great choice.
Toronto Maple Leafs Goal Song is Perfect
If you’re over 40 years old, you’re probably not going to like the Leafs new goal song and that’s okay, but this song isn’t about you. It’s about a new generation of fans and one that’s supposed to turn Scotiabank Arena into a King Street night club, unlike the Hall & Oates song that made your parents want to do the “boogie.”
When it comes to party-songs over the past decade, the only song to rival this, is maybe “Levels” by Avicii, so I can’t think of a better song to get people hyped. If you’re ever seen the movie Project X, you know exactly what I mean and if you haven’t seen it, go watch it right now and you’ll want to set a few cop cars on fire and have the greatest night of your life.
This song clearly influenced the Leafs roster, because once the first goal went in, they couldn’t stop scoring. Auston Matthews potted three goals on the night and the team went onto to defeat the Montreal Canadiens in comeback fashion 6-5, in a shootout.
As previously mentioned, there’s going to be a demographic of people who hate this song and hate this type of music in general, which is okay, but I feel bad for them.
Maybe when the next goal song comes around, we’ll get something from the Alan Parsons Project to make the boomers happy, but until then, let’s celebrate with “Pursuit of Happiness” all the way to the Stanley Cup this year.