Wednesday, June 2, 2021

The Maple Leaf Pandemic Of Choking The Big One

I don't normally touch on hockey around these parts, but I can't help but comment on this.

So this past week, Game 6 of the Stanley Cup playoff series between les Canadiens de Montreal and the Toronto Maple Leafs took place in front of paying fans at the Bell Centre and the Habs celebrated the return of fans to the arena by winning an overtime game to push the series to Game 7. Not to be outdone, Toronto gave away free tickets to fully-vacced health care workers to attend said game at whatever arena they play in these days; I don't keep track.

There was an article around these parts in the local paper where the writer was chastising Montreal for charging fans to attend their Game 6 while Toronto did the noble and moral thing to give free tickets to first responders as thanks for all they have done during these trying times. And at first, I thought that there was some semblance of merit, especially since the Habs won in Game 6 and it would've been a nice feelgood moment for the crowd... and given how much shit those workers had to deal with, it would've been a nice gesture. So, clearly, Toronto has the moral high ground.

Unfortunately, those health care workers in Toronto saw the Leafs eat a 3-1 loss to le Bleu, Blanc, et Rouge in the deciding final game. As such, Montreal advances to the next round in the playoffs while Toronto wallows in misery through another post season of failure.

Honestly, I don't know what's worse. Montreal charging fans for a fun, winning game or Toronto giving first responders a free look at how a hockey club lives up to its legacy of choking. Who came out happier out of that exchange?

Final verdict? Nobody wins the morality war... but the Habs move up. We'll see how far that goes.

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