On Thursday, the Toronto Maple Leafs snapped a three-game slide by defeating the Tampa Bay Lightning 5-2. The previous two games saw the Leafs lose by a combined score of 15-4, losing 6-2 to Buffalo, and a somehow even more embarrassing 9-2 loss to the Nashville Predators. Following those losses everything came under the microscope in Leafs nation: the coach, the GM, the leadership, and the core players. The 9-2 loss was a home game, which meant more jerseys thrown on the ice. A trend this season for Leafs fans. I've already shared my opinion on jersey tossing.
Now the news following the Leafs win over the Lightning was not that they won, it was what they didn't do that made headlines: salute the fans. After every home win this season, the Leafs have been saluting the crowd. To be honest, I was at Thursday's game and it didn't even register with me that they didn't do the salute. So at first, when I realized it, I didn't take it as a snub, I just thought it was interesting that they would decide to do that after the last two embarrassments of games, but I just chalked it up to bad timing. But then I saw this Mark Masters report and I got angry.
"For us as athletes...whenever we can change something up and try to change routine, if it works for us, then that's something we're going to stick to," Captain Dion Phaneuf explains.
Then someone, who I assume is a reporter, asks Phaneuf "how does this help?" Phaneuf cannot answer and abruptly ends the interview after the reporter presses him a couple more times on the issue. Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the Captain of Leafs Nation!
How does saluting the crowd affect how you play in a game? You salute the crowd after the game after you've won! It sounds to me like the players are, for lack of a better word, punishing the fans for tossing jerseys. Of course, this is all speculation.
On Thursday, the Leafs played one of their best games this season. They came out strong, and they played a solid 60 minutes. The Leafs really competed, and they showed the fans what they're capable of against a strong Tampa Bay Lightning team. And you know what? That was one of the best mid-week crowds at the ACC that I've ever been a part of! The crowd backed their team 100%.
We can't say for sure whether the Leafs decided to not salute the crowd because fans tossed their jerseys, all we're doing is speculating. But common sense dictates that if you're going to make a decision like that, you probably shouldn't implement it after your first win after a 9-2 loss.
TSN's Bob McKenzie tweeted out this morning something that sums up this whole situation perfectly:
It's REALLY dumb so many talking about TOR players not saluting fans, but not half as dumb as players picking THAT moment to alter routine.
— Bob McKenzie (@TSNBobMcKenzie) November 21, 2014
If the team really did just want to change their routine for whatever reason, fine, I don't really care about the salute that much. But if you're doing it to send a message to fans because they tossed jerseys, then all you're doing is angering an already pissed off fan base. Why should fans respect an organization where the players don't respect the fans?
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