Maple Leafs ditch postgame salute to fans after win
Even when they win, controversy finds the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The Leafs snapped a three-game losing streak Thursday night, defeating the Tampa Bay Lightning 5-2 at the Air Canada Centre.
After the final buzzer, the victors gathered and celebrated. Then, rather than the customary stick-raising salute to fans at center ice, they skated off.
Turns out, it was intentional.
Everyday in Tor it's something. Today, outrage because the Leafs ditched the stick salute to the fans. Player decision. Coaches didn't know.
— Darren Dreger (@DarrenDreger) November 21, 2014
To their credit, the three stars of the game - forward James van Riemsdyk, goaltender Jonathan Bernier and winger David Clarkson - each emerged from the tunnel and saluted the fans individually.
One member of the team told Sportsnet's Chris Johnston the group simply wanted to "change things up" and didn't mean to offend paying customers.
“(We have) the most passionate fans in the world here and a lot of coverage for our team, so you know there’s going to be a lot of people giving their two cents - deserved or not,” van Riemsdyk said after the game.
“We’ve just got to be ready to just not worry about that and worry about what we’re doing here.”
Whether it's fans tossing jerseys on the ice, players leaving media scrums prematurely or the sudden lack of a postgame stick salute, there's never a dull moment in Toronto.