Top 5 Times The Toronto Maple Leafs Won Our Hearts
Hockey is back and the Penguins are off to a 2-0 start. All is right with the world, at least here in Pittsburgh.
That's not quite the case for some of our friends to the north.
Fans in Edmonton are growing tired of seeing their team in a constant state of rebuilding.
In fact, frustrations boiled over on opening night when the Oilers lost 5-2 to the Calgary Flames.
It appears one person threw a jersey on the ice in protest of the team's poor play. Another may have thrown a sweatshirt. However, that person forgot to take out their cell phone. Rookie mistake.
Again, this is all after just one game.
In the eastern part of the country, our friends in Toronto at least waited two games before turning on their beloved Maple Leafs.
Much like in Edmonton, a fan tossed a jersey on the ice during the Penguins' 5-2 win over Toronto on Saturday.
Maple Leafs fans are a special breed. Decades without a Stanley Cup will have that effect on a fanbase.
On some level, you have to feel for the fans. Toronto is a fantastic hockey city. The Hall of Fame is there for a reason.
However, the Leafs have made headlines with plenty of non-hockey related events over the past few years.
Here's a look at just a few of our favorite Maple Leafs moments in recent history:
No. 5 - 2014-15 Opening Night Montage
Opening night montages in Canada are always amazing. Go check out anything the Hockey Night in Canada crew has put together. Seriously, it's all top notch.
Anyway, the Leafs went big for this year's opening montage. It starts out simply enough with highlights and Joe Bowen yelling his signature "Holy Mackinaw!"
Then, super Maple Leafs fan Will Arnett pops up. No offense to Arnett, but is he the best the Leafs could come up with?
The best line by far is a stoic Arnett saying:
"You know something? People say the Toronto Maple Leafs are the center of the hockey universe. You know why? Because we are."
The way he says it is what makes it perfect. It's one of those situations where if you say it enough times, you'll believe it.
Watch for yourself:
No. 4 - "It Was Not Their Time"
The Maple Leafs returned to the playoffs two years ago and experienced one of the worst collapses in history.
Toronto trailed their first round series 3-1 against the Boston Bruins. But, they fought their way back to force a deciding Game 7 in Boston.
They even rode that momentum to a 4-1 lead in the third period. Victory was all but assured. Then, it all fell apart.
It's hard to even put into words how it even happened. Two goals in 82 seconds forced overtime and there wasn't a person on the planet that thought Toronto had a shot in overtime.
Patrice Bergeron beat James Reimer 6:05 into the overtime to send the Maple Leafs to the golf course.
It was simply a monumental collapse. However, leave it to the Maple Leafs to spin it into a positive.
It might be the single greatest video on the Internet you've never seen.
"The Leafs were just young enough to approach the zenith, yet a hair too young to make it happen."
Brilliant stuff.
No. 3 - "Phaneuf Signs 7-Year Extension"
A few months after the above video was released, the Maple Leafs broke out the production crew to film a contract signing.
No, this actually happened.
The captain of the Maple Leafs, Dion Phaneuf, signed a seven-year extension in December of 2013.
You really have to hand it to the Leafs' production staff.
This whole video looks like something out of an action movie where the villain sets his evil plan into motion.
There's dramatic music and lighting, aside from it looking like it was shot in a hotel room.
Then, it jarringly shifts into Phaneuf speaking over some of his highlights in a Toronto jersey.
No. 2 - "Aaaaaaand…Waffles."
It wasn't all that long ago that the Maple Leafs were bottom feeders in the National Hockey League.
Fans were basically forced into coming up with new ways to show their displeasure with the state of the franchise.
In 2010, the "waffle throw" was invented.
For reasons still unknown to this day, fans started throwing waffles on the ice at the Air Canada Centre.
The greatest example was during a loss to the Atlanta Thrashers.
The announcers take this to an entirely new level.
What is most fascinating with this particular incident is that the Leafs are threatening to score. It's at that moment when a fan throws a golden disc of deliciousness on the ice.
The announcers sound completely disgusted that someone could do such a heinous act. Can you blame them? That was a perfectly good waffle!
"Somebody could have slipped on that," the announcer proclaims.
It's a good thing the referees stopped play because we wouldn't want anyone to slip in a game played on ice.
No. 1 - "Puck Drop From Space"
This is the greatest opening montage in the history of mankind and it's not even close.
It starts out with Canadian astronaut Cmdr. Chris Hadfield floating in space at the International Space Station. Pretty cool, right?
Hadfield addresses the slightly confused crowd and eventually drops the puck from space!
With the puck hurtling toward the Earth, we're left wondering, "Who will save us?"
Have no fear.
Legendary goaltender Fleix Potvin saves mankind by catching Hadfield's puck in his glove.
The wink at the camera is just spectacular as well.
From there, the puck travels through the halls of the ACC via various other Maple Leafs legends – and Darcy Tucker.
Watch the video for yourself. The Leafs truly outdid themselves with this one.
Thanks for the memories Toronto. We can't wait to see what the future has in store!
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