Thoughts on Boo Birds

So the Leafs threw another clunker, blowing a 2-0 lead en route to a 6-3 loss to the Avs.

Had to be out covering some event in the morning, and so I missed the entire first period, one-third of the second period and all of the third. Was a long day, with some extra work late at night as well, but I managed to find some time to get on my stationary bike and watched the last 30 minutes of the game.

(Couldn't find the home team feed from TSN. Ended up watching the Avs homer broadcast crew. I am not used to watching U.S. broadcasters calling my team, but I gave it a chance this time. Never hurts to hear some different outside perspective on our guys like Matthews, Marner and JT. One thing I learned from this telecast: "Classic Poutine" at Scotiabank Arena goes for $13.00. Back to the blog.)

Since this was an ugly loss (feel like I've been saying that a lot about the Leafs lately), I really don't have much to say about the game itself. But let me tell you about the boo birds that came out in the third period.

D-man Jake Gardiner was the target every time he played the puck in the 3rd. It was because of this play in the 2nd period.


 
It was a shortie that put the other guys up 3-2. Now, Gardiner got to the puck first, had the inside position on Soderberg, somehow lost control of the rubber and Soderberg just outworked him to score that goal. Great effort by the Avs forward but also a terrible play by Jake.
 
I've mentioned in passing in an earlier entry about how Gardiner's mistakes can be glaring and easy to spot even to casual observers of the game. As mistakes go, nothing can be more glaring than losing the puck battle in your own zone on a power play and giving up a go-ahead SHG.
 
Jake didn't play the rest of the 2nd period. Once he got back on the ice in the third, he started getting jeered every time he touched the puck.
 
His teammates later came to Jake's defense. And he also had support from Chris Johnston of Sportsnet.

If you don't want to bother reading the whole thing... here's how Johnston felt about the boos.

"Why Gardiner? Why now? It seemed completely out of place."

Well, guess what. IT'S BECAUSE GARDINER PLAYER A HORRIBLE GAME!!

Out of place? NO, BECAUSE IT'S NOT EVEN THE FIRST BAD GAME GARDINER HAS PLAYED THIS MONTH!!

Gardiner said afterward booing is not something you want to hear. OH YEAH? THEN START PLAYING BETTER!!

Apologies for all caps there, but I am of the opinion that fans who've shelled out hundreds of dollars to go watch a professional sports game in person have the right to do whatever they want to do, as long as they don't physically harm the athletes or other fans around them.

And for my money (no pun intended), of all the fan bases out there across North America, people who attend the Leafs games deserve that as much as anyone.

Not saying the amount of money you pay for tickets is directly proportional to the degree to which you can heckle athletes on the ice/field/court... But man, these fans don't go to these games to watch their favorite team lose or, worse yet, look horrendous doing so.

In my 7 years in Toronto, I went to exactly two Leafs games, both at the old Maple Leaf Gardens. I once paid to watch a practice at the old ACC (yup, that's the centre of the hockey universe for 'ya. Those guys charge you to practices, and we suckers gladly pay) but only watched a couple of Raptors games there, never the Leafs.

Now, hockey tickets sure are expensive, though not to the point that I couldn't have gone at least once a season. It's just that they're impossible to get. This was way before the era of StubHub and other resale channels. Even if you had the money, you had to be lucky to find tickets.

(I just went to the Ticketmaster site out of curiosity and the cheapest tix for the Jan. 23 game vs. the Caps is $169 (CDN).)

Fans who aren't season ticket holders may go to one game a season. If they're like me back in the days, this loss that they watched today may have been their last game in person for 5, 6 years.

And those folks were probably thinking, "Wait a minute, I've spent 200 dollars on a ticket, 13 bucks on poutine, 10 bucks on a beer and 20 bucks on parking FOR THIS?? I want my money back. Oh, okay, I won't get any refund. I guess I'll take out my anger on this Gardiner guy. Let's boo him."

That's perfectly fine by me.

I can see the other side. This was just one game in an 82-game season. Even with a recent slide, the Leafs are still 3rd in the East and are tied for 7th overall in the NHL with 58 points. The boys are going to make the playoffs for sure.

I get all of that. But that's really missing the point.

We haven't won the Cup since 1967. We the frustrated fans aren't here for "At least we're going to the playoffs again" stuff. WE WANT THE FREAKIN' CUP!!

I can't speak for all the fans. But it's not that I think we should win every game. That's obviously not doable. And I also know that it's humanly impossible to even give 100 percent effort every game. There will be lapses.

But I want to see fewer of those. Is that really too much to ask? I don't think so.

My other personal frustration comes from the fact that while we appear to have most pieces in place, our contending window isn't as wide as it may seem. FWIW, Gardiner will probably leave via free agency because we can't afford to pay whatever he thinks he deserves and sign both Matthews and Marner. Kapanen and Johnsson are RFAs, too. No matter how deep this year's team goes into the playoffs, there's absolutely zero chance that we'll see the exact same squad next season. Zilch, zip, nada.

And I happen to think this very group is capable of making a serious run, and it will drive me nuts to see the boys lose in the first round again and then see some pieces walk or get traded. And so when I see a game like this, it only fuels my frustration.

I've written about my expectations of the Leafs here and where I stand on this booing situation is related to that.

A common defense for athletes who get jeered by their home fans goes something like this: Hey, these guys are human. They have feelings. They're trying hard to do their job and they can make mistakes sometimes.

Yes, but they're human beings with feelings who happen to make millions of dollars to play a game, and how well or poorly they do their job has a direct influence on emotional well-being of tens of thousands of fans.

That's a lot of pressure there, but that's why being a professional athlete isn't for everyone. If you are in this line of work, you have to accept or at least brace for these challenges. I don't think it's up to the fans to try to avoid hurting athletes' feelings. By virtue of their loyalty, which they show by going to games, buying merchandise, watching games on TV or streaming games on the other side of the world like yours truly, I believe the fans reserve the right to express their anger when they feel it.

And losing 3 out of 4 to the Bruins when we're likely to meet them in the 1st round for the 2nd straight year? And falling to an Avalanche team that had lost 9 out of the previous 10 games? Blowing a 2-0 lead no less? Not good. Not good at all. That just demands booing right there.

So the athletes are upset that their own fans booed them? Try to channel that into something positive and some decent effort on the ice for a change.

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