Stanley Cup Champion Trolls Toronto Maple Leafs Fans Not Once, But Twice
News broke on Saturday that the Toronto Maple Leafs will host the NHL's 2024 All-Star Game weekend. Toronto ought to give the event a much greater atmosphere than South Florida.
Nothing against South Florida, I'm sure it was a fine event for fans in attendance and definitely the players. But hockey is much more culturally relevant in Toronto. It's just a fact.
While that decision possesses a ton of positive linings, one current analyst and Stanley Cup champion saw an opportunity most of us may have missed. Mike Rupp - a 2003 Stanley Cup champion with the New Jersey Devils - joked that the Toronto All-Star Game is a perfect farewell tour for superstar Auston Matthews.
ZING!
The 2023-24 season is the last in Matthews' current contract, and the current betting odds for the American staying around after are not great. Still, Maple Leafs fans aren't known to be shy - lest on the internet - so some of them clapped back at Rupp, who didn't need to say much in return.
When in doubt, pull the Ring out. That's what I always say.
A couple hours after his well-orchestrated troll-job, Rupp published another video. An 'apology' video directed to Leafs fans. Except, the former Danbury Trasher - who has always been an entertainer - was all out of actual apologies.
Instead, he tripled down and digitally suplexed an entire fanbase:
You can take the man out of the Trasher, but you can never take the Trasher out of the man. Or something like that.
| POLL | ||
FÉVRIER 5 | 338 ANSWERS Stanley Cup Champion Trolls Toronto Maple Leafs Fans Not Once, But Twice Will the Toronto Maple Leafs be able to keep Auston Matthews and/or William Nylander? | ||
| Matthews yes, Nylander no | 85 | 25.1 % |
| Nylander yes, Matthews no | 78 | 23.1 % |
| Both staying | 81 | 24 % |
| Both leaving | 94 | 27.8 % |
| LIST OF POLLS | ||
| G | A | PTS | ||
| Mikko Rantanen | 1 | 3 | 4 | |
| Jake Debrusk | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| Dylan Guenther | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| Connor McDavid | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| Ivan Barbashev | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Jack Eichel | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Brock Nelson | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Valeri Nichushkin | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Clayton Keller | - | 3 | 3 | |
| Anthony Cirelli | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Jonathan Drouin | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Roman Josi | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Kirill Marchenko | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Kyle Palmieri | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Artemi Panarin | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Sebastian Aho | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Evan Bouchard | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Rasmus Dahlin | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Leon Draisaitl | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Matt Duchene | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Complete stats | ||||
| STANDINGS 2024-2025 | ||||||
TOP 10 | GP | W | L | OL | PTS | |
Jets | 20 | 17 | 3 | - | 34 | |
Wild | 19 | 13 | 3 | 3 | 29 | |
Hurricanes | 19 | 14 | 5 | - | 28 | |
Devils | 22 | 13 | 7 | 2 | 28 | |
Capitals | 19 | 13 | 5 | 1 | 27 | |
Golden Knights | 20 | 12 | 6 | 2 | 26 | |
Maple Leafs | 20 | 12 | 6 | 2 | 26 | |
Rangers | 18 | 12 | 5 | 1 | 25 | |
Panthers | 20 | 12 | 7 | 1 | 25 | |
Flames | 20 | 11 | 6 | 3 | 25 | |
| Conference | Cumulative | ||||||