Toronto Maple Leafs and Boston Bruins Fans Have Forgotten What Hockey Is About

Toronto and Boston are two cities with grief.

They're not comparable, but set foot in either and you'll feel it brush up against you on the downtown curb.

It’s instilled in every person, fan or whatever the difference may be.

Boston made headlines last month when the Boston Marathon was tragically bombed, killing three and wounding nearly 300 others.

Toronto is facing another kind of grind—but like I said, it's hardly comparable.

The Maple Leafs have been on the playoff schnide for nine years—until now.

It was jubilation, at first.

The city is still electric with a nostalgic buzz, but the fans are acting like this is their first time getting potty trained.

The battle between the Boston Bruins and the Toronto Maple Leafs has taken a life of its own off the ice, and in a disgraceful manner.

For whatever reason, the fans are taking matters into their own hands.

The series is in the Bruins' favour 2-1, but that's shoved down to the bottom of the sports page these days.

Here's what's making headlines: A Toronto-region Leafs fan made the trek to Boston with some friends for his birthday.

Subsequently, the Leafs came out on top and the man got KO'd by a rabid Bruins fan, coming back to Canada with three staples in his head to go along with a concussion.

Kyle Hay doesn't remember Toronto's first playoff victory in nine years, nor does he remember the night he turned 23.

Happy birthday.

A day later, a clever Torontonian showed off his "Toronto Stronger" sign in game three of the playoffs.

(For the record, didn’t anyone consider stopping him?)

The sign garnered national attention (presumably the fan’s goal) and caused public outrage in the Boston sphere—for good reason.

“Boston Strong” became the national mantra following the bomb, signifying the city’s strength and everyone supporting them.

This sign is leaving Canadians face-palming nationwide.

Two teams and two cities are under scrutiny because of two fans who couldn't keep it together.

To the wannabe Mike Tyson in Boston, you’ve embarrassed your city.

To the not-so-clever Leafs fan who made (and clearly put a lot of effort into) that awful sign, you’ve disgraced your country.

If you ask me, I can't wait for one of these teams to make it through to the next round and end this charade.

It doesn’t even matter at this point.

This isn't hockey anymore—this is therapy gone awry.

This is a tale of two guys who can't remember the difference between being good sports and sports fans.

Unfortunately, they represent more than just the logo on their jersey.