Everything About Not Saluting Fans Is Stupid but It May Work for the Maple Leafs

For those about to read, we salute you.

There's nothing quite like controversies surrounding the Toronto Maple Leafs, because they are this theatrical mix of comedy and tragedy, and the latest is no different.

In what was a blatant middle finger to their fans, specifically the ones who have been tossing jerseys on the ice to protest poor play this season, Leafs players decided against the traditional post-victory salute after beating the Tampa Bay Lightning 5-2 at Air Canada Centre on Thursday night.

"Blatant" perhaps is the wrong term to describe the metaphorical one-finger salute, since no one seemed to care care or notice until Friday morning.

Heck, not only did coach Randy Carlyle not care, he wasn't even aware his players saluted fans after home victories, according to his comments, courtesy of Mark Masters of tsn.ca:

This is without question the dumbest thing anyone will write about during the 2014-15 NHL season.

But wait, it gets dumber.

Leafs players after practice Friday chose not to own up to snubbing fans after, very likely being coached by the organization's public-relations staff to go with a fabricated reason for the brush-off. Reporters were like coiled springs, and they were going to pounce, so the team needed to have a story that would minimize the damage of angering fans.

Dion Phaneuf, the team's captain, was able to spin the situation off the highway and into a ravine, as noted in a quote shared by Masters:

Hockey players are human beings who are comprised of 65 percent water and 35 percent routine. The wise philosopher George Costanza once said, "It's not a lie if you believe it," but there's no way Phaneuf or any hockey player wants to break routine, ever.

That's not to say introspection isn't common when a team is faltering, which the Leafs were in their previous two games. They suffered consecutive blowout losses to the Buffalo Sabres and Nashville Predators, losing the games by a combined 15-4.

A jersey was tossed on the ice during the 9-2 home loss to the Predators, and following the 6-2 loss to lowly Buffalo, trolls began attacking James Reimer's wife, April, on Twitter after the goaltender's poor showing against the Sabres.

That leads to two obvious questions:

1. How does ceasing the saluting of fans help the team win?

2. You really expect people to believe this isn't a reaction to the jersey tossing and Twitter harassment?

One reporter did his best to get an answer on the first question, per a Masters tweet:

Seemingly the only person with an honest bone in his body was Joffrey Lupul, who wasn't in the lineup Thursday. He couldn't speak to how the decision to stop the salute came about, but he didn't pull any punches about it, per Masters' tweet:

It's true. It is fake and forced was the question Lupul seemed to be asking via his comments, per Masters:

This is where Lupul is right and wrong. It's really not a big deal, but it sort of is a big deal.

At some point following a seven-goal loss, players were taking stock of the situation. They were thinking about what they could do better individually or as a team. They questioned their own effort and execution. They wanted to find a way to avoid this type of embarrassment in the future.

During that pivotal time, someone in the locker room said, "One thing we should stop doing is saluting the fans after wins."

No one in the room—at least no one in the leadership group—said, "Shut up, you idiot. All that's going to do is upset people, and it's not going to help us win." Another possibility is someone in the leadership group, perhaps Phaneuf, was the catalyst.

Here's where it gets even stupider.

The Leafs' obviously thin skin may work in their favor.

There's no statistic that can measure how a team comes together. Sometimes the galvanizing effect is adversity, whether it's real or imagined. Coaches love the "us vs. them" mentality. Usually, the "them" is critics, other teams or media in general not giving the team respect. It motivates the players to stick it to "them" and can focus them better on the task at hand.

Very rarely is the "them" a team's own fans, but here we are.

Christian Petersen/Getty Images

The stupidest part? If this ploy of "changing routine" and using disrespect from fans leads to more wins, it will lead to more enthusiasm and praise from fans, who are clearly the object of the players' disdain at this moment, and will only reinforce the decision to no longer salute fans.

Stories are manufactured all the time, especially in Toronto (see: Phil Kessel's body language/weight/etc.), and while this has all the markings of that type of story, the Leafs kicking the salute to the curb isn't that type of story. It's certainly not a scandal by any stretch, but it allows for a glimpse into the psyche of a team in perhaps the toughest NHL city.

So good for the Leafs. They reached their breaking point with idiot fans, even if they won't admit what this is about. The smart fans, the ones who won't care one bit if Tyler Bozak waves at them after wins as long as the team is winning, are the rightfully indifferent collateral damage.

Then again, maybe the Leafs will be saluting the fans in the near future after all. Phaneuf commented that he "expected a discussion," regarding the matter, per Masters: 

Ladies and gentleman, the 2014-15 Toronto Maple Leafs (who are 10-8-2 and on pace for 90 points)!

All statistics via NHL.com.

Dave Lozo covers the NHL for Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter: @DaveLozo.