Okay so over the past 24 hours or so there has been a constant discussion here in the Greater Toronto Area over the treatment of Jake Gardiner being booed after he gave up another goal last night against Colorado.

I know at first this seems pretty harsh that one play and he get booed and yes it seems like the Maple Leafs fans were being irrational in Gardiner’s treatment but you have to understand the frustration that us Maple Leafs fans have faced over the recent years. We have had good teams that have gone nowhere. A couple seasons ago fans were throwing their jerseys on the ice in frustration with the way the team was performing. The Maple Leafs finished DEAD LAST in the league just 4 seasons ago. Last season we had our best season in franchise history and were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs. This season we had the whole William Nylander contract issue and since he signed he has only 1 goal in 17 games. Matthews, Marner & Kapanen all becoming restricted free agents July 1 and ALL requiring major pay increases.

Now onto Jake Gardiner. He has played 534 games in the NHL with 44 goals, 195 assists for 239 point for his NHL career. These numbers are not too shabby for a defenceman but in those 534 games played as of January 14th hes is only a career +8 has 249 takeaways which is decent but a whopping 519 GIVEAWAYS IN HIS CAREER!! This is only regular season numbers. That is almost 1 giveaway a game and HE IS A DEFENCEMAN!! This is terrible.

You might say but his playoffs numbers are way different, right? Well, you would be WRONG!! He has played 19 career playoff games and he has 2 goals, 8 assists for 10 points and is a career -7 with 30 GIVEAWAYS!! In two of the three years he has been in the playoffs he has faced Boston. In 2013 he was -3 and in 2018 he was -6 in the series. In game 7 alone last season he was -5!! -5 IN ONE GAME!! IN THE THIRD PERIOD FOR THAT MATTER!!

His only good year in the playoffs was in 2017 when he was +2 against Washington in 6 games.

Another factor in the Maple Leafs fans booing Gardiner is, look at his career numbers, then look at the average ticket price for one ticket/game. If you want to take your family to a game you might as well put another mortgage on your house, With these facts and the years and years of frustration of Maple Leafs fans I hope you get a bit of an insight as to why he is being booed at home.

So do I feel like the fans have the right to boo who they want regardless of whether they are on your team or not? You are god damn right!! I’ve been saying this guy needs to go FOR YEARS. I’ve been booing him at my home FOR YEARS!! Now I know he is not the only problem the Maple Leafs have on their current roster, but he is a big part of it.

In conclusion the fans pay WAY to much to see men playing a boys game and most fans would play in the NHL FOR FREE, me included, so yes they have a right to boo since we are paying his salary and he wants an increase in pay as well.

Boo who you want to your heart’s desire fans!!