The Leafs face for the Bruins for the first time since Nov 15th, 2019. Nearly 2 full calendar years.
A lot has changed since then. The Bruins are without long time players Zdeno Chara and Tuukka Rask, while they’ve added players such as Taylor Hall and Linus Ullmark.
As for the Buds….. they’re still losing in the 1st round….. so I guess some things never change.
Here are your lines for tonight:
Anyway, on to something that I’ve been seeing lately and have taken exception with.
Sexism in hockey.
While I don’t often delve into the political side of things on here, partly because there have been some gifs and jokes made that wouldn’t lead one to believe that we here at puckinleafs are anything close to feminists, but also because I simply try to live right instead of ranting about things. I try to listen and learn when people speak about what bothers them, and instead of dismissing things as trivial, I try to put myself into their shoes. Trying to empathize is necessary.
Sometimes you don’t need to put yourself into somebody elses shoe’s to realize just how wrong an act is though, for example:
This is reprehensible and has no place in the sport I love, but this is over the top and we all know it. It’s easy to see this and realize that something needs to be said or done, not that anything was. To me, it’s the smaller jabs that are far more common and can have a terrible effect. This video from a fellow Leaf fan that I follow on Twitter also stood out to me, and, in my opinion, shows how so many people can start changing the culture of this sport by simply avoiding labels. In this case, the term “puck bunny”
As Victoria says, she stays up late to watch this game, Canada’s game, from the other side of the Atlantic Ocean. Half the time I use the excuse that I’m 1.5 hours east and can’t even be bothered to stay up until 11pm to finish watching because I have to wake up at 5:30am and, because let’s be real, fuck this lazy ass selfish bunch of losers. They don’t deserve that loyalty from me and they sure as hell don’t deserve Victoria’s loyalty.
But I digress.
A fan is a fan is a fan, it really doesn’t matter their race, gender, political affiliation, or even if they’re ridiculous and don’t believe that COVID exists. This game is one that I spend a ton of hours on each week, whether it’s through physically playing it, watching it, playing fantasy hockey (talking about watching, playing or fantasy hockey) or, you know, managing a Leafs blog (no matter how small). With that in mind, it’s a game I’d like to see grow and one I’d like to share with people, rather than blocking their way in.
So, I’ll ask that you all join me when you see somebody acting like an ass, and not just in regards to sexism, but racism or bigotry in any fashion, to say something. It doesn’t need to be a fight, it could be a simple “you know, they’re just a fan, they don’t deserve to be spoken to like that” instead of saying nothing.
Of course, if you see somebody telling an opposing female goalie to “suck our dicks” you could always kick em in the cock. No judgement here.
Enjoy the game.
GO LEAFS GO!!!