Maple Leafs Forgetfulness Costs Them Two Games

Interesting story out of Sunrise this morning; Team officials for the Toronto Maple Leafs are saying that the players simply forgot that there are hockey teams in Florida and assumed they were in the state to enjoy the weather, get two practices in, and relax.

"Hockey in Florida. I know, good one, right?"

The officials claim they assumed the issue was handled in the Players Only meeting that the team held yesterday, after a blowout loss to The Lightning. As it turns out, that meeting was just a trip to the beach for some beers and sand volleyball.

The misunderstanding was finally cleared up in the third period of Wednesday’s game against the Panthers when a bewildered Tomas Kaberle spoke up on the bench:

“I told them… Guys, there is a scoreboard, and refs, and even some fans. I think this is a game.”

Kaberle then called his father and confirmed that indeed, the Lightning and Panthers are NHL teams.

Immediately after, Mikhail Grabovski scored, but the damage had been done. After the game, Grabovski had more insight:

“No one gives them credit in Toronto, ya know, for being real hockey teams, so we just kind of forgot they existed.”

Coach Ron Wilson, despite coaching a similar team in San Jose, was also in the dark:

“Well, I mean, we got there and their players were all tan, and with all the other crazy (expletive) Burke does, I just assumed he scheduled a couple scrimmages for us against the Caribbean National Team.”