The sad thing is that I lose posts all the time, curse the sky, and say it'll never happen again. Two days later, it's lather, rinse, repeat. Shit, I'll probably lose this one!
So- The Leafs stayed at a different hotel than the usual one across the road from the Coliseum. I was hoping fans would take my idea and clean show off car roofs in the parking lot so he'd look out and read "fuck you JT91". Oh well.
So in warmups someone threw some rubber snakes near him and someone else threw their Islanders Tavares jersey. Lots of others were modified to say LIAR, TRAITOR, etc... People had some other funny signs. One read "one autograph could have stopped all these boos." Fucking beautiful.
He looked like he wanted to crawl under a rock the whole time. I know he's usually expressionless, emotionless, but he looked rattled to me. Nobody in his camp prepared him for this! They thought he could sign in TO, leaving the Isles after all his promises of staying with them his whole career, etc, and they thought Isles fans would forget or wave goodbye. His crew deserve a serious slap about the ears for not telling him to do a better job than a fucking iPhone screenshot "goodbye" note to Isles fans, or the Players Tribune piece that was nothing more than a handjob to the Leafs and some Isles staff nobody has ever heard of.
So he got what he deserved, which was a night full of boos and chants directed to him. For the record, Isles fans sang along to the Canadian anthem, as they have been doing a lot in the last few years. Some of us were worried they'd be stupid and disrespect Oh Canada, so I'm really happy that they didn't. But JT heard chants like Barzy's Better, We Don't Need You (this one was very common), where's your jammies?, past your bed time (both in reference to his Leafs sheets Twitter post minutes after signing). One of my favorites was when Lee scored- That's Our Captain. Love that one. There was a rumor Lee is super close to signing an extension, and that it would be announced yesterday. I have a feeling Lee didn't want to do that to his friend.
Speaking of- all the Islanders* tapped their sticks on the ice or boards during the tribute video. Tavares got out and skated around, awkwardly clapping toward the Isles and I think he wanted to toward the fans, but the place was apparently deafening with boos. The TV feed included a direct audio feed to drown out the boos. All accounts of people there say they didn't even know there was audio, the boos were so loud. The one Islander who didn't tap his stick- "the kid who won the Calder". He stood on the ice, stick across his thighs. Dickhead forgot his name during his "uhh, they'll be fine without me" piece. At least he was right about one thing. The Isles are fine.
So a 6-1 drubbing of the Leafs. Most fans say they're pretty much over it now that they've had their chance to let him hear it. Some say they'll boo him every time he is in NY. Whatever. For all the Leafs media ragging on Isles fans for being classless, just remember the Frozen 5 and Mrs. Reimer getting DEATH THREATS from Leafs fans, and shut the fuck up. Isles fans have been pissed on for 30 years. We thought we had a guy who was loyal to our team, because he kept saying he was, then he split in a shitty way. So we hate him. Is that wrong? As far as Dreger asking if Isles fans are "over it yet"? This was his first return. It wasn't our fault the NHL scheduled it in late Feb. Duh.
Actual game: I can't decide which is my favorite goal- Lee scoring to set off the "That's Our Captain" chant, or Beauvillier scoring, and emphatically celebrating as JT coasts back into the D zone. I was hoping Beauvillier would pull the ultimate troll job and hug JT. He should have at least thanked him for not bothering to be in the same hemisphere as the Isles when they scored on a 3 on 1.
Leafs thought they tied it up in the 2nd period, but Isles fans were further treated to a special moment when we got a Wes McCauley "no goal" call after the Isles challenged for offsides, and won. Everyone in the post-game interviews gave credit to the video crew.
Very scary moment when Boychuk knocked a Leaf player down, and his leg came up like a donkey kick and got Boychuk in the neck/jaw area. The trainer ran right out and handed Boychuk a towel to hold to his neck, so everyone thought he was cut on the neck. But he wasn't and was back on the ice a few minutes later.
Post-game interviews.
Clutterbuck said the fans could have laid off JT during the tribute. Shut up Cal.
Lee and Bailey both said they are all still friends with JT, so it was a no-brainer to show him respect.
If anyone asked Barzal why he didn't tap his stick, they didn't show the reply, which would be very interesting.
Tavares once again looked like he wanted to eat his own face during the post-game interview. He continues to spout the strangest statements about fans not having walked in his shoes (as if he has ever condescended to try Isles fan shoes on). He said he was "always open and honest about (his) intentions". When was that, when he said "that's never gonna happen" to the question about signing in TO a year before he hit UFA status? When he said he wanted to remain an Islander for life, as the real greats play for 1 and only 1 team? Dude, it's 2019 and everyone knows what you said last year, 5 years ago, etc. Just shut the fuck up. Admit you wanted to leave and didn't tell the Isles that when you asked to NOT be traded at the deadline last year. Just be honest and Isles fans will have some respect for you. Stop flip-flopping on the story depending on if you're talking to NY or TO media. Funny note- Isles fans are already making memes with Leafs logo flip-flops saying "Tavares' shoes".
Seriously dude, you physically moved on. You left, and you had every right to do so. Now stop hoping Isles fans forgive and wish you well in TO. It's not happening. We viewed it as you fucked the team and us over, so we hate you. Just accept that you're not getting a standing ovation in NY. Maybe in your last year before you retire, but in your first visit to NY, did you really expect applause? Sure, there was some, but most people were booing their lungs out. Live with it. You're considered a NY sports villain, even by Ranger fans. So just shut the fuck up.
On another note, the Isles are in first place by 2 points, but play the 2nd place Caps tonight. I fully expect a "Ranger hangover" to be in effect and see that they lose like 5-0 tonight. And I'm okay with that.
I will miss the Isles game in favor of Miss18.2's year end tournament first game.
I think that covers most of what I wrote/lost this morning, but I know that was written in a more amusing manner. Oh well. Sorry dudes.