Prayers Up, Toronto

The Maple Leafs getting dunked on by the fake Twitter account of a non-existent hockey team is rock bottom

By now, even if you're a non-hockey fan, you're likely aware that the Toronto Maple Leafs blew a 3-1 lead to the rival Montreal Canadiens. You may even be aware that this is actually a very common theme for the Maple Leafs, who have more or less become the NHL version of the old Washington Nationals, a team that refused to win a playoff series before finally breaking through and winning a World Series in 2019.

Maple Leafs fans expect no such breakthrough, probably even after their squad took a 3-1 series lead over Montreal. They've seen this movie before, many times. In 2013, the Leafs made the playoffs for the first time in seven years. They took the Boston Bruins to seven games in the opening round, and held a 4-1 lead in the third period of Game 7. Somehow, they blew it:

After failing to make the playoffs the next three seasons, the Leafs returned to the postseason in 2017, winning Games 2 and 3 to take a 2-1 series lead on the Washington Capitals in the First Round. They proceeded to lose the next three straight, the final two losses coming in overtime. Pain. In 2018 and 2019, the Leafs once again faced the Bruins in the opening round in both years, losing in seven games both times. In last season's qualifying round, Toronto got bounced by the Columbus Blue Jackets, losing the five-game series 3-2. 

And finally, on Memorial Day, 2021, the Leafs completed their masterpiece choke job, blowing a 3-1 series lead to Montreal. The memes, jokes, dunkings, daggers, etc., all wrote themselves, though none were quite as low as this one from the fake Twitter account of an NHL team that no longer exists:

Goodness gracious, that's a murder. Do you even remember the Atlanta Thrashers? Ilya Kovalchuck? Nik Antropov? Dany Heatley? Yeah, us neither. Had this tweet not made the rounds on Monday night, everyone on the planet would have continued to do what we've always done when it comes to the Atlanta Thrashers - completely forgot they existed. 

With that in mind, this has to be rock bottom for the Maple Leafs. Getting dunked on by a team that only lasted 11 seasons in the NHL, made the playoffs ONCE and got swept in the first round, is about as low as it gets.