The biggest battle in Thursday’s Toronto Maple Leafs game took place in the stands.
A video posted to Twitter shows a man in a blue Maple Leafs jersey standing on top of another fan and punching him twice.
The victim’s glasses were broken, and he emerged from the scuffle with blood all over his face.
Things got a little out of hand at the leafs game last night after a grown man allegedly put his hand on a girl which led to this fight pic.twitter.com/NZFI4JDXuH
— 6ixBuzzTV (@6ixbuzztv) April 15, 2022
The man also used several expletives and repeatedly threatened to kill the victim. Other fans attempted to break up the fight, and the angry fan was eventually held back by security.
Comments on the video indicate that the fight started when the victim touched a woman near him — possibly the assailant’s girlfriend.
At least one wit on social media took the opportunity to throw shade at the Leafs, who haven’t won a playoff series since 2004.
“I guess someone in a Leafs jersey can win a round now,” he tweeted.
Hockey fans are known as some of the most passionate in sports, and frustration can boil over at times. But physicality is actually dwindling on the ice.
Traditional enforcers have nearly been phased out of the league entirely as the modern NHL game focuses more on speed and skill.
The number of games with at least one fight has dropped considerably in the last decade. According to Sound of Hockey, just 18% of games in 2021 had a fight, down from 36% in 2011.
• Peter Santo can be reached at psanto@washingtontimes.com.
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