“The boo birds were coming down, rightfully so,” Matthews said. “I think after that first goal, the crowd really got into it, which is great. And then after the second one, the place was rocking. Good to get that one, and obviously good for the power play as well. Nice way to finish off the game.”

Despite Matthews having no issue with the boos and the fans showing their appreciation with one of the loudest crowd pops of the season, some people took issue with the celebration he did, most notably former Sportsnet host Sid Seixeiro.

Not to single Seixeiro out here directly, as many other people shared this stance but don’t have the same platform. But this is the wrong approach to take regardless of how you feel about Matthews’ performance in that game, or this season overall.

There are two ways to look at Matthews’ celebration here. You can look at is as a cocky ‘take THAT!’ sort of reaction to the fans booing him while he was underperforming, which is clearly how Seixeiro viewed it, or you can look at it as an effort to humanize himself with the fans and bring some life back into the building by dragging them back in after giving them nothing to cheer for in the first 50 minutes of the game.

The implication that Matthews’ celebration highlights a disconnect between himself and the fans is baseless and, at best, a bad take. Nobody is going to argue that he didn’t deserve the boos or that he didn’t play poorly up until that point. But what people fail to understand is that when Leafs fans boo their players, they aren’t happy to do it. Nobody is booing with the intention of burying their players and expressing disbelief in them. In fact, it’s the exact opposite. This Maple Leafs team is still among the most talented in the league on paper, and when they underperform, it frustrates the fans because they know that they’re capable of much more. They boo because they want the team to shut them up and prove them wrong, not because they’re taking any sort of pleasure in it.

If anything, this highlights the love that Maple Leafs fans have for this team and the desire they have to watch their team win a Stanley Cup. To suggest that fans are so thin-skinned that a simple ‘let me hear you!’ celebration from their struggling captain when he scores a big goal would be enough to drive fans away from buying his jersey and supporting him is laughable for a fanbase that’s already endured the lowest levels of embarrassment.

Having a bad Toronto Maple Leafs team sucks. Having a good team that fails to meet expectations is worse. But having an apathetic team that has fully mailed it in, doesn’t care about their relationship with the fans and look like they treat playing in the NHL like a 9-5 job is a hole that’s among the hardest to dig out of in the sports metaverse. And sure, the Leafs look like this sometimes. They did for the better part of that game against the Blackhawks. But the reaction from Matthews followed by the support of the boos from both him and Joshua is exactly what the team needs at a time like this. Emotion.

They’re going to defend their own effort and it might drive fans insane when times are tough, but ultimately, they share the same desire as everybody else, and signs of a pulse like this should give the fans a breath of fresh air, not contempt. In a rising economy where ticket prices are higher than ever combined with a big-market team like the Leafs who have been without meaningful success for nearly 60 years, the worst thing that could happen to the Leafs is an apathetic takeover. If the team visibly doesn’t care, that will spill into the fanbase, and the organization will no longer be able to rely on passion for fans to fill the seats. A little animation from an otherwise quiet captain should be seen as a good thing and a momentum builder as the Leafs look to get back into a groove and try their luck in the playoffs again.

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