When it comes to the Leafs, especially in the last 15 years or so, there have been a number of embarassing on-ice moments for the franchise. From "salute gate" to waffles being thrown on the ice to Vesa Toskala letting in a goal from 180 feet away, a debate about the franchise's most embarassing moment could easily be debated. That is exactly what Bryan Hayes and Gord Miller did on TSN 1050's OverDrive yesterday with Hayes making the obvious selection.
"I could probably use my life not knowing who David Ayres is. I could probably go about my business without that information... That one hurt. That was pretty embarassing. Easily the most embarrassing regular season moment in franchise history. Without question, there's nothing that's even close... even Roger Neilson with a bag over his head is not... he wasn't playing. He was a guy who would be on the Zamboni at the Ford Performance Center who came in the game, Gord. Not for a minute in a blowout. A long time. He was in net for legit parts of the second and the full third period and the Leafs lost in regulation."
For those of you that have been living under a rock, on February 22, 2020 the Leafs and Hurricanes were playing in Toronto when former Leaf James Reimer left the game after just six minutes due to an injury. That led to the Canes having to put Petr Mrazek into the game in the first period. Midway through the second period, Mrazek collided with Kyle Clifford and had to leave the game as well, leaving the Canes with no choice but to put the then 42-year-old into the game as the emergency backup goaltender.
Ayres would go on to help the Canes secure the 6-3 win. It was an embarrassing display from the Leafs as they managed just 10 shots in 30 minutes against the EBUG and something that is still the butt of jokes from rival fan bases. At some point, everyone has to forget about it though right? It's only been 1270 days since the Leafs lost to a Zamboni driver.
