Last summer, John Tavares made a free agency splash when he left the New York Islanders, the team that drafted him, in order to pursue his childhood dream of playing for the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Islanders fans were miffed. When the Leafs traveled to play the Islanders earlier this season, Islanders fans chanted “we don’t need you” and burned their Tavares jerseys en route to a 6-1 whooping of the Leafs.
But Tuesday night, the Leafs got their revenge with a 2-1 win, which clinched their spot in the playoffs. Tavares scored the game-winning tally.
Less than one minute after his goal, Tavares served a slashing penalty on Matthew Barzal. An irate Islanders fan next to the penalty box unloaded on Tavares in a rant worthy of a Dear John video.
Video
“Hey, John! You’re a traitor, a liar, a snake, a fake,” the fan begins as Tavares looks directly into his eyes from the penalty box. “You should’ve told us! We would have gotten picks for you, you phony fake! You suck. You’ll always suck, Tavares! You’ll always be a loser. Always! And you know what I’m saying You should’ve told us, you snake phony freak! Snake!”
Of course, what compounds the hilarity is that the fan was wearing a Tavares jersey, albeit with the nameplate taped over with the word “fraud” written on the back.
“You’ve always sucked!” says the grown man to John Tavares while wearing a John Tavares jersey
— Pete Blackburn (@PeteBlackburn) April 2, 2019
Tavares’ goal, the first he’s ever scored against Islanders, gave the Mississauga, Ontario native his career-high 46th goal of the season. The Leafs forward ranks third in the NHL in goals trailing only Alex Ovechkin (51) and Leon Draisaitl (47).
Never change, Islanders fans.
This is a heck of a photo of John Tavares celebrating his GWG last night pic.twitter.com/Fx24CW1TIt
— Jeff Veillette (@JeffVeillette) April 2, 2019
Headline photo: Sportsnet
