Losing to a 42-year-old zamboni driver still hurts Leafs fans two years on

On February 22, 2020, the Maple Leafs lost an NHL game to the Carolina Hurricanes, who were forced to put a Toronto zamboni driver in net after both their goalies went down injured. Two years on, the Zone Time crew reminisce about one of the most shocking moments in hockey history.

Video Transcript

JULIAN MCKENZIE: Let's talk about the anniversary of one of the wildest days in NHL history. And I'm sorry, Rahef and Omar, that we have to rehash this. But here's the thing, "Zone Time" wasn't around when David Ayers stepped in as an emergency backup goaltender for the Carolina Hurricanes and managed to win a game over the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Could you imagine if this show was around for that day.

OMAR: Look, I'd be taking off immediately. There'd be F-bombs, S-bombs. It'd be a cornucopia of swear words. The episode would not air. It would not be posted.

JULIAN MCKENZIE: Oh, it would air.

RAHEF ISSA: It would be "bleep" the entire time.

OMAR: It would just be a long beep. Let's do it.

JULIAN MCKENZIE: That would air. Where were y'all? Because I didn't know anything about all three of you at that point. So actually, maybe Omar a little bit. But what were y'all doing that day? Were are you guys watching the game? Where were you guys when you were watching or you heard about the fact a Zamboni driver beat the Toronto Maple Leafs?

[CACKLES]

[UPROARIOUS LAUGHING]

OMAR: Listen, man, listen.

JULIAN MCKENZIE: [CONTINUES LAUGHING RAUCOUSLY]

OMAR: Listen, man.

RAHEF ISSA: Julian!

JULIAN MCKENZIE: [LAUGHS EVEN HARDER]

OMAR: Listen, OK?

RAHEF ISSA: Julian!

JULIAN MCKENZIE: [STILL LAUGHING]

OMAR: The guy's dying.

JULIAN MCKENZIE: (STRAINING THROUGH LAUGHTER) I couldn't keep a straight face.

[LAUGHTER]

OMAR: It's OK. Here's the thing, OK? If you are not a Leafs fan, I need you--

JULIAN MCKENZIE: I'm not.

OMAR: Yeah, Julian, you are not. Sam, you're not.

JULIAN MCKENZIE: Rahef, you are.

OMAR: Rahef and I-- so for those who are listening, I need you to understand that the Toronto Maple Leafs cannot just lose.

JULIAN MCKENZIE: Nope.

RAHEF ISSA: Yeah.

OMAR: What do I mean by that?

RAHEF ISSA: We've talked about this before.

OMAR: What I mean is that when they lose has to be in dramatic fashion. It all starts back to 2013. Yes, they blew the 4-1 lead in game seven in the third period.

JULIAN MCKENZIE: I remember that.

OMAR: But that made history.

JULIAN MCKENZIE: It did.

OMAR: The Boston Bruins became the first team to come back and win a game 7 in overtime after being down by 3 goals.

JULIAN MCKENZIE: "It was 4-1."

OMAR: "It was 4-1."

RAHEF ISSA: "It was 4-1."

OMAR: And it continues. Any time the Leafs-- if you're a player that, hey, maybe you're on an eight-game slump, don't worry. Face the Leafs. Hey, maybe you want to get a milestone. Maybe you're waiting for that 199th, 200th goal, face the Leafs. It's fine.

Hey, maybe you need to get your first career win as a goaltender. No one's heard of you before. Joey D'Accord facing Ottawa, who the heck is he? Wins, first career win.

So when I'm watching this game where Kyle Clifford runs over Peter Mrazek, ironically.

JULIAN MCKENZIE: Ironically, yes.

OMAR: James Reimer can't play. So they don't have anyone to play. So out comes David Ayers in his Toronto Marlies stuff and then they put on a Carolina Hurricanes thing on him. So I'm thinking-- and I kid you not. I'm thinking, how are we going to lose? Because all they need to do--

Right? It starts off fine. It starts off fine. Peter Engvall, goal. I forgot who scored the first one. Someone else, goal. I'm like, cool, sweet. Just keep doing it.

RAHEF ISSA: This is going to be easy.

OMAR: And then Carolina goes '95 Devils, and they have nothing. And then we lose. And people are surprised. You're surprised? This is the Toronto Maple Leafs. Of course. Of course they will lose to a Zamboni driver person who walks in. Of course, they will not make the playoffs against Columbus. Of course they will blow a 3-1 lead against the Montreal Canadiens, a team that they dominate in the regular season, of course, because that's who they are, Julian.

So that's why, when you asked us the questions and you're confused about the pessimism, just know that when things go wrong, Leafs fans don't say why. We say, of course. We wait for it. I'm surprised.

Like what happened recently. We're facing Seattle Kraken. Guess who scores, Jared McCann.

JULIAN MCKENZIE: Former Maple Leaf. Wait, wait?

SAM CHANG: Look, at least you didn't keep Jake Vertannen over Jared McCann when you drafted them in the same year.

JULIAN MCKENZIE: Yeah. Hey, look, at the very least, you have that on you. Look, you have a conscience. That same conscience that lost to a Zamboni driver, but you have a conscience.

OMAR: [SIGHS] Yeah--

RAHEF ISSA: I mean, look, the thing is like, the Leafs are the Disney Channel villain.

OMAR: Yes.

RAHEF ISSA: Have you ever watched, like, a sports movie, and there's the heroic team that you know is going to somehow win, and then there's the villain team. And the villain team is usually always winning by some gigantic, substantial margin. But you still always know, that hero team, they're going to come back.

Yeah, the Leafs are the villain team. The Leafs are always going to lose. And they're always going to do it in dramatic fashion. For the Leafs, the drama is key. It is paramount. It is simply not enough to lose. You have to lose in a way that will torment the fans for the next one, two, 5, 10 years.

SAM CHANG: 67?

RAHEF ISSA: We're almost coming up on the 10-year anniversary.

OMAR: [RAUCOUS LAUGHTER]

JULIAN MCKENZIE: Sam, what was it?

OMAR: [RAUCOUS LAUGHTER]

SAM CHANG: I suggested 67.

JULIAN MCKENZIE: Oh.

OMAR: Yeah, it's true. It's true. It stacks. And every time the Leafs remove something out of the jar of insults that other teams give us, they add something else. Rahef brings up such an amazing point.

And I remember. I want to say it was Mike Stevens after that game he had the best tweet. It was like, this is how it feels to be the other team that loses to the team with "Air Bud" on it. That's literally--

RAHEF ISSA: Yes! That is literally the Leafs.

OMAR: If any team brought out a golden retriever on skates, that dog would go full-on Connor McDavid and frickin' score. I would not be surprised. I would not be surprised at all.

JULIAN MCKENZIE: It's a golden retriever!

SAM CHANG: So I actually, weirdly enough, to answer Julian's original question, I actually remember specifically where I was. I was sitting on the patio of the Kiefer Bar in Chinatown, which is two blocks away from Rogers because I was going to the Canucks game that night. I think that was, like, the second-last Canucks game I went to before COVID.

JULIAN MCKENZIE: Oh, yeah, right, that happened like a month later.

SAM CHANG: And I specifically remember sitting on this patio, just watching the Leafs game on my phone. And I thought it was a good day when they lost. But this day is actually even better for me because that was the day that the 2020 Canucks, who were not a good team, beat the Boston Bruins 9 to 3.

JULIAN MCKENZIE: Oh, that's a great memory. That's an amazing memory.

RAHEF ISSA: Good for you, Sam.

OMAR: I wish I could relate.

RAHEF ISSA: Good for you, Sam.

JULIAN MCKENZIE: I was at the Bell Centre for a Canadiens game. I wrote a pretty shitty tweet, asking, I wonder what Mike Babcock is doing right now. And I regret that tweet. I shouldn't have written that. I shouldn't have read that tweet at all. I'm sorry. Yes, I wrote that.

[LAUGHTER]

Oh, man. It was pretty bad. It was. I shouldn't have done it. And it was really just me being a troll. And I shouldn't have done that. It's a dumb mistake. But I'm willing to admit this mistake. But also, at that point, the Canadians were going through a pretty crappy season, two eight-game winless streaks. This team was not going to go anywhere. And then that happens?

As far as I'm concerned, what happened to the Leafs that day is the highlight of the Canadiens' season, because no matter how bad that season was going to end up, if it ended up being a fully 82-game season, it would not be worse than whatever the Leafs endured.

And then the pandemic happened. Then the pandemic happened. And then both teams ended up in the playoffs anyway. [LAUGHS]

RAHEF ISSA: You know what? Do you know what sucks the most besides the fact that the Leafs lose? It's that as a Leaf fan and the fact that they lose in this fashion, it's that, as a Leafs fan, because of the devastating way that the Leafs lose, I never have the ability to just properly laugh at another team without looking over my shoulder and being like, this is going to get me back somehow, I know it. It's going to.

And so you feel like you never have any standing to go up to another team's fans and be like, ha, sucks to be you, because all they have to say back to you is, Zamboni or, "It was 4-1," or--

OMAR: Keep going.

RAHEF ISSA: --a myriad of other ridiculous ways that the Leafs have lost, like Columbus, it was 3-1, it was-- so that really sucks. Or no playoff wins, which is also another great one.

JULIAN MCKENZIE: 2004.

[LAUGHTER]

OMAR: Our playoff drought is in grade 12.

JULIAN MCKENZIE: Yeah, it's a full blown adult.

OMAR: Yep. Full blown adult, can drive, work, anything.

JULIAN MCKENZIE: It could drink.

OMAR: Yep.

RAHEF ISSA: Yeah. I was literally five years old the last time the Leafs won a playoff round. So that's great.

JULIAN MCKENZIE: Wow.

RAHEF ISSA: Yeah. So that's just the thing that sucks the most.

JULIAN MCKENZIE: Shit!

RAHEF ISSA: Because I really want to go up to another team's fans and be like, you guys actually suck. I can't even say, really, with earnestness that, wow, the Montreal Canadiens suck, because Montreal fans can just go ahead and say, did you forget what happened last year in the playoffs? And then I'll be like, you know what? I can't say shit. I can't say anything at all, because--

JULIAN MCKENZIE: I always find it funny whenever I get asked to be on, like, SportsNet Fan 590 and like JD Butkus or, like, Brett Gundig are all like, yeah, we want you on, so we can laugh at you and how bad the Canadiens are.

One, I'm not a fan, so this doesn't affect me at all. Two, your team lost in the first round of the playoffs. You have nothing to stand on.

OMAR: Nope, literally nothing.

JULIAN MCKENZIE: What are y'all doing? But hey, you know what? It is always darkest-- the night is darkest before the dawn, I believe, Two-Face said that "The Dark Night."

SAM CHANG: No. You know who actually said that? Francesco Aquilini to Canucks season ticket holders.

[LAUGHTER]

I'm not kidding.

JULIAN MCKENZIE: Oh, my gosh.

SAM CHANG: It's actually in the season ticket holder letter.

JULIAN MCKENZIE: Oh, wow.

OMAR: No way.

[LAUGHTER]

JULIAN MCKENZIE: Why would you do that?

OMAR: Dude.

JULIAN MCKENZIE: But hey, look, in all seriousness though, the night is darkest before the dawn. And there's going to come a day where the Leafs will win a first round series.

OMAR: You know how many points the Leafs have right now?

JULIAN MCKENZIE: How many?

OMAR: Guess.

JULIAN MCKENZIE: 67?

[LAUGHS]

Am I right?

[UPROARIOUS LAUGHING]

OMAR: The Leafs hit 67, and they haven't won a game since.

[LAUGHTER]

SAM CHANG: You can't make that shit up.

OMAR: Granted, it's only two. But still, do you understand? The Toronto Maple Leafs are an MTV reality show. There are cameras everywhere. There has to be. There has to be.

JULIAN MCKENZIE: Clearly they can't be. I mean, they're hiding the tape because if the Amazon doc is any indication, there's a lot they took away from us.

OMAR: Oh, 1,000%. I would love to see the true cut of that documentary. I would love to see one.

JULIAN MCKENZIE: Nothing or nothing, uncut version.

OMAR: Literally.

[LAUGHTER]