The Toronto Maple Leafs’ disappointing Game 7 loss to the Florida Panthers has had a ripple effect that is being felt far beyond the hockey community.
Canadian rapper Drake weighed in on Toronto’s playoff elimination, ascribing the loss to a “Bieber curse” rather than the subpar showing by Toronto players like Mitch Marner. The superstar rapper was spotted in Scotiabank Arena during the game on Sunday, May 18.
Drake is known for being somewhat of a curse magnet himself, with recorded instances of teams he has supported in elimination rounds losing frequently.
Did the Drake or Bieber Curse Trip Up the Maple Leafs?
The multi-time Grammy-winning rapper posted a screenshot of his million-dollar bet on Instagram, highlighting an interaction with his 142 million followers.
“The people have spoken. LFG,” Drake captioned the post before betting on Toronto.
After the Maple Leafs’ 6-1 blowout loss, Drake shared another post of a dark screen.
“Bieber curse,” he wrote in the second post.
Drake has a habit of betting big to support sports teams. Unfortunately, the franchises he backs usually end up losing, a superstition fans have labelled the “Drake Curse.”
In one instance, Drake bet $1.15 million on the Kansas City Chiefs to win against the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl LVIII, with the caption “I can’t bet against the swifties.” When he won that bet in 2024, he must have felt that he had finally beaten the curse.
However, seeing the misery in Toronto, either the curse is alive and well, or it’s found a new medium in the form of Canadian pop sensation Justin Bieber. The superstar has been a lifelong Maple Leafs fan and was watching Game 7 from behind the Toronto bench with his wife, Hailey.
Hailey and Justin are feelin' it tonight đŸ•º #Game7 #StanleyCup https://t.co/QQuRk89Stv pic.twitter.com/HUL2C2o2JR
— NHL (@NHL)
All jokes aside, Toronto fans had their hearts broken in yet another season where the Maple Leafs promised so much but delivered so little. They blew a 2-0 lead in the current series and sleepwalked through Game 5 (also a 6-1 loss), before giving their fans one last glimmer of hope with a 2-0 shutout in Game 6 on Florida’s home ice.
Their fairytale story was cruelly cut short as the Panthers came charging out of the blocks in Game 7, dominating the Maple Leafs in front of a packed home crowd at Scotiabank Arena.
While Toronto rallied after the first 10 minutes, a couple of crucial saves from Florida goalie Sergei Bobrovsky on breakaways kept the game evenly poised before Florida ran away with it in the space of just over six minutes in the second frame, finding the back of the net thrice.
Max Domi’s goal for the Leafs turned out to be a futile gesture; the Panthers restored their three-goal lead 46 seconds after the restart, and scored two more to seal the win.
