Fans React After Pilot Declares Maple Leafs 'Future Stanley Cup Champions'
Photo credit: Hockey Patrol
Fans are having fun on social media after an Air Canada Centre pilot mentioned upon landing in Toronto that the Maple Leafs are your 2026 Stanley Cup Champions.
For a long time, the Toronto Maple Leafs played their games at the Air Canada Centre, though a new partnership with Scotiabank now sees the team play their games at the Scotiabank Arena; though fans still hold the ACC in their hearts.
Air Canada is still operating to this day, albeit with a couple of issues here and there. However, they are still Canada's largest airline and have been a huge part of the Maple Leafs' identity for years.
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However, even though they aren't partnered anymore, the airline still has some love for the team. In a flight coming back from Italy, the pilot of the aircraft upon landing at Pearson Airport had a simple message:
Entering Toronto, home of the future Stanley Cup Champions, the Maple Leafs!
it shows that the city still isnt giving up hope that the team can bring them glory once again, and though they are a very different club this season; they certainly can get it done.
While a lot of fans would laugh at the prospect of the pilot being so confident (and many already have), it's these types of fans that keep Leafs Nation going; through the doubters and naysayers lie people who truly believe in the team.
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It's these little things that keep fans hyped and while there is certainly a lot of jokes on social media, there is a lot of passion from the Leafs faithful.
The hope was there though.
Although there are a lot of questions around what the team can do without Mitch Marner, they do have enough pieces that through sheer heart, grit and passion can get through most things in their path.
Is it safe to say that the pilot is probably going to need to see how the season plays out? Absolutely, but no one should disparage them for loving the Leafs.
The team more than ever needs its fans to get together and rally as one unit to motivate and inspire the team, so if we get a lot of people who boo and jeer at every little mistake; that ruins the team's confidence.
So good on Air Canada for having faith, and as crazy as it may sound: 2026 Stanley Cup Champions has a pretty nice ring to it.
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