From Serena Williams refusing to change her socks throughout a tournament to Wayne Gretzky dousing his stick in baby powder before a face-off, there’s certainly no shortage of examples of athletes clinging to their superstitions in hopes of bringing out the best in them. And now, it looks like the entire Toronto Maple Leafs locker room took a similar strategy ahead of their final postseason clash with the defending champs.

In an incredible show of grit, the Leafs held their ground and shut out the Florida Panthers in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference second round. Now, with the opportunity to extend their playoff campaign further, all eyes are on Game 7, and the anticipation is through the roof! “You’ve got to bring all of your emotion and intensity and focus to that game,” the Cats’ Aaron Ekblad said before tonight’s clash. Naturally, the Toronto Maple Leafs didn’t want to leave anything to chance.

In a post on X from May 18, Sportsnet analysts highlighted how the Atlantic Division top seeds arrived at the Scotiabank Arena tonight wearing the same outfits from Game 6. Captioned, “Same suits. Different game,” the post shows the Toronto Maple Leafs stars sporting the same attire as they did before their last game against the Panthers.

Analysts Elliotte Friedman and David Amber could be heard having a chuckle among themselves as they noted, “You don’t change, is basically what it is. So these are the walk-ins. You’re gonna see a lot of players wearing the same suits, you’re gonna see a lot of shirts with the same number of buttons undone.” But can you blame them?

The Toronto Maple Leafs gained a lead in the first two matches in the best-of-seven series in Round 2. However, Paul Maurice’s boys, behind the reigning champs that they are, refused to give in so easily. Instead, the Panthers won the next three straight matches and threatened to pull away. However, Mitch Marner & Co. still managed to tie the series in Game 6. With that in mind, it’s not surprising to see that the Maple Leafs were looking to recreate the upset win from the last match as they hope to reach the Conference Finals this year, something they haven’t been able to do since 2002.

Friedman also mentioned that only 5 Leafs stars changed their dresses from Game 6, including goalie Joseph Woll. Was that the move that ultimately brought down Berube’s squad? In the last game against the Panthers, Woll made a whopping 22 saves to keep the Cats at bay while the Maple Leafs scored 2. However, tonight, the netminder was but a shadow of himself as he let the puck fly past him 6 times!

And with that, the Toronto Maple Leafs’ postseason run comes to an end. Evidently, all that superstition didn’t amount to anything. However, one might argue that such a result wasn’t exactly on the table.

The Toronto Maple Leafs couldn’t make use of the opportunity at hand

The Maple Leafs finished the 2024-25 regular season with 108 points, and ahead of both the defending champs and the Tampa Bay Lightning. But that glee was only amplified when they learned that in the first round of the playoffs, the Leafs would face off against the Ottawa Senators. The Battle of Ontario was back in the postseason for the first time in 21 years, and Toronto loyalists buckled up for an incredible showdown.

But it wasn’t much of a to-and-fro battle. Right off the bat, the Leafs showed why they deserved to clinch the top spot in the Atlantic Division. Craig Berube’s boys shut out the Sens 4-2 to advance their postseason record to 20-10 in favor of Toronto. Maybe that’s why when the squad icked up to back-to-back victories in the first two games in the series against Florida, fans were convinced: Auston Matthews & Co. could finally end the 23-year-long Conference Final drought.

Many NHL experts didn’t think otherwise either. And yet, as the series progressed, it became clearer that the Panthers were just as determined to retain the Stanley Cup. Florida had ousted the Maple Leafs from the Cup contention in 2023, and pulled off the feat once again this time as well, thanks to a resolute 6-1  performance in Game 7. Feeling the blues, Toronto fans? Tell us what strategy other than showing up in the same suits and shirts the Leafs could have taken in order to win tonight’s game in a comment!