Utah HC players beat Toronto traffic, walk to game vs. Leafs

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Anyone that lives in or has driven in Toronto can totally relate to this: Utah Hockey Club ditched their bus on Sunday to walk to their game against the Toronto Maple Leafs. 

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The visiting club was forced to hoof it from their hotel to Scotiabank Arena after their team bus was caught in gridlock. 

Utah HC, formerly the Arizona Coyotes, posted a video to social media of the team’s evening stroll. 

“Walking pre-game to get to the rink because there’s way too much traffic,” Utah defenceman Maveric Lamoureux said during the clip. 

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Lamoureux said the team’s bus was “not moving at all” in the Sunday evening traffic, a result of gridlock only made worse from road closures due to the Santa Claus Parade earlier in the afternoon. 

“I think that’s a first for everyone. Never saw that before,” Lamoureux said. 

“So, it’s pretty much the whole team walking the street,” he said, joking that they would miss their 5:15 p.m. pre-game meeting which started “in one minute.” 

“Toronto has too much traffic so the boys got off the bus and walked to the rink!” the team wrote with the video. “I smell a conspiracy!” 

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The visitors didn’t seem too tired from their pre-game journey, jumping out to a 1-0 lead over the home team in the first period. However, the Leafs stormed back with three second-period goals to ultimately score a 3-2 victory. 

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Premier Doug Ford chimed in on Monday morning, using the situation to shed more light on the ongoing debate about bike lanes in the city and the need for more highways and public transit. 

“When Toronto traffic is so bad that NHL teams have to walk to their games, we’ve got a serious problem,” Ford wrote on X. 

“That’s why it’s so important that we deliver on our plan to fight gridlock by bringing sanity back to bike lane decisions, building highways and public transit, and speeding up construction on the Gardiner.” 

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NHL insider Elliotte Friedman was quick to joke about Utah’s situation, reposting the video while writing, “Not a surprise to anyone who lives here.” 

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Luckily for Utah HC, the game will be the team’s only visit to Hogtown this season.

The Leafs and their opponents won’t have to worry about Toronto traffic for the next week. The team is headed south for games against the defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning this week.

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