Although Leafs fans will watch anything and everything to do with the team without question, it doesn’t hurt to add a little spice to the regular season viewing experience. With that in mind, we at 6ix On Ice wanted to provide the Leafs’ faithful with the perfect drinking game to go along with any Leafs game viewing party.
A couple of quick guidelines. The game follows the usual structure: when you see something specific happen, you take a drink (or a shot if you’re trying to have a more rowdy time). There are no winners or losers in this Leafs drinking game unless you count the win or loss the Leafs take at the end of the game.
Let’s get to it.
The rules of the ultimate Leafs drinking game
It’s a little ridiculous how much Auston Matthews scores goals, so having a “punishment” for whenever he doesn’t seems fitting.
For our first rule, you must take a shot or drink if Auston Matthews fails to score a goal through the duration of the game. If you want to make this rule a little less likely to result in a drink, you can also make it where you drink if he fails to get a point in general, that includes assists. This would mean shots at the end of three of the Leafs four games so far, but it wouldn’t be so regular moving forward.
Secondly, take a drink every time Nylander takes a faceoff. Craig Berube has discussed giving Nylander some run at centre this season, so when you see that semi-rare sight of him stepping in to take a draw, you’d better be throwing one back. The frequency of this rule really depends on how Nylander performs at centre, but for now, it is a fine rule to include.
The Leafs have a few tough guys on the roster, so these next couple will be right up their alley. First, take a shot or drink whenever Max Domi shoves someone after the whistle. Domi does get in some tussles, but more often than not, he can be seen giving an opposing player a shove or grappling with them after the whistle is blown. We would be remiss not include the newer Leafs Domi in this section so that is why it will be a rule in this game.
Moving to a frequent fighter, take a shot or drink every time Ryan Reaves gets into a fight. When the team needs something to hype them up a bit, look no further than Reaves. With his well known win-rate when dropping the gloves, we could even make this rule dependent on if he is seen to have bested his opponent. But to make things simple, just drink if Reaves gets in a fight, period.
This next one may be a sore spot for Leafs fans given how often they’ve blown leads—especially in the postseason—but take a shot or drink whenever the Leafs blow a lead of at least 4–1 or more. This one will be a tough drink to swallow for sure, but hopefully this is one rule that you won’t have to drink for too often this season. This is the Leafs we’re talking about though, so for all we know, this rule could be providing regular drinks to Toronto fans.
To maximize misery, there a couple more rules we can add to really spice things up. First, taking a drink after the Leafs give up a goal within two minutes of scoring should guarantee shots quite often. This problem really hasn’t gone away during the Matthews era, and could honestly be the most common drinking occasion.
Secondly, giving up a goal in the first or last minute of a period. There are sure to be many drinks had right before or after intermission with this one.
The final rule has to do with the game commentary. Every time the commentators mention the ‘core four’ take a shot or drink. NHL commentators love bringing up this core group of Leafs players consisting of Matthews, Mitch Marner, Nylander and John Tavares, so this rule is likely to provide multiple drinks per game. If you want to make this rule a little more challenging, you can drink when they mention the ‘core five’ when they add defenseman Morgan Rielly into the fold. Either way you choose, prepare to drink with this one.
Have fun and drink responsibly
For a quick rundown, here’s when you should take a drink/shot when you have your Leafs watch parties:
- Auston Matthews doesn’t score a goal
- William Nylander takes a faceoff
- Max Domi gets into a scrum after a whistle
- Ryan Reaves gets in a fight
- The Leafs blow a 4–1 lead (this can be multiple drinks)
- The Leafs give up a goal within two minutes of scoring
- The opposition scores in the first or last minute of a period
There you have it. Those are our rules for a drinking game to play during your next Leafs game viewing experience. We recommend saving something like this for a Friday or Saturday game as it is sure to have you downing quite a few beverages by game’s end. You can also substitute alcohol for any non-alcoholic drink of your choice, but if you do choose to tackle this Leafs drinking experience with the real deal, just be sure to drink responsibly and make good choices. Go Leafs go.
