Ben Danford's World Juniors failure has already led to nauseating Maple Leafs discourse
Photo credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images
Toronto Maple Leafs defensive prospect Ben Danford was not particularly good at the World Juniors, and now, pundits are taking full advantage of the situation.
Ben Danford was the Toronto Maple Leafs' first-round pick back in 2024, and there is no denying that, at the time, some felt like he was a bit of a reach.
However, the Leafs are confident that he can become a solid NHL defenseman and someday play within the team's top four on a regular basis.
Unfortunately, Danford did not have himself a particularly good World Juniors tournament. In fact, the tournament isn't over just yet. Team Canada is playing for Bronze against Team Finland.
That said, last night's performance against Czechia was not a good one. Danford, as well as many of his other teammates, struggled all night long.
Ben Danford inspires some bad hot takes
As you can imagine, this led to some hot takes on social media. For instance, reporter Scott Wheeler was quick to single out Danford for having a particularly bad night.
This must have been some kind of elaborate engagement bait, because the comments were filled with Leafs fans and general hockey aficionados who felt like this assessment was unfair.
Simply put, everyone was bad. The poor play was not just confined to Danford. Everyone on Team Canada was complicit in a bad game.
To blame all of this on Ben Danford is a bit silly. Sure, he wasn't great, but he also wasn't the reason for Team Canada's problems.
Quite frankly, this Canadian team lacked a whole lot of maturity. They were constantly putting their foot in their mouths, and looked pedestrian at times.
Now, Czechia plays Sweden for Gold, and both teams are extremely deserving of this opportunity.
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| POLL | ||
JANVIER 5 | 258 ANSWERS Ben Danford's World Juniors failure has already led to nauseating Maple Leafs discourse Do you believe Ben Danford is someone who can play at the NHL level? | ||
| YES | 183 | 70.9 % |
| NO | 75 | 29.1 % |
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