Justin Bieber celebrates Toronto Maple Leafs' Game 1 victory: 'This the yearski'
'1 down,' pop star wrote on Instagram after Buds downed Florida 5-4 in Game 1
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Justin Bieber left his wife Hailey Bieber to cause a stir on the Met Gala carpet by herself for one reason: his beloved Toronto Maple Leafs were playing in the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
As the Buds hit the ice for Game 1 against the Florida Panthers at Scotiabank Arena, the team’s biggest superfan took to social media to cheer on the Leafs.
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Justin Bieber celebrates Toronto Maple Leafs' Game 1 victory: 'This the yearski' Back to video
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Ahead of puck drop, the Canadian pop star made a bold prediction to his 294 million followers on Instagram, sharing a collection of Maple Leaf logos and captioning his image, “New series starts tonight. This is the yearski.”
Following one of William Nylander’s two first-period goals, Bieber showed a slideshow of himself celebrating in front of a giant TV tagging the Maple Leafs’ official Instagram account.
After the Leafs edged out Florida 5-4 to take Game 1, the two-time Grammy winner returned to Instagram to celebrate. Lounging on a couch, the Canadian pop star nodded along as the players gathered around substitute goalie Joseph Woll, who stopped 17 shots in relief after goaltender Anthony Stolarz took a shot to the head from Panthers forward Sam Bennett.
“1 down @mapleleafs,” Bieber wrote alongside the short clip.
Bieber was quiet during Toronto’s first-round series against the Ottawa Senators, who the squad beat in six games. But periodically over the years, the Peaches singer, who is pals with Leafs captain Auston Matthews, has fearlessly cheered on Toronto on social media.
His 2021 song Hold On (a track he said was a “love letter to the Maple Leafs”) was dedicated to the group and he even co-designed one of the Leafs’ alternate “Next Gen” jerseys.
During the pandemic-shortened NHL season back in 2021, the London, Ont.-born pop star took his fandom to a whole new level when he picked the Leafs to win the Stanley Cup.
After Matthews, Mitch Marner and Joe Thornton combined for seven points (three goals, four assists) for a 3-2 road win over the Ottawa Senators, Bieber shared an image of the Leafs’ logo to his Instagram page with the words, “This is the year.”
Bieber regularly posted about the Leafs that season on his Instagram, but after the club blew a 3-1 series lead to lose in the first round against the Montreal Canadiens, some fans wondered if the singer had jinxed the team by his overzealous boasting.
“The Leafs lost because Justin Bieber hasn’t posted a random old Leafs logo on Instagram in a while,” one person theorized.
Prior to that series, Bieber was spotted on the Jumbotron during a Game 6 defeat at the hands of the Washington Capitals back in 2016. With the team then eliminated from the NHL playoffs, he took to Instagram to jab the Habs.
“At least we made it farther than Montreal …!” he wrote, which was problematic since the Canadiens were also sent home after their six-game series against the New York Rangers.
Following the team’s Game 7 defeat to the Bruins in 2019, fans lashed out at the Baby hitmaker and Toronto rapper Drake, who were spotted cheering on the team in person throughout the series, prompting then-Leafs coach Mike Babcock to weigh in on allegations of a curse.
“I’ve heard lots of things since I’ve come here,” Babcock said at the time. “But that’s one of the craziest things. The game is played on the ice by us. There’s no curse whatsoever.”
After the 2021 debacle, Bieber kept his Leafs social media mentions to a minimum. But the father of one did manage to pop up in person at Scotiabank Arena once in a while, most notably dressed as “Willy Wonka” during a December 2022 tilt against the Los Angeles Kings.
During one surprise appearance in 2023, Drake spotted Bieber’s social media post and playfully asked why he wasn’t invited to tag along.
He also was a celebrity coach during the 2024 All-Star Game, in which he led Team Matthews to victory over Team McDavid.
When he spoke to ESPN during Team Matthews’ first round match against Team Hughes, Bieber called his All-Star experience “unbelievable.”
“I feel like I’ve had vivid dreams about this at night, so it’s beautiful,” he said.
In his post-game press conference, Matthews praised Bieber’s enthusiasm behind the bench.
“He obviously really enjoyed it and it was cool to have somebody like him and the other celebrities over the weekend,” Matthews told reporters. “It was a cool moment for him to get on the ice and snap around with some of the fellas. I think everyone got a kick out of that.”
Matthews also had some thoughts about Bieber’s outfit behind the bench that night.
“If you were up pretty high in the stands, there was no doubt you could pick him out of a crowd pretty easily,” Matthews said smiling.
Game 2 of the Leafs’ series against Florida goes Wednesday night in Toronto.
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