Former Leafs goalie Andrew Raycroft takes shots at Canadiens fans

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Jeff Drouin
August 23, 2022 (10:15)

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June 24, 2006 is a day that Toronto Maple Leafs fans will always remember as they traded Finnish goaltender Tuukka Rask to the rival Boston Bruins in exchange for Andrew Raycroft.

It may not have seemed like such a bad deal at the time, as Raycroft had just won the Calder Trophy as the NHL's Rookie of the Year two years earlier, while Rask was still relatively unknown in NHL circles.

Needless to say, the Leafs would have turned down this trade in a heartbeat had they known that Rask would be one of the best goaltenders in hockey for more than a decade, while Raycroft would soon earn the less than flattering nickname from Toronto fans of Red Light Raycroft. After two years in Toronto, Raycroft bounced around the NHL and earned a reputation as the number two goalie. He played for the Colorado Avalanche, Vancouver Canucks and Dallas Stars before heading overseas to continue his professional career.

During his time with the Bruins and Leafs, Raycroft certainly became accustomed to playing against the long-time rival Montreal Canadiens, and certainly became familiar with the frenzied fans that regularly filled the Bell Centre in downtown Montreal for these games.

So, you can certainly understand why to this day, Raycroft doesn't really like the rabid fans that follow the Tricolore. In fact, he took to social media to give his opinion on the list of the 10 most tiring fan bases compiled by Canadian online sports betting giant Bodog.

"Montreal Canadiens, Not Even Close."

This isn't the first time Raycroft has shot an arrow at the CH via his social media channels. Last January, during a CH game, he asked his followers how the Habs had made it to the Stanley Cup Final the previous summer. He was immediately put in his place by a fan of the club in a great way.