Tavares Reaches 500 Goals: Why Are He and Maple Leafs Fans So Upset?

John Tavares should be celebrating one of the most significant milestones of his career — 500 career NHL goals — but instead, many fans are torn over how he reached the mark, calling the moment bittersweet.

The Toronto Maple Leafs captain became just the 49th player in NHL history to reach the 500-goal plateau, joining legends like Alex Ovechkin, Sidney Crosby, Steven Stamkos, and Evgeni Malkin. Yet his historic tally came in a 6-3 blowout loss, on the road and while practically no one in Toronto was watching. All eyes were on the Toronto Blue Jays’ World Series win, but the team’s lackluster effort made the unbelievable feat barely worth celebrating.

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“It’s really hard to comment on it right now,” Tavares said postgame in Ohio. “You play this game to win as a team. It’s all about the team, and you’d like to have it make more of an impact in the game.”

Even as teammates and coaches praised him for everything he’s accomplished in his NHL career, there was little excitement or fanfare. Some even half-joked that he should not have scored, waiting to get to 500 at a later time.

Fans and analysts jumped to social media to discuss what was described as a monumental but meaningless moment. Justin Bourne wrote, “Tavares should’ve dumped that one in the corner. Shame that was the context for a wildly impressive career milestone.” James Mirtle of The Athletic wrote that Tavares “scored his 500th career goal in perhaps the worst possible moment, with four minutes left in the blowout loss.” Sam McKee noted during a post-game podcast that the Blue Jackets should have challenged the goal for offside, trying to save Tavares from it going down this way. “I’m sick for JT… This is a guy that deserves to have this milestone celebrated after taking less.”

Instead, Tavares’ 500th goal will forever be remembered as a quiet milestone on a night when nothing else went right.

Eventually, Tavares will get to enjoy the moment, as he should. “He’s so professional and dedicated — and he loves the Leafs,” head coach Craig Berube said. “He just comes to work every night. He doesn’t ever take a night off.”

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