Tory ‘not sure’ why CN Tower lit up to honour rival Montreal Canadiens

Someone has a lot of explaining to do.

Toronto Mayor John Tory attempted to clear the air on Wednesday after the CN Tower was lit up in the colours of longtime rival and arch-nemesis Montreal Canadiens.

The Canadiens, who came back from a 3-1 series deficit in their playoff matchup to eliminate the Toronto Maple Leafs, just swept the Winnipeg Jets in four games to advance to the NHL’s Eastern Conference semi-finals.

CN Tower officials tweeted that it was in support of the Canadiens’ Stanley Cup playoff push but, unsurprisingly, Maple Leafs’ fans were not happy with the tribute to their rival team with many responding online that the act was insulting.

This led to a response from Mayor Tory, who himself tweeted, “Not sure what was up with the CN Tower last night. Just confirming the Toronto Sign will not be lit up in the Canadiens colours.”

Not sure what was up with the CN Tower last night.

Just confirming the Toronto Sign will not be lit up in the @CanadiensMTL colours. #LeafsForever pic.twitter.com/fBlcqzst05

— John Tory (@JohnTory) June 9, 2021

City councillor Brad Bradford said the decision to light up the CN Tower in Montreal’s colours was a bizarre call.

“I don’t know if that was a coincidence, just seeing the blue, white, and red up there or if there was something more to it,” Bradford said.

“This has obviously been a really disappointing playoff run that ended far too soon for Toronto, although we are seeing Montreal having a lot of success and it is good seeing Canadian teams do well in the playoffs.”

The Maple Leafs haven’t made it past the first round of the NHL playoffs since the 2003-2004 season when the late Pat Quinn was head coach and Mats Sundin was their captain.

Yikes.

“… I don’t know if the CN Tower needed to rub that in… so to speak.”