It may only be the span of about one year, but things have sure turned around in a hurry for both the Toronto Blue Jays and Toronto Maple Leafs franchises.

Last year, the Blue Jays practically fell flat with their worst performance during this part of the decade when they finished dead last in the American League East with a 74-88 record. Not only that, many of their stars were underperforming while they had a mass exodus of players at the trade deadline just hoping that they could acquire some key pieces to help their future. The identity of the entire Blue Jays’ team was being challenged as many wondered if their contending window has closed abruptly.

On the other hand, the Maple Leafs were the talk of the town. Led by the “core four” of Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, John Tavares and William Nylander, the Leafs finished atop the Atlantic Division in the standings with a 52-26-4 record. In addition, they pushed things all the way to a Game 7 in the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs before falling to their arch nemesis Brad Marchand and the Florida Panthers.

The Blue Jays are stealing the spotlight away from the Maple Leafs

However, now just one year (or one season to be exact) later, it is the Blue Jays that are stealing the spotlight away from the Maple Leafs, as Rob Longley of the Toronto Sun has pointed out. Without much expectations entering the 2025 MLB season, the Blue Jays surprised everyone by not only bouncing back from a horrific 2024 campaign, but also finished first in the AL East Division when all was said and done.

They received valuable contributions not only from their stars, but also their supporting cast in a full team effort to make the team a true contender once again. Players such as Ernie Clement, Nathan Lukes, Addison Barger and even Trey Yesavage would come out of nowhere and provide a huge impacts on the club, especially during the postseason.

In the end, despite suffering a crushing Game 7 World Series loss, the Blue Jays ended up earning the support of the entire country in the process. On top of that, the Blue Jays have kept that dedicated interest going this offseason by making some prominent signings in Dylan Cease, Cody Ponce and Tyler Rogers, raising the hope of loyal fans in anticipating another potential exciting World Series run once again in 2026.

Coming in at number 5 on the 2025 Fan First 1 million view club – We’ve got Blue Jays fans singing O Canada in Dodger Stadium after winning game 5. It doesn’t look great looking back, but at the time it was electric!

This one clocked in at 1.31m views. (shoutout @JomboyMedia +… pic.twitter.com/dEvFuYzM4Z

— Fan First Network (@fanfirstnetwork) December 27, 2025

As for the Maple Leafs, things didn’t start off well when they lost a key member of their core four in Marner during the 2025 offseason. When Leafs fans learned that the sacrifice of their star winger only netted them the re-signing of Tavares and Matthew Knies, along with the acquisitions of players such as Nicolas Roy, Matias Maccelli and Dakota Joshua, many knew the team wasn’t going to be the same entering the 2025-26 NHL season. Things certainly weren’t once the season started, but most didn’t expect it to be this bad though. 

NAUGHTY & NICE: Jays can do no wrong, while T.O. sports fans give free-falling Leafs a lump of coal

Check out our front page for Tuesday, Dec. 23, 2025

Read more from @longleysunsport here: https://t.co/HNdvJwAtgK

PLUS: Desperate Leafs can assistant coach… pic.twitter.com/bhx8im1z4b

— Toronto Sun (@TheTorontoSun) December 23, 2025

The passion, fight and will to win on the ice seemed absent as the Leafs have struggled to just a 16-15-5 record entering Saturday and find themselves in the Atlantic Division basement as a result. They have tried almost everything, whether it be bringing up players from the Marlies, claiming players off of waivers to add to their roster, changing assistant coaches, along with multiple lineup changes nightly, but all to no avail.

There may still be another half season to go ahead of them, but if the Leafs don’t turn things around in a hurry, let’s just say Toronto fans will begin to look forward to Blue Jays Spring Training instead of preparing for another Leafs playoff run. 

As a result, for a city that has been forever known for their craze for hockey, the Blue Jays have slowly but surely begun to take away some of the spotlight from the Leafs. Don’t look now, but with Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and company set to lead the Blue Jays core to success into the next decade, Toronto could soon shed it’s label as “just a hockey town”.