TORONTO — When a group of Toronto Maple Leafs and their partners took in a playoff game between the Toronto Blue Jays and New York Yankees last weekend, they got in and out of Rogers Centre without raising much fuss.

“We sort of went in a little separate way,” said Leafs defenseman Chris Tanev, who was thrilled to be among the 44,764 in attendance that afternoon for a Trey Yesavage masterpiece and a towering Vladimir Guerrero Jr. grand slam.

This is a time of year when the Maple Leafs aren’t accustomed to blending in with the crowd.

They’re typically October’s focus in this sports-obsessed city because the NHL’s regular season kicks off in a window that falls between the end of the MLB regular season and the start of the Raptors’ NBA campaign.

However, with the Blue Jays reaching the American League Championship Series for the first time since 2016, the Leafs have understandably become an afterthought in their own city. They heard seemingly random roars go up during their home opener at Scotiabank Arena last Wednesday from fans reacting to big moments in the Jays game they were monitoring on a phone or TV screen.

And on Thanksgiving Monday, the Leafs chose to move up the start time of their home game with the Detroit Red Wings to 2 p.m. to avoid going head-to-head with Game 2 of the Blue Jays-Seattle Mariners series being played down the street.

“The Blue Jays playoff excitement has captured the entire city and we want to help make sure that fans don’t miss a pitch,” said Keith Pelley, MLSE’s president and CEO, in announcing the scheduling change.

The Leafs certainly aren’t complaining.

Many of the players and staff have been swept up in the excitement of playoff baseball themselves, and they’re more than happy to cede the spotlight in the early days of their 2025-26 campaign.

“Of course,” Tanev said. “Hopefully it lasts for the next month. You always want teams in your city to do well. I grew up being a Jays fan, so it’s cool.”

Tanev was raised in Toronto’s east end as a self-professed sports junkie. He was on the field with the Blue Jays before games on multiple occasions throughout the summer, and has struck up a friendship with pitcher Kevin Gausman, his baseball doppelganger.

John Tavares, Max Domi and Steven Lorentz are among the other Toronto-area natives on the Leafs roster who are squarely on the Blue Jays bandwagon. Head coach Craig Berube and GM Brad Treliving have also attended games at Rogers Centre down the stretch, with Treliving known to stop by the office of Blue Jays manager John Schneider for a visit during his trips to the park.

The Leafs players turned the Oct. 5 ALDS game into a team-building outing at the end of a long training camp, and came away buzzing about the party-like scene they found there.

“If you’re in that atmosphere and you see the guys representing your city doing well, it’s just absolutely electric,” Lorentz said. “It was such a cool experience. It was so cool.”

“They give you goosebumps,” added Tavares.

Buds supporting Buds 🔵 @BlueJays pic.twitter.com/QnG75nxvuE

— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) October 5, 2025

The collision of sports seasons has created a good problem for Rogers Communications Inc., which owns the Blue Jays, 75 percent of the Maple Leafs and Raptors, plus the Sportsnet channels that air the majority of their games in Canada.

The clincher in the Jays-Yankees series took main billing on the network last Wednesday and drew an average audience of 3.8 million — more than three times what the Leafs-Montreal Canadiens season opener brought in at the same time.

There was a surreal feeling in the arena that night. The most enthusiastic cheers were reserved for Jays score updates being shown on the scoreboard, rather than anything happening on the ice, and a thundering “Let’s go Blue Jays!” chant echoed through the arena during the third period.

Leafs winger Bobby McMann, a native of Wainwright, Alta., said it added a little bit of extra energy to the building and told team host Ryan Leslie that he was joking with teammates during the game that they should imagine the random cheers were in recognition for finishing a hit or making a nice play.

“I think guys just kind of realized (what was happening),” McMann said. “I think we’re supporting the Jays as well, so it was cool.”

A view of the @BlueJays clinching their berth in the ALCS, as heard inside Scotiabank Arena more than 45 minutes after the Leafs-Habs game ended: pic.twitter.com/4cjt10N4yM

— Chris Johnston (@reporterchris) October 9, 2025

The scene won’t be repeated thanks to Monday’s schedule change.

As an added benefit, it should allow the Leafs players to catch most of the Blue Jays game, which is set to begin at 5:03 p.m., after completing their post-game cooldown routines. With anticipation building and the baseball team seeking its first World Series appearance in 32 years, the NHLers have turned into fans like everyone else.

“We understand. We understand,” Lorentz said. “The city comes alive when the sports teams are doing well, especially in such a big sports town like Toronto.

“Plus, the Jays are Canada’s team.”