Maple Leafs Warn of Pressing Criminal Charges on Fans in the Dying Minutes of Game 7

The Toronto Maple Leafs have once again experienced an excruciatingly painful loss in Game 7, ending their season and falling well short of expectations.

This time, it was against the divisional foe Florida Panthers, who dismantled them 6-1 in front of the home fans at Scotiabank Arena.

So disgusted were a large number of Leafs faithful that they began heading for the exits early in the 3rd period, and some even began throwing their Leafs sweaters and other objects onto the ice in protest.

This kind of behavior is prohibited, as fans are not allowed to throw anything onto the ice other than hats after a player scores his 3rd goal of the game.

The public address announcer at Scotiabank Arena issued a clear warning to anyone violating these guidelines that they were in danger of facing criminal charges.

Sunday night wasn't the 1st time in the series that Leafs fans had broken these rules, as at least a pair of sweaters were tossed onto the ice during Toronto's blowout 6-1 loss to the Panthers in Game 5.

While there was plenty of booing from the fans who remained behind in the venue (a perfectly legal form of protest), throwing objects other than hats following a hat trick onto the ice is expressly forbidden for obvious safety reasons.

It's a maddeningly frustrating time for Maple Leafs fans right now, but a small group who took their protests too far could be facing legal charges on top of the heartache they're experiencing right now with their club's demise.