The Toronto Maple Leafs are limping toward the end of a season that few fans saw coming, and one East Coast golf resort has decided that the timing is simply too perfect not to say something. With the Leafs missing the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time in a decade, following a 4-1 loss to the San Jose Sharks earlier this month, Nova Scotia’s Fox Harb’r Golf Resort is reminding heartbroken Toronto fans that even if playoffs are off the table, golf season is right on time.
The resort launched a playful ad campaign in Toronto ahead of the Leafs’ final home game against the Dallas Stars on Monday, taking over digital boards throughout Union Station and the downtown PATH.
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The campaign paired glossy images of Fox Harb’r’s coastal championship course with captions like: “Don’t worry, we have 18 cups waiting for you here” and “A short season just means more time for the short game.”
And yes, the stunt turned Toronto’s sports heartbreak into spring travel marketing, but Fox Harb’r told the publication that the campaign was never meant to be cruel. Resort president Kevin Toth described it more like a warm invitation, telling the outlet, “This is just your East Coast family saying: come home for a few days. We’ll feed you, we’ll get you on the course, and we won’t talk about the playoffs unless you want to.”
The resort even carried the joke onto its website. Fox Harb’r created a getaway package called the Rink to the Links Escape, “for fans who gave everything to hockey season and got nothing back.” It’s being touted as a sort of recovery plan: a few days on Nova Scotia’s Northumberland shore with world-class golf, dinner and a couple of cocktails. So, no hard feelings, I guess?
