Jake DeBrusk, family dealt with death threats during Maple Leafs series

Jake DeBrusk knew that the chirps, jeers and expected *ahem* pleasantries were heading his way.

Acknowledging his status as “public enemy No. 1” up in Toronto ahead of Game 3 of Boston’s opening-round matchup against the Maple Leafs — the 22-year-old winger was in line for a frosty reception north of the border.

After battling with Leafs pivot Nazem Kadri for most of the first two games of the series, DeBrusk was dropped to the ice in the third period of Game 2 thanks to a foolish (and dangerous) cross-check from Kadri. The infraction led to a series-long suspension for Kadri — putting DeBrusk in the crosshairs of Toronto’s fan base.

DeBrusk was fine with the less-than-welcoming reception he received when he skated out on the ice at Scotiabank Arena. It’s part of the gig, after all. But what he wasn’t expecting were the multiple death threats and other sordid messages that started to sprout up on his phone.



Speaking with 98.5 The Sports Hub’s Toucher & Rich Thursday morning and later confirmed that afternoon at Warrior Ice Arena, DeBrusk admitted that both he and his family received numerous death threats in the aftermath of Game 2. The stream of messages continued to pop up on Twitter and Instagram throughout the series, eventually prompting DeBrusk to delete the apps off of his phone for the remainder of Boston's matchup with Toronto.

“It was something that I didn’t really expect, ever,” DeBrusk said of the death threats. “It was kind of my first go-around with that. It was something that didn’t really get to me, to be honest. But it was just kind of there and it wasn’t really stopping. I just tried to defuse it. Especially when it gets to family, it gets a little different.

“But in saying that, the guys in the room here really took me in and helped me kind of get over that. We’ve had guys that have had similar reactions over the times. They’ve really helped me. I think the best way to go about that is that we won the series — and we don’t have to deal with them for at least another year.”

For DeBrusk, deleting the apps was the simple solution — and allowed him to cut out more distractions during what was a nail-biter of a series that needed seven games to finally resolve.

“Pretty much anywhere I kind of looked,” DeBrusk said of where he saw the messages. “But in saying that, I got the apps off my phone and just took that with how it was. I didn’t really need to see that, in a sense. You’re in a tense series and you try to limit the distractions, whether they’re good or bad throughout your time (playing). Just kind of put it aside and went and tried to do what I could do on the ice.”

While DeBrusk tuned out the outside noise, his second playoff series against Toronto was a bit more muted than the five-goal, seven-point showing he put together against the Leafs during the 2018 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

In total, DeBrusk finished with just one goal and one assist during Boston’s rematch with Toronto, averaging a little under three shots per game. But the B’s winger doesn’t believe the harassment that he and his family received played any part in his so-so performance out on the ice.

“No,” DeBrusk said of it affecting his play. “I didn’t like my play, to be honest with you. During Games 3, 4 and 5. That’s kind of my personal opinion. But no, it didn’t really affect me too much. Like I said, I was just trying to use it as fuel.”

With Toronto bounced out of the first round by Boston’s doing for the second year in a row, DeBrusk noted that he was finally able to re-download his apps once again — and considers the matter settled. The talented forward isn’t going to dwell on the unfortunate scenario going forward, but added that the entire saga was another learning experience about the potential perils of social media.

“I don’t think there’s really a time and a place for death threats and certain things like that,” DeBrusk said. “It’s 2019, social media, there’s people that are on the other side of that as well. They’ll think you’re a god or they’ll want to kill you, so it is what it is. You can’t take it too seriously, either way."