Edmonton Oilers Steal Maple Leafs' Idea for Honouring the Player of the Game

Since the 2024-25 home opener, the Toronto Maple Leafs have carried on their tradition of honouring a Player of the Game with a WWE-style championship belt.

Even though Maple Leafs GM Brad Treliving admitted to concerns about recalling him from the AHL, Fraser Minten is the most recent winner of the Leafs' Player of the Game belt.

As such, he will get to choose the winner of the belt after the next Maple Leafs win, as has been the tradition.

In what seems more like theft than tribute, the Edmonton Oilers have recently revealed that they are now doing the same thing.

After starting with a model of what wrestling fans would know as the "Big Gold Belt", the team has moved on to a more modern style championship for its Player of the Game.

To make matters worse, the change came with the game that has the Edmonton Oilers calling out Ryan Reaves for his controversial hit on Darnell Nurse, which earned Reavo a 5-game suspension.

Also noted is the fact that the NHL has treated Reaves very differently than Zach Whitecloud of the Vegas Golden Knights.

Personally, I'm not a fan of the round faceplate style for these belts. The one used by the Maple Leafs, which looks more like older WWE Heavyweight and Intercontinental Championships, is much more sharp.

Toronto could update to an even more modern style of WWE championship if they so choose, but there would have to be some adjustments made, as there's not much room for the Maple Leafs logo.

All in all, the Toronto Maple Leafs did it first, and they do it better. Nice try, though, Edmonton.