Toronto Maple Leafs goalie James Reimer called the behaviour of some angry Twitter fans "disappointing" after his wife became the target of an online attack following his team's fifth straight loss over the weekend.
The Leafs fell to the New Jersey Devils 3-2 on Sunday, and some fans took to Twitter to vent their frustration with both the team's losing streak and Reimer’s goaltending performance.
The goalie's wife, April, became the target presumably because her husband does not have a Twitter account. Some of the tweets were lighthearted, while others were quite offensive in nature.
"There's a lot of great fans out there and unfortunately a few of the obnoxious ones... sometimes their voice gets heard," Reimer told the media after Tuesday morning practice.
However, he said the experience had a positive side: "For every unfortunate tweet, I think there was 10 or 20 people sticking up for her or me."
On Sunday night, his wife tweeted her gratitude: "Thankfully the voices of many drown out the voices of a few. Thank you if you wrote me a kind tweet :)"
Reimer was pulled from the net 22 minutes into the Sunday night game against the New Jersey Devils after allowing three goals out of 10 shots.
He's has been filling in as the Leafs goaltender while Jonathan Bernier has been out with a groin injury.
The Leafs are barely hanging onto a playoff spot with goaltending and other factors at play.
