Maple Accosted by Angry Fans, Pelted With Rotten Fruit

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After leaving the arena following a disappointing loss, Dogwood Maple was accosted by a group of angry fans who apparently had enough with the Wolves' bad start to the season.  The angry mob cornered him, pelted him with rotten fruit, and threw cans of neon yellow paint all over his car.  While Maple wasn't physically hurt, it's safe to say he was definitely shook up.

 

"It certainly wasn't how I wanted to end the night, that's for sure.  We played our tails of, came up on the losing end, and when I just want to get home and go to bed, I get attacked.  I took a rotten tomato right to the face, but the worst was a pair of eggplants that exploded right on my forehead.  It smelled horrible and I know it's going to take multiple showers to get rid of the stink.  As for my car, well that's just something I'd really not like to think about right now.  It's just a Honda Civic, but I had just gotten it washed, waxed, and detailed and it's just frustrating.  The particular shade of yellow they used isn't all that bad, but there's a ton of scratches and dents in it now.  All in all, it was just a really bad night," Maple explained.

 

As for the perpetrators, they were originally going to be charged with multiple crimes but to their surprise, Maple stepped up and convinced the district attorney not to bring charges.

 

"Look, they're frustrated.  I get it.  We're not playing to the level they're used to and it's unacceptable.  There's just no excuse for it and we have to play better.  We know that.

 

Now, they're not getting off totally scot-free.  They're going to be doing some volunteer work for the Vancouver Wolves Non-Profit Foundation around the city, which I figure is a fair trade for the car damage and the rotten fruit," Maple said.

 

When asked what changes needed to be made to avoid these continued poor performances, Maple wasn't shy.

 

"We have to improve at everything.  We have to get more efficient on offense, first and foremost. I feel like we have the players and the opportunities to find the back of the net, but we're just not cashing them in like we should.  On defense, it's equally frustrating. We play really solid defense who huge swaths of time, but whenever we need a stop we just can't come up with it.  We're putting our goalie in really tough positions and there's just no way to stay clean consistently like that.  The good news is that we have the talent, players, and coaching staff to make the changes needed to get to the postseason. Our GMs and entire front office staff can push the right buttons and get this ship turned around, I have absolutely no doubt about it.  Plus, the talent on this team?  We have elite players at all levels and just need to gel a little more to get things rolling.  Yes, it's a rough start, but we have everything we need to do what we need to do." Maple said.

In the future, Maple said he hopes any upset fans will stick to less rotten fruit.