Toronto Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews returned the favor when he showed up to Tuesday's game against the New Jersey Devils wearing a Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Blue Jays jersey.

Ahead of the Blue Jays’ Game 7 win over the Seattle Mariners to book their ticket to the MLB World Series, Guerrero Jr. walked in wearing a Matthews jersey.

Fans on social media were worried because Matthews and the Leafs don’t have a strong reputation in Game 7s, highlighted by an 0-6 record in the past decade.

After the win, Blue Jays manager John Schneider commented on Guerrero Jr.’s choice of apparel.

“I think Vladdy broke the curse by wearing Auston Matthews' jersey here today,” Schneider told reporters on Monday night.

Despite the Maple Leafs qualifying for the Stanley Cup playoffs for nine straight seasons, the longest active streak in the NHL, they haven’t even experienced an Eastern Conference final since 2002. They’ve been looking for a post-season breakthrough for several years at this point.

The Blue Jays, meanwhile, got that breakthrough after missing the post-season last year and not winning once in the wild-card round in their previous three trips to the playoffs. In fact, their two trips to the American League Championship series in 2015 and 2016 were Toronto's first post-season appearances since they won the World Series in 1992 and 1993.

With that context, it’s understandable when Leafs defenseman Morgan Rielly said he’s almost jealous of the Jays’ success.

“We want to be able to do that and have a run like that,” Rielly told reporters on Tuesday morning.

'You're Almost Jealous Of What They're Doing': Maple Leafs React To Blue Jays' World Series Berth When <a href="https://x.com/MLB/status/1980461867098337447">George Springer crushed a home run</a> to put the Toronto Blue Jays up 4-3 in Game 7 of the ALCS against the Seattle Mariners, Max Domi jumped off his couch and nearly hit his head on the ceiling.

Rielly, the longest-tenured Maple Leaf on the roster today, even mentioned he felt that way when the NBA’s Toronto Raptors won their championship in 2019.

Like the Maple Leafs have been for many years, the Raptors were known as a ‘regular-season team’ that had success until the playoffs. There were multiple seasons when the Raptors won their division but were eliminated in the first or second round of the playoffs.

Eventually, with the help of star Kawhi Leonard, the Raptors were able to find their breakthrough in the playoffs, winning their first championship in the team’s existence.

This breakthrough the Raptors and the Blue Jays have had hasn’t come for the modern Maple Leafs. Despite the star power of Matthews, William Nylander, the departed Mitch Marner, John Tavares and others, they haven’t found the formula to make a grand statement in the playoffs like these other sports franchises in Toronto.

But to Schneider’s point, maybe that ‘curse’ has been broken, thanks to Guerrero Jr. It's up to the Leafs players to prove it.

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