Boston

DeBrusk Says He and His Family Got Death Threats From Toronto Fans

Jake DeBrusk has been pretty quiet on social media lately, and he has an unfortunate reason why.

The Bruins winger told 98.5 The Sports Hub's "Toucher & Rich" on Thursday morning he and his family members received death threats from Toronto fans during Boston's first-round Stanley Cup Playoff series with the Maple Leafs.

DeBrusk said the threats began around Game 3 in Toronto, after an eventful Game 2 in which DeBrusk's hit on Patrick Marleau inspired Toronto's Nazem Kadri to retaliate with a ruthless cross-check that earned Kadri a series-long suspension.

"I think the fact that happened in Game 2 and we were going into Toronto for Game 3 -- I was getting death threats consistently," DeBrusk said. "My family members were telling me that they were getting death threats, as well, so I just wanted to kind of slow it down, in a sense. So, I just didn't go on (social media)."

When asked if he reported any of the death threats, DeBrusk revealed the scope of the threats, some of which came via direct messages.

"There were too many, to be honest," DeBrusk said. "There were just too many things going on to (report) threats that were happening, whether it's comments or direct messages or other things.

"There were just too many. I couldn't really report all of them. I didn't report any of them, to be honest. There were so many."

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DeBrusk isn't the first person to receive death threats from Toronto fans, as the wife of former Maple Leafs goaltender Alex Reimer said she got similar threats from cyberbullies after the team's collapse against the Bruins in 2013.

The Bruins lost two of the three games they played in Toronto but won the series in seven games to advance to the second round against the Columbus Blue Jackets.

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