It’s a long shot now, but if the Toronto Maple Leafs miraculously stage a playoff comeback and win the Stanley Cup, a team of realtors in Ontario’s Kitchener-Waterloo region says they’ll work for free.

The Saunders Tremblay Realty Team put the offer together quickly recently, just before the Leafs fell behind three games to none to the Florida Panthers in the National Hockey League playoffs. Game four is Wednesday night.

Realtor Michael Saunders explains the plan was in motion well before the Leafs found themselves facing elimination, “My son and I watched a hockey game (recently), and it was just so exciting. He said, ‘Dad, this is a great idea; Leafs Nation is going crazy. Let’s roll the dice.’ The Leafs were the favourites. They were due to win,” said Saunders.

“If the Leafs win, you would have to pay the cooperating commission sale, but we work for free on our end.”

Michael Saunders, The Saunders Tremblay Realty Team

“But by the time we managed to get a package, a little marketing thing, together and get it approved from our brokers, the Leafs were already down two games,” the realtor explains.  

“In a nutshell, we just said if you list with us prior to May 18 anywhere in the Waterloo region…and if the Leafs win, you would have to pay the cooperating commission sale, but we work for free on our end.”

Saunders said he’s never done anything like this before from a marketing perspective.

“It was just one of those ideas my son came up with, and everybody on the team loved it. And we have a few diehard Leafs’ fans on our team, right? They were pretty gung-ho for this.”

“At the start, we had good intentions, and I was actually quite nervous.”

But it doesn’t look too good right now for the Leafs, as they could get swept in Florida on Wednesday night. “People are saying, ‘Oh you’re taking a real chance now Mike’,” laughed Saunders. 

“At the start, we had good intentions, and I was actually quite nervous, and I thought, oh well, in the end, we’ll get a little publicity, and if you make some people happy, we’ve made some new contacts anyway. 

“It’s not the end of the world to not partake in this big celebration. But I’ve got a feeling we’re going to have to wait another 50-something years before it really happens.”

It might be a marketing strategy to adopt next year if the Leafs make the playoffs.

“But you know what, the last thing you want to say as a Leafs’ fan is maybe next year. I’ve heard this since 1967,” said Saunders, who has more than 30 years of experience as a Kitchener-Waterloo real estate agent.

Mario Toneguzzi

Mario Toneguzzi is a contributing writer for REM. He has more than 40 years of experience as a daily newspaper writer, columnist, and editor. He worked for 35 years at the Calgary Herald, covering sports, crime, politics, health, faith, city and breaking news, and business. He now works on his own as a freelance writer for several national publications and consultant in communications and media relations/training. Mario was named in 2021 as one of the Top 10 Business Journalists in the World by PR News – the only Canadian to make the list.