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We officially know why Kyle Clifford absolutely destroyed his former teammate

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Tom Banks
March 12, 2024  (3:14 PM)
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Over the weekend, social media was buzzing about another incident involving the Toronto Maple Leafs, this time when the Toronto Marlies' Kyle Clifford snapped on an opponent, and now the back story has been revealed.

With the Marlies facing off against the Seattle Thunderbirds, Joseph Duszak scored a beauty of goal before celebrating in front of the Marlies bench, leading veteran Kyle Clifford to snap.

Kyle Clifford wires crossed in @TheAHL when Joseph Duszak of the @ThunderbirdsAHL cellys right in front of the @TorontoMarlies bench

Immediately after the celebration, Clifford too the fight to Duszak, who clearly didn't want to engage in it, leading many on social media to calling out the entire Maple Leafs organization for being soft following the Morgan Rielly incident.

A deeper history to this fight between Clifford and Duszak?

Now, social media has revealed the complicated history between the two that led Clifford to snap on his former teammate.

"Some back story to this situation:

Two years ago, Duszak refused to dress for the Marlies final game of the season, and they had to play short. He also left the arena before the end of the game and never showed up to another Marlies event, until he was released shortly after.

Then here, after scoring a goal, he goes straight to the Marlies bench and starts taunting them.

To think this response had anything to do with a goal celebration is just lazy and ignorant. Duszak was not very well liked, quit on the team, and then, after his first goal against his old teammates, yells at the bench." - @Leafs_Truth on Twitter (X).

If the story is true, it's hard to blame Clifford here, especially with the way that Duszak celebrated in front of their bench, and while it initially was a bad look for the organization, this would certainly be a good reason for the way that he reacted.

As Read on Maple Leafs Daily - This weekend, we saw Kyle Clifford snap on a former teammate. Now we officially know why

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