Maple Leafs apologize for unfollowing thousands of fans on Twitter

A professional hockey team shouldn't have to say sorry for something like this, but here we are.

The Toronto Maple Leafs issued an apology to fans Saturday after unfollowing thousands of people the day before.

"The Maple Leafs' social media channels are one of the team's most important tools to engage and communicate with you, our fans," the club said in a statement. "Yesterday, as we (begun) work this offseason to make improvements to all of our social media channels, we reset the list of Twitter accounts we follow to make sure it is current and represents the team, and all of its fans, accurately and fairly."

The explanation continued with an apology and an expression of regret over not informing people of the purge before carrying it out.

"What we didn't do (was) tell our fans what we were doing and why, and for that we apologize. Our intentions remain fan-focused, but our mistake was not making the process more fan-friendly. Over the coming days and months, we will be following the accounts that help us deliver the best experience for you as you follow and interact with your Toronto Maple Leafs."

The Leafs went from following about 8,000 users to one, team president Brendan Shanahan, but have since added more than 70 accounts to their timeline.

Predictably, some fans weren't happy when they realized they'd been unfollowed.

Some fans even resorted to unfollowing or blocking the team account in protest.