# What do hockey fan license plates mean? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 10, 2010, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-hockey-fan-license-plates-mean/553278 "2010-09-10T12:46:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Heckity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a5b964/32.png) [@Heckity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heckity)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2010, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-hockey-fan-license-plates-mean/553278/1 "2010-09-10T12:46:59Z")
I’m not sure it’s true for all areas where there are hockey fans, but around Toronto there are tons of personalized license plates that have the Maple Leaf insignia and something that looks like a score, but couldn’t be. For example: 84to72. It doesn’t make sense as a date range, nor have I ever seen a game with a final score remotely as high as 84. Does anyone know what they intend to convey? ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2010, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-hockey-fan-license-plates-mean/553278/2 "2010-09-10T13:09:36Z")
Do you know actual numbers? Could they be jersey numbers? ---
**Author:** ![dogbutler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dogbutler/32/428_2.png) [@dogbutler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dogbutler)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2010, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-hockey-fan-license-plates-mean/553278/3 "2010-09-10T13:33:02Z")
I can’t make that one out. My friend’s license plate is “5hle” ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2010, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-hockey-fan-license-plates-mean/553278/4 "2010-09-10T13:38:55Z")
> [@Heckity](#): > > I’m not sure it’s true for all areas where there are hockey fans, but around Toronto there are tons of personalized license plates that have the Maple Leaf insignia and something that looks like a score, but couldn’t be. > > For example: 84to72. It doesn’t make sense as a date range, nor have I ever seen a game with a final score remotely as high as 84. > > Does anyone know what they intend to convey? They don’t mean anything. The numeric portion of the plate is just the incrementally assigned number from the province. You can pay extra to put your own personalization there, but otherwise it’s just the next plate in the Maple Leaf series. Same with all the other Ontario plates: Fire Department, Trillium, Loon, Veteran, etc. ---
**Author:** ![D18](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c57346/32.png) [@D18](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D18)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2010, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-hockey-fan-license-plates-mean/553278/5 "2010-09-10T13:58:02Z")
I’m sorry, **Leaffan** but you’re mistaken. When you order a Maple Leafs plate, you are entered into a OLGC betting pool for when the Leafs will next win the cup. So in the case cited by the OP, that person’s “bet” is on the year 8472 CE. If the Leafs don’t win the cup until 8472 (and I’d be surprised if it’s even that soon), their descendants will collect on the bet. There’s actually going to be a crisis in a little while when they get to the year 9999 and they’re going to have start adding another digit to allow for 10,000 CE or later. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2010, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-hockey-fan-license-plates-mean/553278/6 "2010-09-10T14:03:40Z")
> [@D18](#): > > I’m sorry, **Leaffan** but you’re mistaken. When you order a Maple Leafs plate, you are entered into a OLGC betting pool for when the Leafs will next win the cup. So in the case cited by the OP, that person’s “bet” is on the year 8472 CE. If the Leafs don’t win the cup until 8472 (and I’d be surprised if it’s even that soon), their descendants will collect on the bet. > > There’s actually going to be a crisis in a little while when they get to the year 9999 and they’re going to have start adding another digit to allow for 10,000 CE or later. 😛 Ya. At this rate a Mars mission seems more likely in my lifetime. But I can always hope, right? ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2010, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-hockey-fan-license-plates-mean/553278/7 "2010-09-10T14:41:22Z")
84to72 would mean #84 passing to #72 (to me anyway), except 84 and 72 were never worn together by two players on the Leafs. Why did I post this? ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2010, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-hockey-fan-license-plates-mean/553278/8 "2010-09-10T14:45:33Z")
Anyway I think the alpha digits in the government-issued plates is ML, not TO: i.e. 84ML72. ---
**Author:** ![newcomer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e5b9ba/32.png) [@newcomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/newcomer)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2010, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-hockey-fan-license-plates-mean/553278/9 "2010-09-10T15:08:57Z")
IIRC, Toronto Maple Leafs plate should have “ML” (or, if Blue Jays fan, “JA”) in the middle and the numbers are just serial numbers. If so, “TO” would in your example stand for Toronto. Probably a European thing where in most European countries (most notably, Germany) license plates start with two or one letter designating city where the car is licensed (“M” for Munich). Just a guess… ---
**Author:** ![Heckity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a5b964/32.png) [@Heckity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heckity)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2010, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-hockey-fan-license-plates-mean/553278/10 "2010-09-10T15:54:05Z")
Wow, thanks for the replies! > [@](#): > > If the Leafs don’t win the cup until 8472 (and I’d be surprised if it’s even that soon), their descendants will collect on the bet. **D18** , I sure hope you’re wrong - my children inherited season’s tickets, and while they’re young, they’ll never live that long!! I think **newcomer** might be right - and it’s TO for Toronto - aha! Potential ignorance fought! Or perhaps, ignorance potentially fought.