The 'Drake Curse' strikes again in the NHL

The ‘Drake Curse’ is real. And it has struck again.

The Canadian rapper’s habit of inflicting defeats on European football teams has now spread to the NHL and his native Toronto.

The hip-hop artist was at the Scotiabank Arena, decked out in a Toronto Maple Leafs jersey, to see the home team lose to the Boston Bruins in game four of a seven-game playoff series.

The curse seemed to begin with Premier League footballers.

Paul Pogba, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Sergio Aguero all posed for photos with the megastar before suffering defeats with Manchester United, Manchester City and Arsenal respectively.

Drake also hung out with Jadon Sancho before his Borussia Dortmund team were hammered 5-0 by Bayern Munich, while Paris-Saint Germain’s Layvin Kurzawa posed with him before the French team’s nigh-on inexplicable 5-1 defeat to Lille last weekend.

This unfortunate series of events led Italian side Roma to issue a Drake ban to their players, a necessary precaution considering Drake was also pictured with Conor McGregor prior to the Irish fighter’s defeat to Khabib Nurmagomedov last year.

With the football season entering its defining final weeks, fans will be hoping Drake keeps his distance.