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Has the Montreal Canadiens and Toronto Maple Leafs rivalry been restored?

By Dillon Dominique

MONTREAL, QC - APRIL 06: Mitchell Marner #16 of the Toronto Maple Leafs is stopped by goaltender Charlie Lindgren #39 of the Montreal Canadiens in a shootout during the NHL game at the Bell Centre on April 6, 2019 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The Montreal Canadiens defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs 6-5 in a shootout. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images)
MONTREAL, QC - APRIL 06: Mitchell Marner #16 of the Toronto Maple Leafs is stopped by goaltender Charlie Lindgren #39 of the Montreal Canadiens in a shootout during the NHL game at the Bell Centre on April 6, 2019 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The Montreal Canadiens defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs 6-5 in a shootout. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images) /
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The Montreal Canadiens and Toronto Maple Leafs are said to be the oldest rivals in hockey. Their rivalry has been fairly silent over the past number of years, but has it been restored this summer?

The Montreal Canadiens and Toronto Maple Leafs have a long and well documented history going back to the original six days. Recent comments by Max Domi give hope that the once heated rivalry may soon be alive again. Max Domi is a polarizing character outside of the Montreal Canadiens fanbase. He is easy to love but relatively easy to hate at the same time.

He recently made comments to TSN about the Habs fanbase: “I was pretty lucky as a kid to grow up around that same sort of vibe in Toronto with my dad, but Montreal’s a whole other level. I get it, Toronto’s got their fans and the Leaf Nation is pretty big, but there’s nothing even close to Montreal and their fans down there. The fanbase for the Montreal Canadiens is second to none.”

Some took this as a jab towards the Leafs, but he shut that down pretty quickly on the Tim and Sid show for Sportsnet. He stated that he has no ties to the Maple Leafs franchise or city, other than the fact that he trains there in the offseason. Regardless though, the man is allowed his opinion and what do you expect him to say? He is a player for the Montreal Canadiens no less.

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Max Domi is the son of former Toronto Maple Leafs goon and fan favorite Tie, spent his childhood rooting for the team in which his father donned the iconic Maple Leaf crest. He idolized Leafs legend Mats Sundin and currently wears number 13 in honor of him.

It’s not hard to see why the connection is often made, but it seems as though Max would rather the connection stop being made. The media often ask him questions about Toronto and from here on out he will likely deflect from those questions, instead of entertaining them, as he did in the latest Sportsnet podcast.

The Toronto Montreal rivalry dates back to 1917, the oldest rivalry in hockey. Montreal has enjoyed more postseason success holding a 42-29 win ratio against their rival, with 8 series won, to Toronto’s 7. In a regular season game in October of 2017, the Leafs won 4-3 in over time ending a record setting 14 game losing streak against the Habs. There’s little doubt that the Leafs have been the better team of late, but they haven’t won a playoff series in the past 15 years, so they’ll be looking to do just that in the upcoming 2019-20 season. The Montreal Canadiens however, made won six series in that time.

The Toronto Maple Leafs won 3 of 4 games against the Canadiens in 2018-19, all of which were tight games that could have gone either way. Where the rivalry will be restored however, is when the two teams meet in the playoffs for the first time since 1979. Fans of both historic franchises are salivating at the idea of beating one another in a 7-game series. The fans need this, but most of all, the hockey community as a whole needs this.

The two franchises are at different stages in competitiveness at the moment, but could cross paths as early as next season. I expect they’ll be seeing a lot of each other in the postseason over the course of the next few years. With the playoff format being heavily weighted toward divisional opponents, it’s almost inevitable.

The Canadiens are in the midst of a retool of sorts, with one of the best prospect pools in the league. Names like Ryan Poehling, Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield and Josh Brook top the list of very highly touted Habs prospects. The goal will be to add these guys to a core of veterans that consist of Carey Price, Shea Weber, Brendan Gallagher, Jeff Petry and Max Domi to name a few.

The Maple Leafs however, are well past their rebuild and are doing whatever it takes to win Lord Stanley’s Cup. They have a young core consisting of very talented players such as Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, John Tavares, William Nylander, Frederik Andersen and Morgan Reilly.

Clearly the Leafs have better high end talent, but Montreal is not far away with Poehling and Suzuki scratching at the door. Cole Caufield looks like a steal at 15th overall in the 2019 NHL draft, and in a year or two, could provide the team with a consistent scoring threat that they currently lack.

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It’s looking more and more like the once great rivalry is close to being rekindled, and many fans of this great sport can’t wait for the day that happens. The white and blue going toe to toe with the Bleu Blanc et Rouge in an effort to get closer to the ultimate prize: the Stanley Cup. The sooner that happens the better.

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