Are true rivalries a thing of the past?
It's been almost 30-years since the Toronto Maple Leafs have met the Montréal Canadiens in the Stanley Cup playoffs, not since the 1978-79 season when the Habs swept the blue-and-white in the quarter-finals have the two butted heads in the post-season.
But despite the passage of time since their last post-season game against one another, the games never cease to entertain both sets of fans, no matter the venue. But at the same time, can the two teams still call each other their greatest rival? No matter the fact that both teams tend to bring the best out of each other, Maple Leafs fans will likely rank the Habs either third or fourth on the ‘rivalry' list. Most Leafs fans, nostalgia aside, would say that the teams' two main rivals would be most definitely Ottawa, and probably Philadelphia.
Montreal would then be vying for third with the Red Wings, another of the Leafs former Original Six rivals.
Now don't get me wrong, I love seeing the Leafs play Montreal because of the history and the fact that the fans do still get into the games, and when that level of excitement happens at the Air Canada Centre it's a big deal. But I've seen the Leafs play everyone from Buffalo, the New York Rangers, Vancouver Canucks and Canadiens at the ACC, but hands down it's the Senators who get the teams fans into an uproar.
Most Leafs fans, nostalgia aside, would say that the teams' two main rivals would be most definitely Ottawa, and probably Philadelphia.
Not that recently the Sens have been given any reason to think the team was a rival, but at the same time the majority of sports fans have extremely short memories. Most Toronto fans remember playoff series' against the Islanders, Ottawa, Carolina and Philadelphia. They'll remember Daniel Alfredsson checking Darcy Tucker right before scoring a goal, or Tucker's low hit that knocked Michael Peca out of the playoffs, and they'll remember losing big games to the Carolina Hurricanes in the conference finals. And those things are how today's fans see rivalries: short term.
Regardless of the fact that the Leafs can't beat the Senators in the regular season, or that nothing came of Tucker's hit on Peca the following year, the incidents get built up to the point where it's less about the game's two points, and more about the drama.
Of course, it's extremely rare to find cemented rivalries in today's NHL, and for the most part they're based on geography: The Battles of Alberta, New York and Ontario. Events that really only get the two teams fans interested and have very little impact elsewhere in the league.
Nowadays it's the retribution that makes the game stand out. Which is, for real sports fans, and the sports themselves, a big loss, because it's not very often that you'll find pro-teams with such historical rivalries as some of the Original Six teams.
But despite the passage of time since their last post-season game against one another, the games never cease to entertain both sets of fans, no matter the venue. But at the same time, can the two teams still call each other their greatest rival? No matter the fact that both teams tend to bring the best out of each other, Maple Leafs fans will likely rank the Habs either third or fourth on the ‘rivalry' list. Most Leafs fans, nostalgia aside, would say that the teams' two main rivals would be most definitely Ottawa, and probably Philadelphia.
Montreal would then be vying for third with the Red Wings, another of the Leafs former Original Six rivals.
Now don't get me wrong, I love seeing the Leafs play Montreal because of the history and the fact that the fans do still get into the games, and when that level of excitement happens at the Air Canada Centre it's a big deal. But I've seen the Leafs play everyone from Buffalo, the New York Rangers, Vancouver Canucks and Canadiens at the ACC, but hands down it's the Senators who get the teams fans into an uproar.
Most Leafs fans, nostalgia aside, would say that the teams' two main rivals would be most definitely Ottawa, and probably Philadelphia.
Not that recently the Sens have been given any reason to think the team was a rival, but at the same time the majority of sports fans have extremely short memories. Most Toronto fans remember playoff series' against the Islanders, Ottawa, Carolina and Philadelphia. They'll remember Daniel Alfredsson checking Darcy Tucker right before scoring a goal, or Tucker's low hit that knocked Michael Peca out of the playoffs, and they'll remember losing big games to the Carolina Hurricanes in the conference finals. And those things are how today's fans see rivalries: short term.
Regardless of the fact that the Leafs can't beat the Senators in the regular season, or that nothing came of Tucker's hit on Peca the following year, the incidents get built up to the point where it's less about the game's two points, and more about the drama.
Of course, it's extremely rare to find cemented rivalries in today's NHL, and for the most part they're based on geography: The Battles of Alberta, New York and Ontario. Events that really only get the two teams fans interested and have very little impact elsewhere in the league.
Nowadays it's the retribution that makes the game stand out. Which is, for real sports fans, and the sports themselves, a big loss, because it's not very often that you'll find pro-teams with such historical rivalries as some of the Original Six teams.
