The Canadiens and Maple Leafs have been playing each other for over a 100 years dating back all the way to 1917. Back then, the first world war wasn't over, the television hadn't even been invented and the National Hockey League was just being brought to existence. The two teams have always fought for Canadians' affection. In the beginning, Montreal was the flagship franchise for the French speaking catholic Canadiens while the Leafs were the anglophones and protestant worshiping Canucks. It was the incarnation of what remains to this day the greatest divide in Canada, the French vs. the English. It captured the hearts and mind of many young fans and was even immortalized by Roch Carrier in his children's book; The Hockey Sweater.
In preparation for #NationalSweaterDay I am getting reacquainted with this #Canadian classic this weekend! #TheHockeySweater #RochCarrier #SheldonCohen pic.twitter.com/aZWruddSSZ
— Michelle Lawlor (@MLawlor_MW) February 2, 2018
It has to be said however that today, the Canadiens have fans nationwide (well, worldwide to be fair) but it is no longer seen solely as the French Canadians' team. These days, plenty of English speakers support the Habs, perhaps their glorious history was the best way to recruit support or maybe it was the fact that the Leafs weren't relevant for so many years. In Toronto, gone are the days when the Queen's picture was on display at the Maple Leafs Garden and the God Save the Queen was played before each game but in Montreal, the bilingual version of the Oh Canada! still resonates before each game.
As a child of the 80s, I didn't get to enjoy much of this rivalry, its golden era was probably in the 1960s when the two teams reigned supreme over the NHL and won all but one of the Stanley Cup from that decade. In fact, as most people know, 1967 id the last time the Leafs got to hoist professional sports' most glorious trophy. That's right, 1967...back when Canada was only a 100 years old and the Montreal metro was being inaugurated... Sounds like a lifetime ago doesn't it? It's because it was. The closest the 70s and 80s kids came to experiencing the proper Montreal-Toronto rivalry was in 1993. Back then, the Leafs were in the Clarence Campbell Conference and had made it to the conference final, taking on Wayne Gretzky and his Kings. While the Canadiens made short work of a tired New York Islanders squad (who had beaten the Pittsburgh Penguins in a gruelling 7 game series in the previous round), the Leafs would miss the meeting being sent home in 6 games by the Great One's California based team.
To this day, the teams have played each other 741 times and the Canadiens have a winning record with 355 wins, 288 losses, 80 ties and 10 OT losses. As for playoffs action, the teams have met in 15 series and the Canadiens hold an 8 to 7 edge and should things continue to go well for both teams this season, we could potentially see a 16th meeting and that Habs fans, would be oh so very exciting! From January 2014 to October 2017, the Canadiens won 14 straight games against the Maple Leafs but since then, the Leafs have gotten their affairs in order, they drafted well for years (years of failure will do that to you) and can count on Matthews and Marner, they've put Mike Babcock at the helm and they managed to sign Patrick Marleau as the youngsters' babysitter (figure of speech but you get it) and John Tavares this summer after he decided to come back home and leave the Islanders hanging high and dry (or so we all thought, they're not doing too badly this year eh?).
Not everyday you can live a childhood dream pic.twitter.com/YUTKdfMALl
— John Tavares (@91Tavares) July 1, 2018
Right now, the Leafs have won the last 5 meetings but that could change tonight. The Canadiens are flying high these days, higher than the poor Ducks (that's easy) and higher still than the Jets (that's quite a feat) so why couldn't they beat the Leafs? The Habs are 8-1-1 in their last 10 games while the Leafs are 5-4-1 in the same span and tonight, a win would mean overtaking Toronto in the standings...That right there is quite the motivation I'd say! Add to that the fact that 5 important Habs players (Danault, Domi, Drouin, Petry and Tatar) are well on their way to having career years and that Drouin finally looks like what Bergevin hoped for when he sent Sergachev to Tampa and well, it feels like anything (or almost anything) is possible...
Ils sont tous en route vers leur meilleure saison en carrière : pic.twitter.com/GcN5ME2Q9z
— L'Antichambre (@Antichambre) February 9, 2019
Get ready for a good old fashioned Saturday night tilt in Montreal tonight! The puck drops at 19:00 and it remains to be seen if either Byron or Shaw (or both?) will be able to rejoin the line-up.
Edit: Just announced the Habs got Weise and Christian Folin from the Flyers for David Schlemko and Byron Froese. Philly keeps 19% of Frolin’s salary. More on that trade tomorrow!