Blue And White Beat: Ontario rivalry fading
When the second incarnation of the Ottawa Senators entered the NHL in 1992-93, a natural provincial rivalry was created with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The animosity between the two franchises reached its apex between 2000-2004 as the clubs dueled in the playoffs 4 times in five seasons, with the Leafs emerging as the victors each time. Two of those series – the ones played in 2002 and 2004 – lasted the full seven games.
How quickly the intensity has faded.
Saturday’s game played at Scotiabank Place in Canada’s capital was a one-sided affair in which the Leafs cruised to a 5-1 win, evening the season series with their Ontario foes at two games each. While full credit is given to Toronto for playing the proverbial ‘perfect road game’, the Senators didn’t do themselves any favours with their anemic defensive effort and fragile goaltending.
Moreover, the game featured two teams destined to finish out of the playoffs. Prior to 2009, at least one of these Northeast division rivals qualified for the post-season. Unless either Ron Wilson’s or Cory Clouston’s squad performs a miraculous reversal of fortune, neither Ontario team will play beyond Game 82 for the second time in three years.
On paper, a Saturday night New Year’s Day matchup between Toronto and Ottawa looked to be must-see TV. Instead – due to weather conditions delaying the Winter Classic by seven hours – the matchup became a mere inconvenience to viewers in Ontario who would have preferred to watch the CBC coverage of the much-hyped outdoor game between Pittsburgh and Washington.
Not all facets of the Leafs-Senators rivalry have disappeared. Ottawa’s Daniel Alfredsson suffered the indignity of being booed in his home rink on Saturday. However most of the raspberries came from the multitude of Leafs fans among the sellout crowd of 20,027, who still reserve their expression of indignation for the Senators for when the two teams play at Air Canada Centre. Toronto’s supporters still haven’t forgiven Alfredsson for his mocking of fellow countryman Mats Sundin, who was suspended by the NHL a few seasons ago for a stick throwing incident.
Zdeno Chara still gets booed at ACC every time he touches the puck, and he hasn’t played on the Senators blueline in five seasons. But the man who once tossed then-Toronto defenceman Bryan McCabe around like a rag doll won’t get a reprieve when his current club Boston visits the Leafs on Monday.
Yet, there’s currently no void to fill the acrimony that was evident when Shayne Corson was checking Alexei Yashin.
Or when Owen Nolan offered an unsympathetic “Boo hoo” when his Leafs team rallied to defeat a flu-ridden Senators squad in overtime.
While Colton Orr may be exchanging unpleasantries with Chris Neil and Matt Carkner, the decibel level is far below the standard set when Darcy Tucker foolishly tried to antagonize the entire Senators bench.
These two teams still despise each other.
But in the absence of any meaningful games between them, it’s difficult for anyone to get excited over this once-proud clash for hockey supremacy in Ontario.
Rob Del Mundo is the author of Blue And White Beat, and is a regular columnist at TMLfans.ca
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When you had guys like Tucker,Corson,Roberts,Domi the rivalry was great.There were not to many guys thancould antagonize their opponents like these guys could.