The Canadiens/Maple Leafs NHL Rivalry

The rivalry between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal Canadiens is the oldest and most bitter rivalry in the history of the National Hockey League, which has led to these teams being each other’s arch-rivals. From 1944 to 1978, the two teams met each other in the playoffs 12 times, and faced off in five Stanley Cup Finals. While the on-ice competition is fierce, the Leafs-Habs rivalry is actually symbolic of a much deeper cleavage in Canadian history and society ” that between English and French-Canadians. It’s the rivalry between Canada’s largest cities: Toronto, the largest and the heart of Anglo-Canada and Montreal, the second-largest and the heart of Franco-Canada.

As early back as 92 years ago, this rivalry was laying out the groundwork for a bigger one to come. All of Toronto’s fans were generally English speakers, as the fans in Montreal were of French origins. The Maple Leafs logo resembled the Canadian army logo.

In Montreal, the Canadiens were built around a French fan base, as the province of Quebec had its origins with the French republic. In fact, the Canadiens chose to sing “O Canada” before each game, and most of the song was recited in French over English.

While certainly heated during the 1940s and 1950s, the Leafs-Habs rivalry was particularly acute during the 1960s; one of the two teams would capture the Stanley Cup each year in the decade, with the exceptions of 1961 and 1970. The rivalry perhaps reached its zenith in the 1967 season, when both teams met in the Stanley Cup Finals during the centennial year of Canadian Confederation. The city of Montreal was hosting Expo 67 that year, and the Canadiens were expected to beat the Leafs quite handily. Still, underdog Toronto upset the Habs to capture the Cup. Toronto captured their last cup to date in a 4-2 series win over the Canadiens.

The fortunes of the two teams since 1967 have also seen a marked difference; the Habs have won ten Stanley Cup championships since that year, while the Maple Leafs still have yet to reach the Stanley Cup Finals. Toronto came close to reaching the Finals in 1993, where they would have faced the Wales Conference champion Habs in the 100th anniversary year of the Stanley Cup (and Toronto would have lost). However, they were narrowly defeated in the Campbell Conference Finals by the Los Angeles Kings. This rivalry is featured in the murals of Toronto’s College subway station.

Eleven seasons ago, the NHL decided to switch the Maple Leafs into the same division as Montreal. While the teams often play each other and the games are heated, they haven’t met in the playoffs since this shift occurred.

At the end of the 2007 season, things were tight in the division. Montreal and Toronto were neck and neck, and a final game between the two teams would determine which team would have a shot at the playoffs. Toronto won the game, but a win by the Islanders knocked Toronto out from playoff contention.

I would like to add a funny story to this article as well, there is a huge rivalry going on between myself and in-laws. I’m the Habs fan and my father-in-law is a Leafs fan. About three years ago my daughter (who is 5 now) was out with the grandparents, in the van my mother-in-law kept saying to my daughter “Taylor say go Leafs go”. At that time my daughter and I had been watching Montreal games every night that season, she looked at her grandmother and said “No Nana, I like Montreal..Daddy says the Leafs are the bad team.” I trained her well, and if anyone is wondering on how I got a little girl to sit down with her father to watch hockey – chips and dip.

Tagged with: canada • entertainment • hobbies • hockey • montreal • nhl • recreation • Recreation & Sports • sports • toronto • winter

Filed under: Recreation & Sports

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