BY BRIAN HODGES – FAN FUEL BLOGGER
Not only are the Maple Leafs poised to return to the playoffs for the first time in a generation, the planets are aligning for them to do it with a bang. Toronto appears to be a lock for the fifth spot and the Montreal Canadiens will be hard pressed to overtake the Boston Bruins for first place in the division, which will set up a first round series between the storied rivals.
The term “storied rivals” should be taken with a grain of salt though, as rivalries are born through long and tough playoff series over several successive years and the sad fact is that the last time these two teams met was 34 agonizing years ago. For those of us who’ve been lucky enough to have watched George Armstrong skating around with the Cup on our grainy black and white TV’s, that is far, far too long to wait.
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Forgotten is the fact that for five consecutive years they battled in the early 60’s, culminating with the Leafs last Stanley Cup win in 1967. Who would have thought after their records of a year ago that we’d be seeing either one of these squads competing in May this year, let alone clash in the first and toughest round? Both of these teams can skate and are tough, with Toronto’s edge in heavyweights being a moot point if the Habs stay out of the scrums and don’t engage after the whistle.
The biggest advantage the Leafs will have is with their punishing physical play, which will wear down the smaller Habs the longer the series drags on. The Habs have an edge where it matters most though with Carey Price between the pipes. They also have an emerging superstar on the blue line in Toronto native P.K. Subban, who will be tough to contain as well as being a big time shift disturber, who can get under another team’s skin the longer a series goes on.
The anxiety and anger during the prolonged lockout, only two short months ago seems so far away now, with the spectacular hockey we’ve been blessed with in this shortened season. The best part is yet to come, when sixteen relatively fresh and healthy teams begin the long and arduous journey for the Holy Grail of hockey and I can’t think of a better way to kick things off than Toronto and Montreal beginning a new chapter in their “storied rivalry”. It’s shaping up to be one hell of a spring in Upper Canada!