BY MICHAEL GARDNER – FAN FUEL BLOGGER
Was it all a dream? I remember as a kid when we would get the neighbourhood together for a road hockey game we would choose sides and emulate the pros. One team unfortunately would be stuck with being the Canadiens, and the other team was lucky enough to be the Maple Leafs.
Just like the famous children’s story, “The Hockey Sweater,” kids across the nation relived this rivalry on a weekly basis. Calling out “I’m Sittler” or “I’m Robinson” was almost as important and game itself. Whether it was Keon or Henry, Naslund or Vaive each era had its personalities and a Leafs-Habs game was something special to everyone that watch. There was always certain pride in assuming the persona of one of the main characters in this rivalry. Not so much anymore.
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Flash forward to today and a Leafs and Habs game has all the hype that it once had, but like an aging professional gigolo, they just aren’t able to deliver the goods.
Saturday night’s game was a prime example. The Habs filled the neutral zone so effectively it would be like finding a place to sit in a clown-filled Volkswagen. They rode the trap to perfection, waiting for turnovers and only then did they go on the offensive. They killed the clock, killed the flow and if you didn’t know better, they played so quietly you almost wouldn’t even know they were there.
The Leafs? Well this truculent bunch simply rolled over. Even when the game was out of reach and current villain PK Subban attempted to make Phil Kessel his own personal Valentine, not one Leaf reacted. I’m not even sure they noticed.
The sad thing is, it wasn’t just this game.
Toronto and Montreal games have a certain feel to them. You feel it in the crowd and certainly feel it in the bars and restaurants pre-game. Sadly, this hype is based on history. Once the puck drops, the game usually has fans reaching for their remotes and those inside the rink wondering what else they could have spent their few hundred bucks on.
I hate to say it but this “rivalry” has turned into an insult to true rivalries across sport. The Yankees and Red Sox, Giants and Eagles, Redskins and Cowboys, Argos and Tiger Cats, Manchester United and Manchester City, Rangers and Celtic. Teams that play with passion and would stop at nothing to avoid defeat.
I would hate to see a time when a Toronto and Montreal game was looked forward to as much as when the Carolina Hurricanes visit. Truth be told, I’m not so sure that day is as far away as you might think. Pricing this game as a “premium” game is a bit of a fraud.
But maybe it’s just me. What’s your passion level for this rivalry? If it is fading, what would it take to reignite the passion on the ice that the fans deserve?
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