It was during a high school reunion event that a buddy of mine, a former football teammate, blurted out, apropo of nothing: “I hate Daniel Alfredsson.”
Wait, what?
The verbal shot was sent my way, knowing that I covered the Ottawa Senators, and their captain, Alfredsson. This was during the height of the Battle of Ontario wars in the early 2000s when the Maple Leafs and Senators met four times in the playoffs from 2000-04, with Toronto winning each series.
Fans in Ottawa couldn’t picture Alfredsson as the bad guy. This classy team leader and family man who always spoke in a frank and honest way?
Toronto fans viewed it differently. They saw the Alfie who mocked Mats Sundin’s stick toss and who dropped Darcy Tucker with a vicious check and then scored a playoff goal with Tucker sprawled on the ice.
Back then the Battle of Ontario had teeth. Wicked fangs, actually.
Pick your villain. The Leafs had Tucker, Sundin, Tie Domi, Gary Roberts and Bryan McCabe. The Sens – Chris Neil, Alfredsson, Zdeno Chara, Mike Fisher and Rob Ray.
Eighteen years have passed since the last time these provincial rivals met in a playoff series. And it’s been nearly that long since the Battle of Ontario has meant much of anything. The Leafs only made the playoffs once between 2005 and 2016. And Ottawa has been rebuilding since their last post-season appearance in 2017, a surprise run to the Eastern Conference Final.
As the teams meet Saturday in the first weekend of the 2022-23 NHL regular season, we have to ask – is this the year the Battle of Ontario grows some teeth again?
The Leafs, of course, have bigger concerns than what their Ottawa neighbours are up to. For the past several years, the Leafs have resembled contenders in the regular season only to flop in round one of the post-season.
The Senators might not be on Toronto’s radar screen just yet. But they will be.
After an off-season of loading up on legitimate star players in Alex DeBrincat and Claude Giroux, plus veteran goaltender Cam Talbot and winger Tyler Motte, the Senators have a chance to make some noise in the Atlantic Division for the first time in five years.
Things would have to align just so, but there is even the possibility of the Senators and Leafs hooking up for a playoff round next spring – something we could not have said for many years. And if not next spring, perhaps the one after.
The Senators’ young core is learning how to dislike their closest rivals, the Montreal Canadiens and the Leafs. The Habs passed over Sens captain Brady Tkachuk in the draft (for Jesperi Kotkaniemi), so that team is easy for him to dislike. As for the Leafs, Tkachuk was an 18-year-old freshly drafted fourth overall by Ottawa, when he was first asked if he hated the Leafs.
“I have to, now,” Tkachuk said. “It’s obviously a big rivalry and now I’m a part of it too.”
DeBrincat is an American, newly arrived from the Chicago Blackhawks, but he illustrated this week that he’s a quick study on the Battle of Ontario. DeBrincat, 24, and 5-7, likened Ottawa’s underdog status to his own battle to get noticed in a big man’s game. In a piece he wrote for the Players Tribune, DeBrincat referenced the Sens and the Leafs and their respective profiles.
“I look at the (Sens) roster, the young talent, the skill and speed they play with,” DeBrincat wrote. “That’s where I feel I can thrive. And since I’ve been here, I’ve felt the vibe of the city and the team.
“I know Sens fans have a bit of a chip on their shoulder. I know they’ve been overlooked a lot for other Canadian teams, especially the other team in our province. I think even this year people aren’t respecting the talent we have. I’ve played with that same chip my whole life. I get it. And I love proving people wrong.”
OK. So, if we could set the table a little bit for some future fun in this province. Picture some of the Leafs players that Ottawa fans love to ride – such as Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, pesky Michael Bunting and ex-Senators goaltender Matt Murray.
Now mix in Tkachuk, Parker Kelly, big Mark Kastelic and heart-on-his-sleeve Tim Stützle, and it’s easy to see the potential for fireworks when the games get meaningful.
This won’t happen overnight. The Leafs are coming off back-to-back games to open the season, including a shocking 4-3 loss to the Habs Wednesday night in game one of the season. That loss had head coach Sheldon Keefe peeling paint off the walls with his post-game address.
Though Toronto came back to beat the Washington Capitals on Thursday, the Leafs will be more focused on their own game and their energy levels rather than get caught up in Battle of Ontario storylines.
Ditto for the Senators, who took an early lead in their opener in Buffalo Thursday, but failed to capitalize on a series of chances to build a bigger margin.
Stützle was in alone three times on former Senators goaltender Craig Anderson in the Sabres net and could not beat the crafty veteran. Buffalo scored two in the second period and added two empty net goals to ice a 4-1 win over their Atlantic Division rival.
So, the Sens will be thinking about their own game and fine-tuning their power play more than they will be involved in provincial shenanigans.
Still, something happens when blue and white meets red and black. Sparks tend to fly, as if willed by ghosts of the past.
Saturday’s game marks the dawn of a new era that has a chance to build into a special Battle of Ontario rivalry.
All over again.
