With the Toronto Maple Leafs slated to face off against the Ottawa Senators, one of hockey’s most contentious rivalries is set to resume. While this season’s chapter is soon to be written, there is value in reliving the past to understand what makes this rivalry so great.
The frequency and proximity of the matchups made fertile ground for the seeds of an iconic rivalry. Luckily for Leafs fans, the playoff results were ultimately one-sided, though often highly contested. Let’s take a look back at the history behind the Battle of Ontario.
Sens backdrop
The Sens failed to make the playoffs in each of their first four seasons, not unexpected for lower-quality expansion teams at the time. The Sens first made the playoffs in 1996–97, where they lost a first-round series against the Buffalo Sabres in seven games. The next season, 1997–98, the Sens would beat the New Jersey Devils in the first round, bowing out to the Washington Capitals in Round 2.
The Sens would win the Northeast Division in 1998–99, but were swept by the Sabres in the opening round. This context is important to keep in mind, as the Sens would face-off against the Leafs in the playoffs in four of the next five seasons. The Sens had gone through some expansion growing pains, established themselves as a playoff team, won a division, and had a disappointing playoff defeat.
Despite it all, things were looking up for the Sens, who had become a legitimate playoff team by the back half of their opening decade. The Sens would become a powerhouse in the early 2000s, winning two more division titles and going to the Eastern Conference Final in 2002–03, before the salary cap, and the lost 2004–05 season would come into play. The Sens would suffer at the hands of the Leafs, losing in the opening round three times, 1999–00, 2000–01, and 2003–04, as well as in the second round in 2001–02.
Leafs backdrop
While the Leafs made it to the Western Conference Final in the iconic 1992–93 season, they managed to make it back to the third round in 1993–94. While this run would not be remembered as fondly, it would prove to be a high water mark for the decade. The Leafs failed to make it out of the first round in each of the next two seasons, before missing the playoffs altogether in the two seasons after that. It was then, in 1998–99, that the Leafs would take a step forward, now a member of the Eastern Conference, making it back to the Conference Final.
Interestingly enough, the teams that the Leafs lost to in all of their Conference Final appearances of the 1990s would go on to lose in the Stanley Cup Final. This trend would continue, as the Carolina Hurricanes would lose in the 2001–02 Stanley Cup Final after beating the Leafs in the series prior as well.
Regardless, the Leafs entered the 1999–00 season with some momentum from the season prior. All the same, the Leafs also managed to win the Northeast Division that season, setting up the first playoff edition of the Battle of Ontario. This would be the first and only time that the Leafs won the Northeast Division, which existed through the 2012–13 season.
With the Sens proving themselves a perennial playoff team and the Leafs coming off some playoff success, the provincial opponents were finally set to square off in the playoffs. The opening of the Battle of Ontario began as such: two teams on the rise at the turn of the millennium.
1999–00
While the Leafs had a natural rivalry with the Sens, one could not escape the narrative of bad blood. Just before the playoffs, on March 11, 2000, the Leafs lost the promising young defenceman Bryan Berard to a gruesome and unfortunate eye injury from the stick of Sens forward Marian Hossa. While we are on the subject, Berard would eventually return to the NHL, though his time with the Leafs would be done.
Despite the unfortunate incident, the series would not lack for animosity. Curtis Joseph backstopped the Leafs, while Tom Barrasso was the Sens starter. Wendel Clark would be back with the Leafs for his third and final time, though hardly the player he was for the Leafs in the early 90s. The Leafs lost Yannic Perreault to a knee injury in Game 1 of the series.
With the series tied at two games apiece, Leafs top line winger Steve Thomas scored two goals in a 2–1 overtime win in game five of the series. The first goal was set up by Captain Mats Sundin, who played on a line with Thomas and Jonas Hoglund. The overtime winner was set up by talented second-line scorer Sergei Berezin.
The Leafs would go on to win the series in six games. Down two goals to the Sens in Game 6, the Leafs stormed back to win the game, the first road win for either team in the series. Berezin would score the series winner, while Thomas led the series with six goals and eight points. Joseph was extraordinary, posting a 0.942% save percentage in the series. The Leafs would hold two of the top three Sens regular-season scorers, Hossa and linemate Radek Bonk, pointless in the series. Of note, current Sabres GM Kevyn Adams played for the Leafs in this series.
2000–01
Though the Sens had lost the season prior, they were heavy favourites to win the second round of the Battle of Ontario. Over the regular season, the Sens were the far better team, winning the division and beating the Leafs in all five regular-season meetings.
The playoff matchup was entirely different; the Leafs swept the Sens. Joseph allowed only three goals in the series, an absolutely dominant performance. There were some close games in the series, with games one and three going to overtime. It was Sundin who scored to win Game 1, while defenceman Cory Cross scored to end Game 3. Sundin and Berezin scored four points each during the series, while defenceman Dmitry Yushkevich logged an incredible average of 27 minutes per game.
It is at this point that it seemed the Leafs truly had the Sens number in the playoffs. Upsetting the Sens in a sweep was a resounding statement, and certainly was motivation for the Sens in the years to come.
2001–02
While the first two playoff meetings were special, the heat truly began to rise in the 2001–02 series. A big part of this was the fact that the rivals were meeting in the second round instead of the usual first round. The series went seven games, including a classic triple overtime in Game 2. It was Gary Roberts who would score the winner that night, part of an incredible series for his line with centre Alyn McCauley.
McCauley was vital, not only for his strong two-way performance, but also because the Leafs were without Sundin for the series. The Leafs got an incredible performance from current Sens head coach Travis Green as well, who scored five points in the series. Still, the Sens took the lead three separate times in the series, the Leafs battling back to tie it each time.
The Sens were fantastic, led by Daniel Alfredsson, who authored one of the most iconic moments of the rivalry in Game 5. Alfredsson hit Darcy Tucker from behind, a play that went unpenalized and led directly to his third-period game-winning goal. The win came at a cost, as Zdeno Chara and Mike Fisher would both miss the final two games of the series.
It was enough to tip the tides in the Leafs favour. Alexander Mogilny proved vital in Games 6 and 7, scoring three goals in the two games, including both game winners. Though the rivalry was growing nastier, it was still the Leafs who were able to come out on top. Three consecutive playoff meetings will turn up the heat, but the specifics made the rivalry even more special.
Lead up
Prior to the 2003–04 series, the rivalry saw some other huge moments in the regular seasons between playoff meetings. One moment, in the 2002–03 regular season, was when Darcy Tucker fought Chris Neil while the Sens enforcer was on the bench. The brawl was fairly one-sided, even before considering the many Sens players on the bench who also got their shots in.
The incident involved Travis Green as well, who was hit prior, and the reason play had stopped in the first place was Green taking a boarding penalty against defenceman Shane Hnidy. It would be Hnidy who would take on Tucker after the Sens bench was done with him, another leg of the fight that Tucker was on the losing end of. Later that game, Tie Domi would attack Sens forward Magnus Arvedson, who would not drop the gloves. Domi and Tucker were both suspended.
The other big moment came from the captains in the 2003–04 regular season. Shortly after Sundin was suspended for throwing his stick into the crowd, Alfredsson parodied the incident in a game against the Leafs a few nights later. Between the rivalry, Alfredsson’s strong play, and his hit on Darcy Tucker in their last playoff meeting, the Sens captain was not well-liked in Toronto.
2003–04
The last playoff meeting came in the first round of the 2003–04 season. The series would not disappoint, reaching seven games after both teams held leads in the series. It was Patrick Lalime in net for the Sens, but the Leafs now had Ed Belfour between the pipes. Belfour was the most dominant player of the series, as no skater had more than four points other than Joe Nieuwendyk, who had five.
The Leafs loaded up at the trade deadline, adding Hall of Fame veterans like Ron Francis and Brian Leetch. The Sens had more youth in the lineup, including Jason Spezza and Antoine Vermette, who were in depth roles early in their careers. Bryan McCabe and Brian Leetch were huge for the Leafs, averaging over 29 minutes each in the series.
There was one overtime game in the series, as Mike Fisher scored to win Game 6 in double overtime. Sent to a Game 7, it was Nieuwendyk who came through, scoring two fairly soft goals against Lalime in the first period before the Sens starter was pulled.
The teams would not meet in the playoffs again until this season. After the 2004–05 season was lost due to the lockout, the Sens would reemerge as one of the better teams in the league, even reaching a Stanley Cup Final during a dominant 2006–07 campaign. Meanwhile, the Leafs would be mediocre at best, reaching the playoffs only once before drafting Auston Matthews.
Here we go
With only one series win since defeating the Senators in 2003–04, the Leafs have as little playoff success as the Seattle Kraken, a perennial rebuilder with only four seasons of history. Perhaps a matchup with the Sens is exactly what the Leafs need to rekindle some winning ways.
On the other hand, this iteration of the Leafs losing to the upstart Sens this year might spell doom, or at least significant change, for the Leafs core. The only certainties are that one of these teams will advance to the second round, and that the days ahead will be tense across the province.
