Montreal, Toronto First Round Possibility?

The Toronto Maple Leafs won Wednesday night putting them 5 points behind the final playoff spot in the east, if the Montreal Canadiens manage to hold on to first in the east by seasons’ end that would mean that the Leafs and Habs would go to war in the first round.

And what a war it would be, the likes of which neither team has seen since the good old days of the original six. Both teams would beat the tar out of each other, and basically make their next opponents thank the loser for softening them up. The Habs and Leafs hate each other, Darcy Tucker especially is a marked Leaf by the fans in Montreal, and the team itself, But Mike Komisarek would take care of him.

The NHL would be so happy because their global viewing scores would go up dramatically, to the point where Gary Bettman would say how the league had a better viewing rate in the play-offs this year than the last one. He would be correct, but it would be because of two Canadian teams which Gary seems to dislike, too bad Bettman, admit it, if there were no Canadian teams, there would be no hockey!

This scenario is plausible, however it remains doubtful, as the Philadelphia Flyers, are not going to lose all their remaining games, but if they go on a 4 or 5 game losing streak, and the Leafs keep going the way they are, it could happen. The Habs are playing well, but are in a race with 4 other teams for first in the east, it could happen that the Habs manage to keep first place by the end of the season.

In any case, it would be a war to remember as the two teams would see fit to show the league what a real hockey rivalry is. This would be a series to remember I’m sure, there would be hitting, lots of dirty plays, as well as good goalies playing each other, and with the possibility of a bench clearing brawl in there somewhere, wow, that would be great! After all, who knows hockey more than Canadians do, and who plays the best brand of hockey? Who is the best hockey country in the world? Sure Europeans bring another aspect to the game that help teams win, but Canada is the best hockey country, and what better way to start the playoffs than the two most watched teams in Canada squaring off in the first round, it would be better to have it in the conference final but, we take what we can get.

However unlikely these two teams might meet in the first round for reasons I’ve listed above, it would be something to watch.