The NHL has seen its share of rivalries over the years, but one looms above all the others: the Toronto Maple Leafs vs. the Montreal Canadiens.
The rivalry dates back almost a century and has seen the two teams capture thirty-five Stanley Cups between them. The Leafs and Habs have divided families, symbolized a culture, and helped to define an entire nation. From its earliest days during the NHL's infancy to the passionate heights of the fifties and sixties, through a lull in the eighties on to a rebirth in the nineties, the rivalry has produced a long list of memories.
Here's a look back at some of the most famous moments in one of sport's greatest rivalries.
December 26, 1917: Toronto wins the first-ever meeting between the two teams by a score of 7–5, thanks to a series of rookie mistakes by Canadiens defenseman Chris Chelios.
October 1, 1933: Legendary Canadiens goaltender George Hainsworth is traded to Toronto, where he'll go on to play every minute of every Maple Leafs game for three straight years. That feat won't be matched until the eighties, when every minute of every Maple Leafs game during the entire decade is played by “that freaking overpaid sieve with no glove hand,” according to your dad.
July 1, 1946: Frank Selke takes over as general manager in Montreal after being forced out of the Maple Leafs front office due to a bitter and long-running feud with Conn Smythe, which oddly enough consists entirely of an argument over where their respective trophies should eventually be positioned on Steve Yzerman's mantel.
May 2, 1967: An aging and underdog Maple Leafs team stuns the Canadiens in six games to capture the Stanley Cup during Canada's centennial, creating a moment so dramatic and perfect that the organization immediately decides it would cheapen the memory to ever bother doing it again.
November 1, 1979: The Hockey Sweater by Roch Carrier is released and instantly becomes a beloved classic to an entire generation of young Canadians who understand how cruel other kids can be to children who dress better than they do.
November 7, 1987: The Maple Leafs trade speedy winger Russ Courtnall to the Canadiens for enforcer John Kordic, in a deal that fills the team's most glaring need: a player capable of repeatedly punching everybody who's going to spend the next few years complaining about trading Russ Courtnall for John Kordic.
May 29, 1992: Maple Leafs fans are initially skeptical of the hiring of former Canadiens coach Pat Burns due to concerns that he won't be able to communicate in their official language, before being reassured by Burns that he does indeed know how to curse at a TV screen while mumbling about next year.
June 13, 1993: On the one hundredth anniversary of the Stanley Cup, the Maple Leafs and Canadiens conclude what a generation of fans will fondly recall as the most thrilling and memorable final series of all time, in an alternate universe where Kerry Fraser bothers to read his rulebook.
October 5, 1996: Former Maple Leaf Vincent Damphousse debuts as captain of the Canadiens, and later admits that he finds Montreal's famed dressing room slogan, “To you from failing hands we throw the torch, be yours to hold it high,” to be slightly more inspiring than the Harold Ballard–era Maple Leafs version, “Absolutely no refunds.”
February 25, 1997: The Maple Leafs trade captain Doug Gilmour to the Devils, marking the start of a top-secret long-term plan known internally as “Operation Eventually Have Him Wind Up with the Canadiens So He Can Destroy Their Penalty Box.”
May 30, 1997: The Maple Leafs officially name former Canadiens star Ken Dryden as the team's new president, after realizing it would be the only way to get him to stop answering the first question they asked him at the job interview three weeks ago.
January 27, 2002: Three former Maple Leafs—Doug Gilmour, Sergei Berezin, and Yanic Perreault—combine to score the historic 10,000th home ice goal in Canadiens history. The total does not include playoff or post-season goals, which would have seen the record reached years earlier, or intra-squad scrimmages, which would have seen the record reached three minutes into Andre Racicot's first practice.
April 7, 2007: In a thrilling game that features several lead changes and a furious Toronto comeback, the Maple Leafs eliminate the Canadiens from playoff contention in the final game of the season and earn the right to spend the rest of the summer figuring out which swearwords go best with “Wade Dubielewicz.”
July 2, 2008: The Maple Leafs acquire center Mikhail Grabovski from Montreal for a draft pick, leaving the Toronto front office wondering why the Canadiens seemed so eager to move such a talented player, why the price wasn't much higher, and why Grabovski showed up with his pockets stuffed full of “Just FYI, Mike Komisarek is a free agent next year” highlight DVDs.