TORONTO — D.J. Smith was so far down the Maple Leafs depth chart in the early 2000s, he didn’t even travel during the playoffs.
Then a minor-league defenceman in Toronto’s organization, the current head coach of the Ottawa Senators still has vivid memories of the Battle of Ontario’s heyday.
“It was awesome,” Smith recalled. “It was unbelievable to watch how good the players were, how much the people were involved. We were at a restaurant in Toronto (to watch a road game). They were playing the national anthem.
“That’s hockey in Canada.”
The teams met four times in the playoffs between 1999-00 and 2003-04 — including two matchups that went the seven-game distance — with the Leafs winning each one.
“Definitely remember it,” said Leafs captain John Tavares, who grew up just west of Toronto in Oakville, Ont. “I remember at practices getting score updates from parents when those series were going on.”
“Great battles,” added Senators forward Claude Giroux, who spent some of his childhood in the nation’s capital. “Growing up, Hockey Night in Canada, that was something you were always excited to watch.
“To be part of it, it’s gonna be a lot of fun.”
Among hockey’s fiercest struggles for a time thanks to a cast of heroes and villains — depending on a fan’s point of view — that included Mats Sundin, Daniel Alfredsson and Darcy Tucker, the provincial rivalry has been in slumber for the better part of two decades as Ottawa and Toronto traded places in the standings like ships passing in the night.
Set to renew hostilities Saturday at Scotiabank Arena in the first of four meetings in 2022-23, the Leafs and Senators have made the playoffs the same year just twice since their last post-season meeting in April 2004 — the last time Toronto advanced.
Despite being unable to move beyond the first round the last six seasons, the Leafs sit among the Stanley Cup favourites with a roster led by Tavares, Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner and William Nylander.
The Senators, meanwhile, are looking to break through in the Atlantic Division with a maturing core accented by Brady Tkachuk, Tim Stutzle, Josh Norris and Thomas Chabot following a headline-grabbing summer that saw Ottawa add Giroux, goaltender Cam Talbot — currently out injured — and sniper Alex DeBrincat.
“Terrific off-season,” Toronto head coach Sheldon Keefe said of Ottawa after his team beat Washington 3-2 on Thursday. “They’ve got lot of belief in what they’re doing … it is a terrific rivalry and battle.
“The more you can have of that within the season, I think is a good thing.”
Senators defenceman Travis Hamonic, whose group dropped its opener 4-1 in Buffalo on Thursday, is looking forward to another rivalry after taking part in both the Battle of Alberta when he was with Calgary and New York’s version as a member of the Islanders.
“You’d always hear about (Leafs-Senators) and grow up watching it,” he said. “To be on this side of it for this one in Ontario is pretty exciting. It’s good for the province, good for the fans.”
“We want to make sure that we’re able to bounce back after a loss,” Giroux added. “There’s not a better way to do it than on Saturday night in Toronto.”
Keefe said games between the clubs have been fierce since he took over behind Toronto’s bench even though the Senators have mostly been in rebuild mode.
“We always get Ottawa’s best regardless of the situation,” he said. “No matter what’s happening with the teams, it seems to always be a tight, competitive game.”
A popular pre-season pick to make a playoff appearance for the first time since 2017, the Senators have an opportunity to make a statement on national television.
“We’re chasing them,” Smith said. “They’re ahead of where we are in development, and they’re on the cusp of trying to win right now.
“We want to be that.”
And getting there would open the door for a dormant rivalry to be truly rekindled.
“Couldn’t get any better,” Smith said looking back at the Leafs-Senators matchup of old.
“We’d love nothing more than to get an opportunity to play them in a playoff series.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 14, 2022.
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