Habs, Leaf fans fired up for playoffs
Local fans anxiously waiting for Maple Leafs-canadiens playoff series
For hockey fans in this country, the rivalry between the Montreal Canadiens and the Toronto Maple Leafs is an epic tale as old as time.
That tale gets a new chapter starting tonight when the two teams meet in the first round of the National Hockey League Stanley Cup playoffs.
It is a series that carries a significant amount of weight, as the two teams have not met in the playoffs since 1979.
“There is nothing like Canadiens and Leafs,” said Bay Roberts resident Dean Franey, an avid Montreal Canadiens supporter.
Franey is one of several Bay Roberts council members who have a vested interest in the winner of the highly anticipated series.
The council includes three Leafs fan to two Habs fans so things are sure to get interesting in the council chambers as the series progresses.
“It is going to be a lot of fun,” said Bay Roberts Deputy Mayor and avid Maple Leafs fan Walter Yetman.
The town council meets on Tuesday and the series could either be 2-1 for either team or 3-0 depending on the first three games shake out.
“Every time the puck crosses Montreal’s blueline on a Toronto player’s stick, I’m going to have butterflies,” said Franey.
The series will mark the first time in 42 years that the Leafs and the Canadiens will meet in the playoffs. In the 1979 playoffs, Montreal sent the boys from Toronto home after sweeping the series in four straight wins.
In 1993, the last time a team from this country won the Stanley Cup, there was a chance the Maple Leafs and the Canadiens could meet in the finals.
However, the Leafs dropped the semifinal series to the Los Angeles Kings in a series that is still a sore point for Toronto fans.
Montreal went on to win the championship and the Leafs are still waiting.
“I always look forward to watching when the Habs make the playoffs,” said Upper Island Cove’s Stephen Mercer.
“It doesn’t happen every year but when it does it’s an adventure to watch. Never really know what is going to happen.”
This year’s series will be the 16th time that the two teams have met in the postseason. To date, the Canadiens hold the advantage with eight series wins to seven.
The last time the Leafs beat the Canadiens in a playoff series was May 2, 1967. That year, famously, was the last year the Maple Leafs won the Stanley Cup.
That could change this year. The Leafs enter the series on top of the North Division with 77 points (35-14-7), while the Canadiens finished fourth with 59 points (24-2111).
“You know anything can happen with the Leafs,” said Yetman.
This series will be an interesting one for Mercer as a diehard Canadiens fan. When the series kicks off, he will be sat side-by-side with one of the biggest Leafs fans he knows.
His wife Crystallee Mercer is a Leafs fan, which makes any time the two teams play each other an interesting viewing experience.
“I’m excited,” Crystallee said. “It’s not often we get to see our respective teams battle it out.”
Aside from taunting each other during the game, there are usually a couple of friendly wagers placed between the pair of them.
Sometimes, they will bet on what team scores first or who will win the game, but usually the result is the same.
“It’s always good to sport the Habs jersey and cheer them on,” said Stephen. “Personally, I think it will be a back-and-forth series — with the Habs to come out on top, of course.”
In Goose Cove on the Great Northern Peninsula, brotherly love will be taking a backseat when the puck drops in Toronto tonight.
Twin brothers Damien and Dana Parsons have been on opposite sides of the Maple Leafs-canadiens divide since they were six years old when Damien left Montreal behind and became a Leafs fan.
“We were both (Canadiens) fans until my pop Ball turned me into Leafs fan,” said Damien. “(Pop Ball) said it’ll make it that much better twins cheering for different teams.”
Both are excited to finally see a playoff series between their favourite teams. Having been born in 1983, this will be the first time they’ve had the opportunity.
“(Dana) is a hardcore Habs fan and I’m the Leafs fan. So, there is a lot of tense moments and a lot of tormenting each other,” said Damien. “Oh, it is definitely going to be very exciting and nerve-wracking at the same time. One can say (it’ll be) mixed emotions.”