Toronto Maple Leafs: The Real, the Fake and the Upcoming Rivalries

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One of the best parts of sports is the rivalries that come between teams and the Toronto Maple Leafs have developed some good ones over the past few years.

Many people believe the Toronto Maple Leafs best rivalry is with the Montreal Canadiens, but there has not been much to that battle in nearly half a century.

There are some entertaining rivalries that the Leafs have developed, some that are fake and are just developed through Twitter, and their are some upcoming rivalries that are going to start or get reborn.

Here is a look some of the rivalries that the Toronto Maple Leafs have going on right now.

Toronto Maple Leafs vs Tampa Bay Lightning (A Real Rivalry)

For the better part of this generation of Toronto Maple Leafs team and fans the organizations biggest rivalry was the Boston Bruins but that has been taken over by the Tampa Bay Lightning.

The two teams have met up in each of the last two playoffs in the first round with each team winning one series apiece.

In the 2022 playoffs, Toronto outplayed Tampa Bay and deserved to win the series, however the Lightning took it down, despite trailing the series 3-1 to take it in seven games.

This past Spring, Tampa Bay looked like the better team this time, however Toronto was able to come out on top in six games thanks to an overtime winner by John Tavares.

During both series the Tampa Bay took advantage of the lack of physicality that the Maple Leafs brand of hockey plays. The Lightning bullied their way into advantages and was able to toe the line on what the NHL officials would call for penalties in the playoffs.

The Boiling Point in the Rivalry

Things came to a head in Game 3 in the two teams series last year when a donnybrook ensued after a Morgan Rielly and Brayden Point collision left the Lightning player injured. In the following seconds the Lightning stars jumped and cross checked Rielly, which followed by Steven Stamkos throwing multiple sucker punches on Auston Matthews.

When you add in the the antics that Mikhail Sergachev has done over the years, along with departed players Corey Perry and Pat Maroon there has been a lot of anger built between the two teams.

Going into the 2023-24 season, Tampa Bay has looked like the wiser of the two teams, but with Toronto finally getting over the hump of the first round and needing to learn how to get deeper you have to wonder if there will be more push back this upcoming season. If the Toronto Maple Leafs can play with a little more grit, the series could blossom into a true rivalry.

There are four match-ups between the two oppositions this upcoming season with the first occurring on November 11 and the second being a couple weeks later.

TORONTO, CANADA – MAY 12: Linseman David Brisebois #96 drops the puck between Aleksander Barkov #16 of the Florida Panthers and John Tavares #91 of the Toronto Maple Leafs . (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images) /

Florida Panthers (A Real Rivalry)

The Toronto Maple Leafs and Florida Panthers have been in the same division since 2013-14, but it took until last year for you to feel like the heat had finally risen past room temperature.

All that needed to happen was for these two teams to meet in the second round of the playoffs this past Spring and five games later the two teams hated each other.

The series seemed to be quick as did last just five games, but it brought out some villains in the eyes of Maple Leafs fans led by Sam Bennett.

Whether it was body slamming rookie Matthew Knies to knock him out for the remainder of the season or sucker punching a defenseless Jake McCabe who was on his back on the ice, Bennett has become enemy #1.

This is all without talking about arguably the league’s number one villain Matthew Tkachuk.

Both teams are in the similar stages with their stars being in their mid 20s and competing for the top of the Atlantic Division so this could see the two teams have some feisty battles this upcoming season.

It won’t take long to see these two get at it, as the Toronto Maple Leafs will fly into Florida to face the Panthers on October 19 and after two more games, Toronto will finish their regular season in the state of Florida that may give a taste of what will come in the playoffs.

Oct 15, 2022; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Maple Leafs right wing Nicolas Aube-Kubel (96) Credit: Nick Turchiaro-USA TODAY Sports /

Ottawa Senators (Up and Coming Rivalries)

If you weren’t around to watch the Toronto Maple Leafs playoffs from 2000 until 2004, you missed out on one of the greatest rivalries over the last half century.

The Toronto Maple Leafs and Ottawa Senators met each other in the playoffs four times over a five year span with the blue shirts taking each and every series.

These playoff series were highlighted by Mats Sundin’s overtime winner in Game 1 of the 2001 First Round to win 1-0, as well as Joe Nieuwendyk’s two goal performance in Game 7 of the 2004 to clinch the series.

Over the next 20 years the two teams rivalry fizzled out as the two teams have been on the opposite side of the standings as Ottawa has not made the playoffs over the last six seasons.

The Senators are finally on the right track and locked up the core of their roster for the foreseeable future.

With the Boston Bruins about to take a giant step backwards, along with the potential of the Tampa Bay Lightning falling along with them, their is room for the Ottawa Senators to take a charge for the playoffs.

If the Senators can finally be good again, the Battle of Ontario could be to take off once again.

HAMILTON, ONTARIO – MARCH 13: Toronto Maple Leafs and Buffalo Sabres fight during the Heritage Classic at Tim Hortons Field on March 13, 2022 in Hamilton, Ontario. (Photo by Vaughn Ridley/Getty Images) /

Buffalo Sabres (Up and Coming Rivalry)

If there is a team that may keep the Ottawa and Toronto rivalry from heating up, it would be the Buffalo Sabres.

The Toronto Maple Leafs and Buffalo Sabres have been in the same division since the 1998-99 season at which point the two met each other in the Eastern Conference Finals where the Sabres took the series 4-1.

The rivalry earned the nicknamed the “Battle of QEW”, however there has not been much of fight between the two teams ever since then.

There has been small incidences that have enticed fans whether it was four career goal scorer Andrew Peters mocking the Toronto Maple Leafs with their season ending or Auston Matthews earning a suspension for cross checking Rasmus Dahlin, this could turn into one of the better rivalries in the league.

The Sabres, to be blunt, are finally going to be good. Outside of maybe the Arizona Coyotes, they have been the worst run organization in the NHL over the last quarter century.

Despite obtaining three first overall picks and ten Top-10 picks since 2013 the Buffalo Sabres have been unable to make the playoffs since 2011 and have not won a playoff series since 2007.

This century, the team from Buffalo has made the playoffs just six times total in 24 years.

However, they finally have a good team and by good team, they have a really good team.

They have arguably two top ten defensemen in the league in Rasmus Dahlin and Owen Power. Dahlin will likely be a Norris Trophy candidate every year for the next decade and Power may contend a few times against him.

The Sabres missed the playoffs by one point in 2022-23 and are prime to take another jump forward. Buffalo could realistically get into the top three in the Atlantic Division which leads to a very good chance the Leafs and Sabres could face each other over the next few seasons in the playoffs.

These two teams are prime to get a heated rivalry going.

TORONTO, ON – MARCH 29: Connor McDavid #97 of the Edmonton Oilers battles for the puck against Auston Matthews #34 of the Toronto Maple Leafs (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images) /

Edmonton Oilers (Fake Rivalry)

No matter how much Edmonton Oilers fans try, their is just no rivalry between these teams.

Not even when the Oilers constantly sign ex-Leafs to add expensive depth to their roster.

Oiler fans typically complain that Auston Matthews won the Ted Lindsay Award in 2021-22 or that the Toronto Maple Leafs get all the prime game times.

They try and draw bitterness between the two teams stars.

It is known that Connor McDavid and Matthews spend time training together in the off-season in Arizona and get along quite well.

Both players helping the other by sharing their skillsets and training routines.

With Alberta being the land of opportunity several Ontarians have moved to province for work and have brought their Maple Leaf passion with them.

The one game a year that Matthews brings his teammates to town, the rink is taken over by Toronto fans, which could irate any fanbase.

The games are typically fast paced and see the two most skilled players in the league put on a show for the sport. Matthews has collected 11 goals in 17 career games against Edmonton, while McDavid has the same amount, but in 21 games.

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Don’t get me wrong, this is a very entertaining game, but their is no rivalry between the organizations or the players.

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