Montreal Canadians vs. Toronto Maple Leafs Hockey Game

A relationship founded on subversion, the Montreal Canadians and the Toronto Maple Leafs constitute the oldest rivalry in the NHL partly because of a conflict between the two teams around the time of World War I that helped found the League.

The league of the day was the National Hockey Association, and the Canadians had a notable dispute with Eddie Livingstone, then owner of the Toronto Blueshirts.

Quebec being prone to sedition, Montreal decided to strike out on its own and formed the National Hockey League with some other area teams.

Though the Canadians have been around since 1909, and the Maple Leafs didn’t really sprout until the 30’s, there has existed a lively rivalry between the two cities’ for longer than that.

The one-ice action is historically fierce, but the symbolic rivalry between the two teams runs deep as well, with the constant friction between English-speaking Ontario and French-speaking Quebec, the rivalry between Canada’s two largest cities, and that of religion – Toronto is largely Protestant while Quebec remains mostly Roman-Catholic.

Talk about a schism.