LGD: The Montreal Canadiens are bad and that’s very funny

In past years, I’ve wrote that the Toronto Maple Leafs/Ottawa Senators ‘Battle of Ontario’ rivalry had seen better days. Both teams were (are?) bad, and the days of Toronto beating the crap out of Ottawa in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs were long gone.

I guess you could say the same for the Toronto/Montreal rivalry now, too. It’s toothless. The funny part about that is that the Leafs were supposed to be bad this season while the Canadiens had actual championship aspirations and they’re coming up very short. That’s absolutely hilarious. No matter what happens tonight, whether the Leafs win or lose or lose really badly, let’s just keep in mind that the Montreal Canadiens are a massive disappointment and they’re nothing without Carey Price.

It’s great that Josh Leivo draws in tonight, as he was one of the players we discussed in yesterday’s Roundtable suggesting he’d possibly add some scoring punch, but damn, not at the expense of Brad Boyes! C’mon Mr. Babcock, you’re supposed to take Rich Clune out when you bring Leivo in. 

Which one of these players do you think will be wearing a Tampa Bay Lightning jersey in the coming weeks when they’re part of the Jonathan Drouin trade? Will it be Galchenyuk? Gallagher? Beaulieu? Whoever it is, it’ll be fun to watch them walk all over Montreal in future years when Drouin doesn’t pan out. 

For the Leafs, it’s James Reimer, the NHL’s best goaltender who the Leafs should probably trade away. And for Montreal, it’s Mike Condon. For those of you who are not familiar with Condon, he’s best described as ‘not Carey Price’. Hmm. Maybe Montreal should trade for Reimer?

The Montreal Canadiens will hover around mediocrity for the rest of the season and get a mid-first round draft pick. Whoever they pick won’t develop into an NHL player and end up playing out his career in a subpar European league. Next year, the Canadiens will return to the playoff promised land, and get knocked out in five games.

Oh, you mean tonight? Leafs win 3-2.