Max Domi is obsessed with the Leafs, a team he definitely doesn’t think about every single day

Max Domi has the connection through his father to Toronto and the Leafs organization, but that’s it. Other than that, he continues to talk about this apparent rivalry that hasn’t existed for multiple years.

It continued at the BioSteel Camp that happened on Monday. As reporters asked him around in the scrum about various topics, but stuck on the difference between Toronto and Montreal, namely the fans.

Although some of it is forced by some questions, Domi definitely wants to get some sort of controversy when it comes to the connection between him and Leafs fans. It feels like some forced narrative that the winger wants to create — ham-fist some storyline into his career as a member of the Canadiens.

He had his shit-eating grin on while discussing the number of Stanley Cups that Montreal has won. But damn, wouldn’t it be more fair to talk about the number of championships that weren’t won when any player born anywhere near Montreal was forced to play for them?

Cup-counting aside, Domi currently wears a number for the Canadiens that’s in honour of Mats Sundin, one of the greatest players to ever play in Toronto. If he really wants to show that he doesn’t care about Toronto or the Leafs, maybe he shouldn’t have a jersey dedicated to one of your rival’s best players in history.

All of this fake egging-on, trying to get a reaction out of anything, just gives off a feeling of desperation. Needing to seem relevant after not making the playoffs, something that he’s not been able to achieve his four seasons as a full-time NHL player, is just grasping at whatever rivalry-fueled straws are left.

As Domi approaches the age of 25 this season, there’s no doubt that he will eventually become a free agent and be stuck on teams where he can shine but will never come close to making the playoffs. Eventually leading down a path of “what ifs” by Habs fans and heaps of laughter from every Leafs fan that Domi tried calling not passionate.

If Montreal is a whole other level, maybe they would support a rebuild and not try to win every single game by overpaying terrible players like Karl Alzner or trading away top talents like PK Subban for an aging veteran with probably the worst contract in the NHL.

Only a passionate fanbase would still be with their team after going through some Cleveland Browns-esque shit for decades on end. Watching former prospects or draft picks run away to have an amazing — sometimes Hall-of-Fame — career.

Maybe stop comparing the two cities and types of fans, and try to not be a hateful asshole. But that seems quite impossible now that he wants to continue being this way and being definitely not owned.

To be fair, he does have 9 points in the 8 games against the Leafs, but it’s unfortunate that they lost three of the four games between the two teams last season. If only Domi was on a non-garbage team with terrible fans.

He continues to scream into the abyss, “I’m not owned! I’m not owned!”, until his voice becomes just a whisper. A faint reminder that the Leafs live in the head of every Canadiens fan rent free.

Rent. Free.