Habs star Max Domi mocks the Maple Leafs during Raptors Game 6.

I must admit that I feel the historical rivalry between the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Montreal Canadiens has somewhat been lacking in recent years. This, in my opinion, has been due in large part to either one or both of these teams under performing at times as well as very little recent playoff history to truly build a rivalry from. 

That may have changed in this most recent season with the young and upstart Habs suddenly turning a corner and just barely missing the playoffs after a late season surge to try and make it in. The Leafs have also become much more competitive and although they lost in the 1st round of the 2019 playoffs once again, it may turn out that they were defeated by the eventual Stanley Cup Champions. There is also one extra wrinkle in this rivalry now that I must admit I am absolutely loving.

You see Max Domi is quickly becoming one of Montreal's most recognizable players and he of course plays for the Canadiens. This is particularly cool because Max's father, legendary National Hockey League enforcer Tie Domi, played for the other side of this rivalry during his career. Tie did play for other NHL teams during his career but is best remembered as a Maple Leaf, so it was surprising to see his son so openly mocking the Maple Leafs and their fans while in their building.... with his father!

Tie and Max were in attendance for Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Final between the Toronto Raptors and the Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday night and it was during that time that Max took the chance to rip the Maple Leafs fan base. Max was commenting on the quality of the crowd at Scotiabank Arena and was quick to indicate that the Raptors' fans who were in the building are clearly better than the Maple Leafs that usually attend the games he is a part of there. Although he was giving credit to some fans in Toronto he quickly snatched that away by making it clear that neither group can anywhere close to matching the furor of the fans at the Bell Centre. 

Tie actually seemed to agree with his son, and hopefully this helps to continue to grow the natural rivalry between the Leafs and the Habs.