Kent Hughes takes a shot at the Maple Leafs during end of season presser.

There is no love lost between the Montreal Canadiens and Toronto Maple Leafs with a long standing rivalry between two of the most passionate and hockey-crazed markets on the globe and, despite the fact that the season is already over for both teams, that rivalry made an appearance once again on Monday.

Surprisingly this time it came from general manager Kent Hughes who not-so-subtly threw his rivals under the bus when he chose to use the Maple Leafs in a rather unflattering example to defend his players. Hughes was asked about some of his star players underperforming in the playoffs, and this was his answer:

"Being here in Canada it's going to be a little bit a narrative going into the Cup Final, there was that belief that certain players in Toronto underperformed in the playoffs," said Hughes. "One season, one playoff doesn''t necessarily reflect another and I think Mitch Marner is sitting atop the playoff scoring race and it's not just what he's doing offensively it's how he is contributing to their team being where they are."

Hughes is indeed correct, Marner is having the kind of playoff run he never had as a member of the Toronto Maple Leafs and it feels very much like Hughes is rubbing salt in the wound with those comments. Marner has 7 goals and 14 assists for 21 points in these Stanley Cup playoffs, shattering his previous career high of 14 points in a single playoff run with plenty of games left to go.

Whether or not Hughes' comments will ease the concerns of Canadiens fans remains to be seen, but one thing I am certain of is these comments will not be well received by fans of the Maple Leafs.