User:Alaney2k/Ottawa Senators rivalries

The Ottawa Senators' primary rivalries mirror those in other Canadian sports such as soccer and football: with Toronto and Montreal, today all three teams being in one division. All three cities and their surrounding environs have a strong record of developing top players, with a strong tie to their hometowns. There have been memorable playoff series between all three teams. Ottawa has also had hotly-contested playoff series with the Buffalo Sabres, Boston Bruins and Pittsburgh Penguins. A win against the Sabres sent the Senators to the 2007 Stanley Cup Final. Most recently, in 2017, a "Cinderella" playoff run by Ottawa ended in the Eastern Conference Final against the Penguins, won in double overtime of the seventh game.

The Ottawa-Toronto series is commonly known as the "Battle of Ontario". The rivalry between Ottawa and Toronto dates back to the 1890s when ice hockey in Ontario was first organized. The 'first Senators', the Ottawa Hockey Club, along with teams in Toronto and Kingston played senior-level amateur hockey. The first Ontario Hockey Association (OHA) championship was won by Ottawa. The Ontario Hockey Association was centred in Toronto and was intent on promoting ice hockey in Toronto. In 1894, the OHA demanded that the OHA championship be played in Toronto, which led to Ottawa and the Ottawa Hockey Association leaving the OHA. Ottawa continued to play against Toronto only in Stanley Cup series, including against the old Toronto Marlboros and Toronto Pros. When Toronto joined the National Hockey Association (NHA) in 1912, the rivalry was renewed. When the final dispute of the NHA ended in the formation of the National Hockey League (NHL), Toronto and Ottawa were founding members. As Ottawa declined after their 1927 Cup win, Toronto started picking up Ottawa's star players, such as King Clancy and Ottawa-born players often joined the Maple Leafs. The current Senators played Toronto in the playoffs in four consecutive series in the early 2000s, each ending with Toronto wins. Today, when the Maple Leafs visit Ottawa, thousands of their fans attend the Ottawa arena, often out-shouting the home fans. Many Maple Leafs fans, many born prior to the return of the Senators, are to be found in Ottawa and the surrounding area.

The Ottawa-Montreal rivalry, although lacking a common name, is even older, dating back to the 1880s and the years of the Montreal Winter Carnival ice hockey tournaments. The Ottawa Hockey Club, founded in 1883, first played in the 1884 tournament. The tournament led to the formation of the Amateur Hockey Association of Canada, which included teams in Montreal, Ottawa and Quebec. The Ottawa Hockey Club would play for the first Stanley Cup title in 1893, and played in the first Stanley Cup playoffs in 1894. In the first decade of the 1900s, Ottawa had a terrific rivalry with the Montreal Wanderers. The Wanderers and Ottawa, then known as the "Silver Seven", alternately won league and Stanley Cup titles. The National Hockey Association was formed in 1909, continuing the rivalry, now adding the Montreal Canadiens club. This continued into the NHL when Ottawa and Montreal each won league and Stanley Cup titles. The last Ottawa-Montreal NHL playoff series was in 1927 before the Ottawa NHL franchise ended. The Senators continued play in a senior amateur league against Montreal teams. When the NHL returned to Ottawa in 1992, Ottawa's first game was against the Canadiens, won by the new Ottawa Senators. Today, Ottawa home games hosting the Canadiens are hotly contested, bringing thousands of Canadiens fans to root for the team, similar to the games between the Silver Seven and Wanderers back in the 1900s, packing each team's arena. The teams have played two NHL playoff series, each team winning once. One series provoked a full-scale donnybrook between the players.