Leafs vs. Senators: Old Guard Meets New Money in Battle of Ontario

The National Hockey League’s Battle of Ontario has been revived after an absence of more than two decades, and new Senators owner Michael Andlauer is getting actively involved in the playoff battle against the provincial rival Maple Leafs.

Toronto clinched the Atlantic Division title Tuesday at the Sabres’ troubled KeyBank Center, marking its first full-season division championship in 25 years, setting up a first-round playoff matchup against the neighboring Senators. The two clubs met in the postseason four times between 2000 and 2004, with the Maple Leafs winning each time, but not since then. 

Andlauer, who paid $950 million for the Senators in late 2023 in a league record that has since been broken, vowed a very different outcome for what Maple Leafs goalie Anthony Stolarz was set to be “a bloodbath.” 

“I know we’ve had hard luck in the Battle of Ontario, but they’ve got a new owner right now,” Andlauer said about the Senators on Canada’s TSN. 

Bigger Themes

The Maple Leafs-Senators matchup, while potentially something of an undercard battle for U.S. viewers in a significantly reshaped NHL playoffs, has immediately become a dominant storyline in Canada. It also highlights a stark David-and-Goliath dynamic between the two clubs. Toronto is an Original Six NHL franchise, and despite not having a Stanley Cup title since 1967, remains one of the most popular and valuable sports teams in the world, and is set to be a foundational holding of the expanding Rogers Communications sports portfolio. 

The Senators, conversely, joined the league in 1992 as an expansion franchise, are back in the playoffs after an eight-year absence, and are still fighting for prominence—particularly against much larger NHL neighbors in both Toronto and Montreal. 

Andlauer, meanwhile, insisted that Senators home games against the Maple Leafs at Canadian Tire Centre will not be overrun by Toronto fans, in part due to planned presales to a still-expanding base of season-ticket holders.

“By the time it comes out to the public, it’s probably going to be 2,500-3,000 [available] seats. We can handle that, for sure,” Andlauer said. 

The provincial battle also has become a new rallying cry for the Senators after the club announced in January plans to play preseason games this fall in Quebec City, angering local fans in the process.