Leafs vs. Canadiens Gets Ugly On Hockey Day

So it was Hockey Day in Canada and it happened that arch-rivals Montreal and Toronto were squaring off inside Bell Centre, into which nearly 22,000 absolutely fanatical Canadiens fans pack for every home game. This, though, was a contest that anyone in red, white and blue will want to forget. Toronto came out and punched the Habs in the mouth again and again and again for a 6-0 victory: a high point for the Leafs and a definite low point for the Canadiens.

How much of a rout was this? Toronto's much-maligned Phil Kessel got onto the scoreboard, his second tally, and one that will probably only marginally ease the pressure he's under in Toronto. Also in the Maple Leafs dog house, Dion Phaneuf. The Toronto captain scored his first of the year. A guyy you probably haven't even heard of - Leo Komarov - scored a goal. Noted goon Colton Orr, no stranger to going dozens of games without appearing on the score sheet, notched an assist. I mean, the Canadiens got beaten by every guy on the ice in white and blue. It was a nationally-televised rout that was ripped from Montreal fans' nightmares.

Late in the contest, which had been chippy from the outset - as befitting a big-time rivalry game on a day that celebrates everything that makes Hockey and Canada so amazing - got real wild. There was a scrum along the boards, during which Toronto's Mikhail Grabovski bites the hand of Canadien skater Max Pacioretty. Don't believe me? Have a look-see below:

The footage is pretty conclusive. That's a cold-hard bite right there, sparking ugly memories of similar action in the 2011 Stanley Cup Finals, when Alexandre Burrows did some of that sort of work...and was incredibly deemed to be "inconclusive" by the National Hockey League. It will be interesting to see what the League says about this. In any event, what we saw today has absolutely no place in the NHL. Grabovski should be ashamed and embarassed.

But that wasn't all. Late in a 6-0 rout, Colton Orr took a giant run at Tomas Plekanec and this happened:

This just in from the realm of Not-Fair-Contests. Orr and the Toronto big boys were out against Plekanec, Josh Georges, Brian Gionta and others. Frazer McLaren drew Georges, who, admirably, tried to stand his ground, but McLaren does this for a living, and absolutely pulverised the Montreal skater. The referees got in and broke it up before it got real ugly.

Colton Orr went after Brian Gionta...who had some momentary assistance from Rene Bourque. Literally, only for a moment. The Leafs enforcer absolutely knocked Bourque down to the ice with one giant punch. See:

Good life lesson here! I think Bourque might decide, in future, that discretion is the better part of valor where taking on Colton Orr is concerned.

Montreal vs. Toronto, ladies and gentlemen. This rivalry never gets old. The next match-up between these two should be interesting.