1985-86 – Two Solitudes

Game 607 – Canadiens 3, Maple Leafs 2 (OT)

January 25, 1986March 28, 2025 Master Of This Domain

Game 607
Canadiens 3, Maple Leafs 2 (OT)
Saturday, January 25, 1986
Forum de Montréal, Montréal, Québec

Bobby Smith said it and the words were echoed by several of his Montréal Canadien mates.

“We see the way the Maple Leafs play against us and wonder what they’re doing in 20th place,” Smith said.
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Game 606 – Maple Leafs 3, Canadiens 2

January 1, 1986May 1, 2021 Master Of This Domain

Game 606
Maple Leafs 3, Canadiens 2
Wednesday, January 1, 1986
Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto, Ontario

The Maple Leafs were shorthanded, a patchwork assembly of incumbents and call-ups, because of a 10-man injury list.
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Game 605 – Canadiens 6, Maple Leafs 3

December 7, 1985May 1, 2021 Master Of This Domain

Game 605
Canadiens 6, Maple Leafs 3
Saturday, December 7, 1985
Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto, Ontario

It was once the quintessential National Hockey League confrontation.

But the young Toronto Maple Leafs of 1985, a team struggling to regain respectability, aren’t quite ready to recreate the rivalry with the Montréal Canadiens that conjures up memories of “The Rocket” and Syl Apps, “The Big M” and Jean Béliveau, Davey Keon and “The Pocket Rocket.”
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LATEST NEWS

JANUARY 5, 2026
Our condolences go out to the family, friends and fans of Hockey Hall of Famer Bob Pulford, who passed away today at the age of 89. A player for sixteen NHL seasons, and then a coach and manager for another 34 seasons, Pulford was best known for his fourteen seasons in Toronto, where he would capture four Stanley Cups (1962, 1963, 1964, 1967) with the Maple Leafs, amassing 91 points in 173 career games against Montreal between 1956-70, also notching 21 points in 37 career playoff games against the Canadiens, tied for the most playoff games played alongside George Armstrong, Tim Horton and Frank Mahovlich.

DECEMBER 21, 2025
After drawing into the Canadiens starting lineup, Sammy Blais has become the 114th player, and second active player (along with Max Domi) to have played with both the Maple Leafs and Canadiens. Blais, who was waived by Montréal to start the season, then played eight games with Toronto before being reclaimed by the Canadiens after Toronto waived him, would become the first player to play for both clubs in the same season (but not as part of a trade) since Chad Kilger suited up for both teams non-consecutively in 2003-04.

DECEMBER 13, 2025
Our condolences go out to the family, friends and fans of Bobby Rousseau, who passed away today at the age of 85. A veteran of fifteen NHL seasons, ten of them in Montréal, Rousseau would capture four Stanley Cups (1965, 1966, 1968 and 1969) and a Calder Trophy with his hometown Canadiens, notching 81 points in 111 career regular season games against Toronto, along with another 19 points in 28 playoff meetings between the rivals.