The Montreal Canadiens have a fierce rival in Ontario. That isn’t an earth-shaking statement in and of itself, but let’s be honest for a second, that rival isn’t the Toronto Maple Leafs, a team the Habs haven’t faced in the playoffs since 1979. No, it’s the Ottawa Senators.

We got a taste of it in 2013, something was definitely brewing. Eric Gryba left Lars Eller bloodied on the Bell Centre ice. Former coach Paul MacLean traded barbs with Michel Therrien. Brandon Prust famously got in on the action as well. Ryan White and Chris Neil both earned a bigger share of the spotlight than fourth liners usually get.

In the relatively short five-game series the bad blood was obvious, culminating in a full line brawl.

But one playoff series does not a rivalry make. So what about one playoff series plus one playoff game? Whatever bad blood existed in 2013 probably dissipated before this year’s Game 1 puck drop. Chris Neil wasn’t dressed, Ryan White isn’t a Hab anymore, and Paul MacLean isn’t the Sens coach either. There was nothing to say these teams would be anything more than fierce, but fair, competitors.

And yet…

A vicious slash from PK Subban no doubt, but it was Dave Cameron’s post game reaction that could really set the tone for what could be another ugly playoff series between the Habs and Sens. (watch the video here)

You either suspend him [PK] or one of their best players gets slashed and just give us five. It’s not that complicated.

It’s a comment Cameron will probably regret, and maybe even apologize for, before the puck drops in Game 2, but the type of comment you make when a true rival gets under your skin.

And why shouldn’t the Sens and Habs be rivals? They’ve been in the same division since the Senators joined the league in 1992. The Senators are the closest team geographically to the Canadiens. Sure, the Senators don’t have the history that a team like the Maple Leafs does, but there are now two generations of fans that have not seen the Canadiens and Maple Leafs face off in a playoff game.

What these fans have seen though is one brutal playoff series between the Canadiens and the Senators, and the beginnings of another.

The Leafs have just gone through one of their worst seasons in recent memory and it could be years still before they make the post-season again in a very competitive Atlantic Division. The Senators meanwhile overcame a dismal start to their year and managed to qualify for the playoffs in dramatic fashion. They also have enough young talent to keep them in the conversation for the next few years. There’s no reason, at least for the time being, that Habs fans shouldn’t treat the Senators as their team’s true rival in Ontario.

So let me be the first to say it “The Canadiens’ Ontario rival is dead, long live the Canadiens’ Ontario rival.”