Obviously, there is no love lost between the Senators and the Toronto Maple Leafs, especially after the recent incident involving Ridly Greig and Morgan Rielly, which earned Rielly a 5-game suspension. Greig doesn't have many fans in Toronto after his empty net slapper heard 'round the world during the Leafs' last meeting with Ottawa, so, naturally, when he got pasted last night in Tampa, Leaf fans got a kick out of it.
During last night's meeting between the Sens and Lightning, two of the Leafs' heated Atlantic Division rivals, Tampa's Erik Cernak tracked down Grieg at centre ice and delivered a hard hit, which sent Greig crashing into the boards to a thunderous applause from fans at Amalie Arena.
Obviously, you never want to see a player get hurt, even as a rival fan, but there's nothing wrong with taking some joy in watching a player on a rival team get blown up in the neutral zone, as long as he pops back up, as Greig did here.
The Leafs and Senators do not play again this season, so we'll have to wait until next season to watch these two teams rekindle their rivalry. I can all but guarantee that Greig will be a guy they're looking for out there and that any checks laid on him will be finished with a little extra gusto.
POLL | ||
FEVRIER 20 | 573 ANSWERS Public enemy number one, Ridly Greig, absolutely levelled by Lightning defenseman Erik Cernak If Erik Cernak became available in Tampa, would you trade for him if you were Leafs GM Brad Treliving? | ||
Absolutely | 229 | 40 % |
Not a chance, too much bad blood there | 100 | 17.5 % |
Depends on the cost of acquisition | 244 | 42.6 % |
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