Wednesday’s FTB: Finally. It’s game day.

Tonight the Toronto Maple Leafs will open the 2021 NHL season against their oldest opponent, the Montreal Canadiens. The two teams will play their 748th regular season game against each other - the Canadiens lead the all-time series 342-300-88-17 - and the Maple Leafs will be looking to get the win tonight after going 0-1-0-2 last season against the representatives of Puke City.

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Why We Hate The Montreal Canadiens

It feels like a lifetime ago, but last season’s first game against the Habs saw former Leaf Kasperi Kapanen pull one of the dumbest moves we’ve seen in a while:

The Canadiens would finish last season 24th, and after a couple silly moves they are now apparently Stanley Cup favourites?

TSN polled 22 front office staff around the NHL and not a single one of them picked the Leafs to make the Stanley Cup Final but 4 of them have the Habs there. pic.twitter.com/JaLcTIW6iT

— A Winning Habit (@FSAWinningHabit) January 12, 2021

Day drinking is the new cool thing for GM’s I guess.

The Maple Leafs however, made some very smart moves but they have a lot of work to do to get into our hearts:

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Why We Hate The Toronto Maple Leafs

To help you prepare for tonight’s game:

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Know Your Maple Leafs
All Maple Leafs Cleared Waivers
Leafs practice lines and special teams as roster cuts are made

The game is on Sportsnet and TVA Sports tonight at 7:00PM.

Elsewhere in the news....

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Brendan Shanahan: “We had guys who wanted to come home to Toronto and be a part of this” | Maple Leafs Hotstove
Seravalli Survey says Toronto Maple Leafs will win NHL’s all-Canadian North Division - TSN.ca
Maple Leafs G Frederik Andersen aims to ‘stay in the moment’ in final year of contract
Centre of Leafs Nation Podcast: Toronto Maple Leafs 2021 Season Preview!

And around the league:

Statement from the @NHL on COVID-19 Testing Results. https://t.co/mlq0XeD6LR pic.twitter.com/2qHy3Rtb1E

— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) January 12, 2021

Dallas, wyd?

Related

Bettman: Players will ‘get in line with everybody else’ for vaccines

Good!

Following an exciting IIHF World Junior Championship tournament with his national team, Tim Stützle has decided to use the German spelling of his last name on his jersey and other team-related items. pic.twitter.com/jsp7IBL4mT

— Ottawa Senators (@Senators) January 12, 2021

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Number One Center: Who Steps in for Tyler Seguin

I drafted Seguin in my keeper league forgetting he’s out until April....

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Trois-Rivières officially awarded an ECHL franchise

It’s the perfect time to launch a tier 3 hockey franchise!

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Why the Blues are built for another summer with Lord Stanley

Bold take.

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Bruins announce that they'll retire Willie O'Ree's number

The Bruins did something good?

In transaction news:

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Hurricanes claim Forsberg, place Nedeljkovic on waivers, trade Bishop to Senators
Florida Panthers claim  Noah Juulsen off waivers from Montreal

Claim Ned, Kyle!

🚨SIGNING UPDATE🚨: #Canucks sign D Travis Hamonic to a one-year, $1.25 million contract...

Follow every deal in our Signing Tracker - https://t.co/9G8sMTmZZA#TSNHockey pic.twitter.com/FftOdsg7tP

— TSN Hockey (@TSNHockey) January 12, 2021

Travis and the Flames have great Har-monic-y together.

Enjoy your day folks! It’s going to end great.