MLSE President Michael Friisdahl announced today that the Maple Leafs will commemorate their 100th season with another set of statues. These particular statues will be a tribute to the Leafs' early 2000s rivalry with the Ottawa Senators. The two teams played four playoff series' in five seasons, with the Leafs winning all four.
"What we really want to do with our centennial is remind our fans of a team when we actually used to be good," said Friisdahl. "1967 happened so long ago that the Battle of Ontario is the next-closest thing."
To pay tribute to the heated rivalry, MLSE will construct a Legends Row of Ottawa Senators. The Senators statues will all be seated on a bench which is being jumped by a statue of Darcy Tucker.
Friisdahl noted that the row of statues would include all of the memorable players from that era: Daniel Alfredsson, Chris Neil, Wade Redden, Chris Phillips, Zdeno Chara, and Marian Hossa.
"They'll all be included, and all have an authentic look of the fear of God in their eyes as Darcy Tucker jumps towards them looking just about ready to murder them all."
PPP can exclusively confirm the statue will be constructed at the Leafs' second home arena, the Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa, errrr Kanata.
As part of this project, Friisdahl also confirmed the Leafs will glue a puck to a lamppost adjacent to the Mats Sundin Legends Row statue, commemorating his OT-winning goal in Game 1 of the 2001 playoffs.