Ridly Greig has wasted no time becoming the Senators’ villain vs. Maple Leafs

That cross-check brought what felt like a year’s worth of discourse crammed into a couple of weeks, with questions about consistency from NHL officiating coming into question and similar incidents that either warranted a bigger or smaller suspension. But with the Senators missing the playoffs that year and that slap shot game being the final time the Leafs and Sens would meet in 2023-24, the tension fizzled out a little bit.

Greig stayed out of the Leafs’ hair for the most part during the regular season in 2024-25, and probably didn’t see a need to cause any drama, considering how handily the Senators beat the Leafs in the regular season. But with the playoffs underway, specifically a rejuvenation of a historic rivalry between the two teams, Greig understood the assignment and got the Leafs’ attention.

It started in Game 1 with a cross-check to the face of John Tavares. He got a penalty for the infraction, but two-minute man-advantage or not, it’s not something the Leafs were fond of. Later in the game, Greig picked up the puck at the boards and drove the net, losing his footing and sliding a little too comfortably into Leafs goaltender Anthony Stolarz. It took Stolarz a couple of seconds to get up after the collision, putting the entirety of the Leafs’ fanbase on their heels for a moment, but he was fine and finished the game.

He also seemed to rub Toronto’s Auston Matthews the wrong way, too, which was even more shocking considering the calm, cool, and collected captain usually displays.

It’s not just Leafs players and fans that Greig is rubbing the wrong way. He’s caught the attention of some alumni, too. Namely, former Leafs goaltender Eddie Belfour, who joined Leafs Morning Take on Monday after Game 1, said that he would have handled Greig’s collision differently.

While Stolarz didn’t seem overly bothered in the moment and seemingly brushed it off in his postgame media availability, his actions in Game 2 on Tuesday contradicted his laid-back attitude about the whole thing. With Greig causing havoc in front of the Leafs’ net, Stolarz took extra measures to let him know that he didn’t appreciate his presence.

Stolarz and Greig picked up offsetting roughing minor penalties on the play, which was a questionable call considering the former committed about 95% of the abuse there, but the fans loved it, erupting into applause when Stolarz’s penalty was announced on the PA system. Just like the previous game, Stolarz brushed the interaction off when he spoke to reporters afterwards. He even went as far as to say that he didn’t know who was in front of him, which could check out considering the heat of the moment, but you can draw your own conclusions on whether that was genuine or just an attempt to stay on an even keel with the Leafs being up 2-0 in the series and more focused on winning the series than starting drama.

“ No, I’ve taken quite a few penalties in my day,” Stolarz said postgame. “ Just one of those things that it didn’t matter. I didn’t even know who it was, who it is. Just one of those heat-of-the-moment, and it is what it is.”

Greig seems to be having more fun than anybody, despite the 2-0 deficit his team faces. He told the media after Game 2 that he’s unbothered at the prospect of being public enemy number one in Toronto, paying no attention to what people say about him online and instead focusing on helping his team try to win games and having fun in the process.

While fans of both teams want nothing more than to take this series and advance to the second round, nobody can deny that the entertainment factor has delivered. Younger fans who weren’t around to watch the original Battle of Ontario from the early 2000s are finally getting a taste of what they missed 20-plus years ago, and older fans are getting to reminisce on the old days. Greig, as much as he’s turned into a villain in Toronto, is making the series more fun by doing so, and the more he gets up to his antics, the better it’s going to get.