For Ottawa Senators fans, the early 2000s Battle of Ontario still hurts to think about. The Senators had moved on from their underdog-expansion era image and were often one of the NHL’s most consistent regular-season clubs by this point. They were loaded with talent, led by Daniel Alfredsson, and seemingly built for long playoff runs.
The problem seemed to always be the same, though: whenever the Toronto Maple Leafs appeared on the other side of the bracket, Ottawa could not get past them.
Toronto beat Ottawa in four consecutive playoff meetings between 2000 and 2004. It was a run that helped Maple Leafs fans assert some "big "brother"-defined dominance over the rivalry. It also left the Senators always searching for answers every spring. The 2000 series ended in six games. The 2001 matchup was a four-game sweep. In 2004, Ottawa again pushed Toronto to seven games before falling short. But if there is one series that still feels like the ultimate fork in the road, it is 2002.
The 2001-02 Senators were not quite as dominant as the 109-point team that had been swept by Toronto the year before, but they were dangerous. Ottawa finished the regular season with 94 points, then dismantled the Philadelphia Flyers in the first round, winning that series in five games while allowing only two goals.
That set up another showdown with the Maple Leafs, this time in the Eastern Conference semifinals. Ottawa opened the series with a 5-0 statement win and later took a 3-2 series lead with a 4-2 victory in Toronto. For once, the Senators had the Leafs right where they wanted them.
Then came Game 6 in Ottawa.
Instead of closing the series at home, the Senators lost 4-3. Two nights later, Toronto shut them out 3-0 in Game 7. It was a series that looked like Ottawa was finally going to breakthrough and get over the hump. Instead, it became another chapter in Toronto’s playoff hold over the franchise.
What if Ottawa closes it out?
The simplest what-if is usually the one that brings up a lot of regret: what if Ottawa wins Game 6?
If we flip that 4-3 loss into a 4-3 win, it would mean that the Senators not only win the series by eliminating their biggest rival, but it would also erase a major psychological hurdle, end Toronto’s run for that season, and allow the Sens to reach the Eastern Conference Final for the first time in modern franchise history.
Their next opponent would have been the Carolina Hurricanes, who went on to beat Toronto in six games before losing to the Detroit Red Wings in the Stanley Cup Final. Ottawa had played Carolina well during the regular season in 2001-02, going 3-0-1-0. For what it's worth, the Maple Leafs went 2-2-0-0 against them in the regular season, which supports this fantasy scenario in suggesting the Senators may have put up more of a fight—or even won the series.
Of course, regular-season success does not guarantee anything in May. Carolina was good enough to win the Eastern Conference, and the Hurricanes were no accident. But Ottawa would have entered that matchup with confidence, momentum, and perhaps the emotional release that comes from finally beating Toronto.
Even if Ottawa had beaten Carolina, though, the final boss would have been brutal. Detroit was at the height of its powers, a veteran-heavy powerhouse on its way to a third Stanley Cup in six seasons. Asking the Senators to beat that Red Wings team may be where even the good vibes in our alternate history have to come to an end. The Red Wings tamed the Hurricanes 4-1 in the finals that year.
But the bigger question is not necessarily whether Ottawa would have won the Cup in 2002; it is whether getting there, especially after going through Toronto, would have changed the way that era of Senators hockey is remembered.
A Stanley Cup Final appearance four years before the Senators eventually reached that stage in 2007 would have given the franchise a defining moment much earlier. It may have made Ottawa a more appealing destination before the lockout and salary cap era changed roster building across the league. It also would have given that core something it never earned in real life: a playoff series win over the Maple Leafs.
It would have at least allowed the Senators of that era to not have that "couldn't beat the Maple Leafs" sting attached to them. Led by Alfredsson, the team also boasted Marian Hossa, Wade Redden, Zdeno Chara, Chris Neil, and more. While several of the names managed to escape that grip, either with the Senators or having success somewhere else. Yet for many fans, those teams are still remembered by what happened every time the Leafs showed up in the postseason.
Had Game 6 in 2002 gone the other way, the entire story might feel different. Maybe the Senators still lose to Carolina. Maybe they reach the Stanley Cup Final and run into a Detroit team that was simply too much. But they would have done something no Senators team has ever done: beat the Maple Leafs in a playoff series.
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