Maurice isn't the only one excited about the North Division.
Oilers forward Alex Chiasson, who has also played for the Senators and Flames, told TSN last week he's eager to get started in these unique circumstances.
"Yeah, I'm looking forward to it … just Canadian teams playing each other," Chiasson said. "Is it ever going to happen again? If not, let's make the most of it."
During a recent edition of the
NHL @TheRink podcast
, Canadiens coach Claude Julien said the battle for the four playoff spots in the North Division will be intense.
"Growing up in Canada and being a Canadian, there is excitement there because it's different, it's short term, could be just for a year if it happens," Julien said. "The thing that I'm looking at the most now, as a coach living in the present, is how competitive that would be because most of the teams, I would say, with very few exceptions, are all teams that feel they are competitive and feel they should be playoff teams."
That competition and an increased familiarity with division rivals will lead to more emotional games, Flames captain Mark Giordano told Sportsnet.
"It's going to be a pretty cool year for the fans," Giordano said. "Playing each other more often creates that rivalry and hatred for the other team. You look at the NFL playing 16 games and every game feels like a playoff game. At 56 games there's no room for a slide.
"In a regular season you can lose six or seven in a row and make it up, but there's no room for that this year. I think that's going to bring out the best in teams -- it's going to be super competitive."
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Chiasson said he believes it will be a daily grind for each team in the North Division.
"It's going to be a very tough division. … I know people will say Ottawa is rebuilding, but they've added some pieces," he said. "There's no freebies in there."
Maurice said having some of the biggest names in the NHL playing each other on a nightly basis in a division made up solely of teams from Canada will make the season that more special.
"There are some rock-star kids on these teams," Maurice said. "You start with Elias Pettersson (of the Canucks) and then Connor McDavid (of the Oilers) and Sean Monahan (of the Flames) and Mark Scheifele (of the Jets)," Maurice said. "Look at Toronto, what they've got, and Ottawa's got all these kids coming and then the changeover in Montreal, that big back end and those young kids down the middle. There's not a team in Canada that doesn't have legitimate superstars on their team and when you're a kid growing up, well, that's what I remember. It's going to be great."
