The e-mails starting rolling in last week, some intelligent, some boorish, all very direct.

One, entitled simply "Darcy Tucker," read "R.I.P., Dec. 6, 2002," when opened.

	Isles defensman Kenny Jonsson missed the rest of the playoffs after being hit by Gary Roberts in Game 5.

Yes, ladies and gentleman, there is blood in the air today, with the first confrontation of the season between the Toronto Maple Leafs and New York Islanders still more than 48 hours away.

It would be misleading to label this a marquee matchup for the NHL, for that would imply the inclusion of some level of hockey artistry that simply wasn't part of the ugly playoff series between the two franchises last spring.

How ugly was it? Well, let's just say Tucker's low-bridge hit on Michael Peca that sent the Islander captain into months of rehab on his destroyed knee wasn't even the low point, although it did spawn an new rule for "clipping" that, by bizarre coincidence, saw Peca tossed out of a game last week for a similar hit on Ottawa's Zdeno Chara.

There was hair-pulling and kicking, the latter of which saw Toronto's Shayne Corson suspended for a game in the middle of the series. There was a crushing head shot by Leafs forward Gary Roberts on Isles defenseman Kenny Jonsson that sent Jonsson to the infirmary with his umpteenth concussion.

There were a variety of crushing Steve Webb hits, some of which even occurred with the Islander forward's skates on the ice, and there was proof that Long Island coach Peter Laviolette was just another busher in a nice suit when he declined to even mildly condemn his hometown fans for lustily booing the Canadian national anthem just days after members of the Canadian military had been accidentally killed by a U.S. bomber pilot in Afghanistan.

It was not a flattering display for the NHL, so much so that it was used as a focal point that drove the league to upgrade the standards of obstruction and interference for all teams across the summer.

For Friday's game, there have already been blood-curdling threats from Islanders fans, and the Leafs have increased the security around their players after being forced to change hotels during last spring's series. The league is expected to have senior executives on hand and will be watching intensely to make sure the off-ice threats uttered in the wake of the seven-game series don't turn into on-ice mayhem.

Yet in the midst of this WWE-like bluster -- and wouldn't The Undertaker fit right in to this scene? -- a very real question is worth asking.

Is this good for the NHL?

The answer, it would seem, is yes. Yes, that is, unless actual harm comes to pass for spectators or players, or if Peca's now-retracted threat to get even with Tucker ends up resulting in a messy incident of some kind.

But the buildup to the game, even though it has clearly brought the dim-witted out from their caves for a little sunshine, is clearly an element which is often missing from the league these days.

The league's best rivalry, Colorado-Detroit, was also born of a highly controversial hit, Claude Lemieux on Kris Draper, that provoked stormy reactions in both cities. Fans of the Edmonton-Calgary rivalry could list a series of nasty hockey crimes perpetrated by one team or the other, and games between the Montreal Canadiens and Boston Bruins still evoke memories of intriguing matches from the past.

But there are still very few intense rivalries in the league these days, and fewer still between the biggest markets. It's not like Chicago and L.A. have something big going, and the possibility that Atlanta and, say, Philadelphia might one day hold a grudge against each other seems to be a distant dream.

The Leafs and New York Rangers, other than the playoff incident from the 1970s which saw Vic Hadfield toss Bernie Parent's mask into the stands at Madison Square Garden, have rarely produced sparks of intensity. Toronto and the New Jersey Devils had some spirited postseason jousts in recent years which included Tie Domi's vicious cheapshot on Scott Niedermayer, but it isn't exactly a super-heated rivalry.

Might the Leafs and Islanders be able to provide lasting intensity in their four meetings this season? It doesn't seem likely, but you can bet Gary Bettman is quietly content that headlines are being generated across the border this week.

Might the Leafs and Islanders be able to provide lasting intensity in their four meetings this season? It doesn't seem likely, but you can bet Gary Bettman is quietly content that headlines are being generated across the border this week.

For their part, the players on both sides are trying to tone down the rhetoric.

"I'm not going to talk about it," said Tucker on Tuesday. "Please pass it on."

Peca, meanwhile, has tried to distance himself from his earlier "Get Tucker" remarks, saying they came in the midst of a frustrating rehabilitation effort and don't reflect his current intentions.

"A lot of people are coming looking for a real chippy game, but I don't think it's going to be that," said Peca. "We have to start winning hockey games."

Indeed, it appears to be mostly the Long Island fans who are getting emotionally worked up for Friday's game, and clearly the sharp contrast between the supporters in both towns is part of what made this series compelling at times last spring.

Leafs fans, of course, are generally regarded as the quietest in the league, with the rows and rows of unfilled seats at the beginning of periods a curious reality in a city that prides itself on its supposed hockey knowledge.

Long Island crowds are far more intense and noisy, which certainly works for the Isles. But they also proved to be boorish and verging on threatening last spring, as Leafs fans who dared venture to the Nassau County Coliseum found out.

Interestingly, fans in both cities have had to suffer through sluggish starts to this season for their teams, perhaps not surprisingly since the NHL rules crackdown was clearly aimed at the shenanigans that went on between the clubs in last year's playoffs.

Of late, the Leafs have shown signs of recovering, winning eight of their last 10 with Ed Belfour, at least temporarily, erasing the memory of popular Curtis Joseph. The Leafs had a terrible time with new NHL rule interpretations earlier in the season, but of late have played with much more discipline, which has fueled their winning streak.

The Isles are the league's most penalized team, and Peca narrowly avoided a suspension last week for his hit on Chara. But Laviolette's crew ended Vancouver's 11-game winning streak Tuesday on Long Island with an inspiring performance.

The Isles have lost only two of eight, Chris Osgood has performed much better of late and Alexei Yashin woke up to score the game winner against the Canucks.

For Friday's game, Roberts won't be available for the visitors as he recovers from double-shoulder surgery, and Corson is iffy after missing the last six games with a groin injury. So some of the villains in blue won't be on hand.

But Tucker and Peca will both be there, the Leafs may require a police escort to get to the game and the Canadian national anthem is expected to once more receive a thorough facewash.

If the result of the game is no ugliness but a strong sense of anticipation for the next meeting between the teams Feb. 25 in Toronto, the NHL will be very, very happy.

Damien Cox, a columnist for the Toronto Star, is a frequent contributor to ESPN.com.