'Little rat': How Senators' quiet pest Ridly Greig became a hockey villain

KANATA, Ont.

With the wind and snow howling outside the Greig family car, a pre-teen Ridly Greig sat quietly beside his father, Mark.

Mark, a former NHL player and amateur scout for the Philadelphia Flyers, had begun taking his son on scouting trips through Alberta with two objectives: one, some quality time between father and son; two, to give Ridly, who had begun to separate himself from his peers on the ice, the opportunity to observe players with likely NHL futures.

Advertisement Ridly didnt usually talk a lot.

But the long car rides home from rinks allowed him to come out of his shell, asking questions about the players he watched with his dad.

What made them successful? Why were some better than others? It was during those car rides that Ridly Greig started to understand what it would take to play in the NHL and began charting his own path toward becoming an agitator for Ottawa Senators and the unquestioned villain in Toronto during a first-round series against the Maple Leafs.

Its about winning at all costs for him.

Thats in his DNA, Mark said.

He has a fierce quietness that burns on the inside.

If the making of Ridly Greig, the hockey player, began in the passenger seat on Alberta highways, the making of Ridly Greig, public enemy No.

1 in Toronto, began on Feb.

10, 2024, when he emphatically fired a slap shot into an empty Leafs net during a regular-season game.

Leafs defenceman Morgan Rielly cross-checked Greig in the head seconds later and was given a five-game suspension.

Greigs agitator status reached new heights in Toronto in Game 1.

First, he caught John Tavares with a high cross-check that was initially ruled a five-minute major penalty before being downgraded to a two-minute minor.

Later, he slid into Leafs goaltender Anthony Stolarz.

Did he do so purposefully? Thats up for debate.

But Greigs history of taking every opportunity to get under opponents skin suggested to the Leafs he knew what he was doing.

You just know Greig took advantage of that opportunity.

pic.twitter.com/b1YZQv15fG Everyday Sens (@EverydaySens) April 21, 2025 Stolarz took exception.

In Game 2, the Leafs goalie took multiple chops at Greig and levelled him for good measure, earning a roughing penalty in the process.

Greig also was assessed a two-minute penalty on the play.

Anthony Stolarz vs Ridly Greig pic.twitter.com/4DzVwuNx0h Jesse Granger (@JesseGranger_) April 23, 2025 (Greig) is a competitor, Leafs coach Craig Berube who was teammates with Mark Greig for two seasons with the Philadelphia Flyers said on Wednesday.

He has a lot of good hockey traits, in my opinion.

You just have to keep playing and playing him hard.

Hes going to do what he does.

You cant retaliate.

Advertisement If the Senators have any hope of clawing back as the series shifts to Ottawa, theyre going to need more of Greigs antics.

Its not a role every player is comfortable playing.

But its one Greig has been working toward his entire career.

Maybe there is some villain in there, Mark said.

It would be foolish for me not to say that.

Hes had suspensions.

But from my vantage point, I see a quiet competitiveness.

Mark Greig played for four NHL teams over parts of nine seasons.

On the ice, Ridly is not his fathers son.

I was not as hard nor as reliable or aware defensively away from the puck, Mark said.

The similarities we have are probably in skating and non-offensive ideas.

But I took my journey, and with Ridly, I tried to implement the shortcomings I had that kept me out of the NHL.

When Ridly turned 14, he hit a growth spurt.

With his newfound size, things changed.

For the nastier.

We used to use the word edge a lot, Mark said.

At times, he would cross the line.

There were multiple suspensions before Ridly began junior hockey.

You could see a fire inside him.

He never wanted to take a step back from anybody, Mark said.

The dichotomy of Ridly Greig was born.

He plays loud on the ice, but is the complete opposite off of it, according to his father: Quiet everywhere around the house, surfing on the lake, and when I coached him, pre-game, he wouldnt say anything.

It is only on the ice that Greig feels comfortable letting his passion out.

There were times when Mark would shake his head watching his son.

How did this fire start burning? Mark competed in the NHL, but he maintains a composed and thoughtful demeanour.

His mother was a competitor, with passion, he said.

I feel like its a bit of her.

And my brothers were feisty, hard guys.

Marks brother Bruce had a cup of coffee in the NHL in the mid-1970s, but spent the majority of his career in the rough-and-tumble minor leagues.

Bruce Greigs spirit rubbed off on his nephew, Mark figures.

Advertisement Theres bloodlines that tie into it, for sure, he said.

Ridly grew up a Flyers fan, for obvious reasons.

He adored the competitiveness Mike Richards and now-teammate Claude Giroux brought to the game.

And so as Ridly grew, the conversations between father and son also focused on how Ridly could be passionate without stepping over the line.

He learned, somewhat quickly, that his passion was to play.

And when you have to sit on the sidelines, its impactful, Mark said.

He wants to be hard to play against and make other people earn their space.

He learned that attitude both on the ice and from press boxes.

When father and son travelled to games, Ridlys eyes would light up when hed see a player skating full throttle into the opposition.

Or when a player would use his stick and body to pester others.

His eyes were glued to players whod buzz around the ice with unrelenting motors.

We would talk about why a player is going to play in the NHL, what attributes, what strengths they have, why it translates.

We had a lot of great conversations and I always thought it was advantageous, Mark said.

Together, they came to the same conclusions.

To be an everyday player, I knew two things for sure: you have to be responsible and reliable away from the puck, and then you have to be ultra-competitive, Mark said.

So, credit to him.

Hes implemented that and its served him well.

Ridly honed those traits through four seasons with the WHLs Brandon Wheat Kings.

The Senators drafted Greig in the first round of the 2020 NHL draft.

It didnt take long for his inner pest to emerge.

Belleville Senators head coach David Bell remembers Greig arriving in the AHL during the 2020-21 season.

I didnt know who Ridly Greig was, Bell said, describing Greigs first AHL shift, which saw him take a neutral zone face-off in front of the benches.

Advertisement Greig lined up against then-Laval Rocket forward Jordan Weal, with over 200 NHL games to his credit.

Jordan Weal was leaning into the dot, over the dot, crowding the dot.

And Ridly backed up, as a kid, and stood up and grabbed Weals helmet and started shaking it like hed shake a dog, Bell said.

Im like, Oh my God, whats he doing? Thats a veteran guy, and (Greig) didnt care.

He pissed (Weal) off right away.

And Im like, OK, this is Ridly Greig, is it? When Greig returned to the bench after that first shift, Bell was full of questions.

(Greig) just shrugs his shoulders and says, Whatever, nothing, just playing hockey, Bell said.

He had the nickname here, the House Mouse.

Quiet little House Mouse.

Then go out and s disturb ...

this quiet little guy, little rat.

So he should be the house rat, but we call him the House Mouse because he doesnt say anything.

One year later, in 2021, Greig was suspended after his first NHL exhibition game for cross-checking then-Winnipeg Jets forward Pierre-Luc Dubois.

That drove home the notion that he wants to play, and he doesnt want to sit on the sidelines, Mark said.

It gave him some balance, I think.

Its a balance Greig has strived to find through his three NHL seasons: how to irritate without hurting his own team with penalties or suspensions? How to infuriate teams like the Leafs, but also ensure that his team gets on the score sheet, with Greig himself scoring 13 goals in each of his last two seasons And its a balance Greig is striking to near perfection in the playoffs so far.

RIDLY GREIG PUTS IT HOME FROM THE SLOT pic.twitter.com/6K9iYTSDVd Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) April 21, 2025 Greig already has one of the Senators four goals this series.

Yet hes made his name by agitating the Leafs more than Senators captain Brady Tkachuk, who was expected from the Leafs perspective to play the part of villain in the story.

After Tuesdays game and again on Wednesday afternoon, nearly every Leaf was asked about Greigs play.

Advertisement Is Greigs pesky play in front of Stolarz getting in the Leafs goalies head? I didnt even know who it was, Stolarz said of the altercation.

Youre in the heat of the moment.

Youre just trying to get in his eyes, Greig said Wednesday of his approach with Stolarz.

Its kind of a fine line of being inside the crease and on top of it.

I was just trying to battle in front of that.

He wasnt having it.

I just love to compete.

So could Greig throw the goalie who has been arguably the best player for the Leafs through two games off his game? Or perhaps do similarly to other Leafs? Could all this be a way for Greig to spark the Senators in front of their home crowd, and get his team back in the series? Veteran pests, including one who antagonized the Leafs in previous playoff series, believe so.

(Greig) is one of my favourite players to watch, Senators forward Nick Cousins said.

Hes one of those guys that you win with.

Greig himself can go back to his youth to recall what those types of players look like: relentless.

Physical.

Unafraid.

Those types of players sparked Greigs love for the game.

And if Greig has his way, through the remainder of the series between the Leafs and the Senators, he could spark those same emotions in future generations of pests.

He has lots to learn for a young player, Mark said.

And weve talked about that.

But I expect more and more compete to surface.

(Photo of Ridly Greig and Anthony Stolarz in Game 2: Steve Russell / Toronto Star via Getty Images).

This article has been shared from the original article on theathleticuk, here is the link to the original article.