There’s nothing more pleasant to watch on God’s green Earth than a Bear and a Canadian fist fighting.
Well, you’re in luck kiddies. The stars of the Boston Bruins and Montreal Canadiens have once again aligned to create what’s arguably the best rivalry in the NHL. Those fancy-footed referees are poised to drop the puck for game 1 tonight, and even though boxing matches tend to be limited during playoff hockey, there’s no question tempers will be melting the Boston Garden ice as game time approaches.
The animosity between these two teams has been growing steadily over decades and just exploded into a spewing volcano in recent months. Boston defenseman Zdeno Chara’s crushing hit on Canadien forward Max Pacioretty provided the secret ingredients for Sir Stanley’s Lava Gumbo, so much so that it sparked a criminal investigation by the Montreal Police Department, which happens to still be ongoing. That still leaves on the table a slim chance of Chara becoming the first NHL player ever to be escorted off the ice in handcuffs.
The match-up brings plenty of new faces into the mix (Is that Tyler Seguin or Rob Lowe from Youngblood?) but still carries with it an aura of ancient puck, stick, and skate history. A Bruins – Canadians playoff encounter is like a dusty old jazz record you never get tired of listening to. You may have played it over and over until the scratches actually started to wear through the other side, but it still sparks the same energy in you that stirred you to fork over the money to buy the album in the first place. Fans of both teams have bought into these games for a long, long time and have never walked out feeling they came away empty-handed. Regardless of the outcome or inevitable fan misery, these two hockey teams deliver brilliant playoff action time and time again.
As always, Montreal will do their best to win an Oscar Thursday night with their superb acting chops, flopping to and fro (The Canadiens study tons of soccer film in the off-season) until finally tricking the referees into awarding them an undeserved power play. And Sean Thornton will roam the ice like a Hanson, just looking for a Montreal player to clobber. Combine the fierce rivalry with the heart-pounding action of an undetermined Stanley Cup race, and you have a perfect storm of hockey action.
Right now, the storm clouds are converging. The Bruins are transfixed on winning the Cup this year, hauling it back to a Boston fan base that hasn’t seen the glory firsthand since 1972 (Ray Bourque showing the trophy off all over town back in 2001 doesn’t count) and Montreal is determined to break the Bruin hearts as they have done countless times in the past. This rivalry has no chance in hell of getting “old” because every game just adds another classic chapter to what already can be classified as a truly legendary story.
Tonight, y’all tune into Versus for some good old-fashioned Bruins-Canadians hockey. You ain’t gonna’ find no better entertainment this here side of the Mississip.
—–Seth Newton
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