( Photo Credit: Charles Krupa/AP Photo )
By: Jack McCarthy | Follow Me On Twitter @73johnnymac
Bruins vs. Canadiens Rivalry
The Boston Bruins have enjoyed a long and storied rivalry with the Montreal Canadiens, long considered their fiercest rival. The rivalry dates back to December of 1924 and has seen the teams meet in 923 regular season games as well as 177 playoff games. The animosity that has existed for almost a century including an NHL record 34 playoff meetings has lifted the Bruins-Canadiens rivalry into the upper echelon of the all-time great rivalries in sport. Think Yankees-Red Sox, Celtics-Lakers, Manchester United-Liverpool.
Montreal has held the upper hand over the Bruins for much of their history. Bruins fans growing up watching the Bruins in the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s were particularly frustrated as Montreal won 18 consecutive playoff series over the B’s between 1946 and 1987. The streak was finally snapped when the Bruins defeated Montreal 4-1 at the Forum on April 26th, 1988. The records have been much more even since the streak ended, the Bruins winning 7 of the last 12 series between the two clubs.
The rivalry has been fueled by frequency, both regular-season meetings as divisional opponents and through frequent playoff matchups Classic games such as Game 7 of the 1979 Stanley Cup Semi-Finals, better known as the Don Cherry, too many men game, to Mats Naslund’s game 5 dagger with 51 seconds remaining to give Montreal a 1-0 victory and a 3-2 series win in their 1985 Adams Division semi-final. More recently, Nathan Horton’s game 7, overtime, series clinching goal which propelled the Bruins on their path to winning the 2011 Stanley Cup Championship stands out as a game that produced the highest of highs and the lowest of lows for the respective fan bases.
Bruins vs. Maple Leafs Rivalry
As the Bruins prepare to do battle with the Toronto Maple Leafs for the second consecutive opening round, and third time in 6 seasons, the question begs, has Toronto become a bigger rival than the Canadiens?
JAKE DEBRUSK FOR HIS 2ND GOAL IN GAME 7 VS THE MAPLE LEAFS
The rookie is the first to score 2 goals in a Game 7 since Marchand in 2013#NHLBruins take 5-4 lead with 14:35 left in the 3rd period #NHLPlayoffs#Game7 #Bruins #bruinsvsleafs #NHL
pic.twitter.com/dpyUU0GEPP— Jon Symons (@ESPNJonSymons) April 26, 2018
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The Bruins and Maple Leafs also have a long history. The teams first met in the 1924-25 season and have faced off 750 times in the regular season as well as 76 times in the playoffs. The Bruins and Leafs have not played as frequently as the Bruins and Canadiens, including over a hundred fewer playoff games, as Toronto resided in the Western Conference prior to the 1998-99 season. In all, the current series marks the 16th all time playoff match-up between the Bruins and Maple Leafs with Toronto holding an 8-7 advantage. The Bruins however, have won the last 5-playoff meetings. Toronto’s last playoff victory over the Bruins was in the 1958-59 season.
Toronto, as we know, is a hockey mad city, the self-proclaimed centre of the hockey universe. It is also a city whose beloved Leafs have been deprived of playoff success for more than a generation. It last paraded Lord Stanley’s silverware in 1967. There are a few factors that have intensified the Bruins and Leafs rivalry over the past decade.
The first significant event that began to bring this rivalry to life was the Phil Kessel trade on the eve of the 2009-10 season. Kessel was traded to Toronto for a package of draft picks and then the Maple Leafs proceeded to have a couple of poor seasons allowing the Bruins to draft Tyler Seguin in 2010 and Dougie Hamilton in 2011. It became obvious fairly early on that the Bruins would benefit from that trade and when the Leafs visited the Bruins in Kessel’s return to Boston in December, 2009, the B’s faithful packed the Garden. That game marked the beginning of a sell-out streak that is now approaching 10 years for the Bruins.
The next, and perhaps biggest contributing factor was the epic Bruins comeback against the Leafs in the first round of the 2013 playoffs. Toronto led Boston 4-1 early in the third period of game 7, before Boston staged one of the most memorable comebacks in the history the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Bruins became the first NHL team to win a game 7 after trailing by three goals in the third period, winning 5-4 in overtime. Combined with last seasons’ seven game opening round series, also going the Bruins way in a third period comeback, the rivalry is alive and well.
The question is, has the rivalry with Toronto overtaken that with Montreal for the Bruins and their fans? The answer depends entirely on whom you talk to. Arguably, Boston and Toronto has become the ultimate rivalry for a new generation of hockey fans, those not old enough to recall Joe Thornton in the black and gold or Mats Sundin in the blue and white. Those of us who are a little longer in the tooth however, likely still hold just a little bit more disdain for the Canadiens than we do the Leafs. That said, the Canadiens had better hurry up and make their way back into the playoffs, after all, with every new chapter the Bruins and Leafs write, the gap is closing.
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