Canadiens: Marvelling At A Rival’s History

It was almost 15 years ago that the Montreal Canadiens celebrated their centennial prior to a game against the Boston Bruins. On that night they brought out plenty of legends for a “family photo”, which allowed fans to see all of those stars wearing the uniform again. The Habs then went on to win the game 5-1 against their bitter rival, Michael Cammalleri led the charge with a hat trick and, fittingly, Carey Price manned the net.

Yesterday, it was the Bruins’ turn to close out their centennial celebration and of course, they did it against the first team they played, the Canadiens. Depending on who you ask, the Habs biggest rivals are either the Bruins or the Toronto Maple Leafs. Those who witness the Leafs’ glory years will vote for the Toronto outfit, but those who were raised using the year 1967 as a taunt and witnessed the epic playoff battles between Montreal and the big bad Bruins, will vote for them.

Related: The Canadiens Didn’t Spoil The Party

Still, for many Montreal fans, watching yesterday’s tribute brought back a lot of memories, but was also a reminder that it’s impossible to completely despise the opponent. I can honestly say I don’t know a single hockey fan who disliked long time Bruins captain Raymond Bourque, and when he finally won the Stanley Cup, the hockey world had goosebumps watching Joe Sakic pass the holy grail onto him.

Fast forward just five years and another young French Canadian took his first strides wearing the Black and Gold and was on his way to become one of the most respected captain in the history not only of the team, but of the league. Patrice Bergeron was a classy player and a perfect leader whom everyone admired.

Of course, there have been players Canadiens’ fans loved or still love to hate. The Zdeno Chara – Max Pacioretty will forever be etched in their memories and yet, when Chara played his 1,500 game he received an ovation in Montreal. Simply because those fans know their hockey. They booed him every time he touched the puck since then, as if to say, we still remember what you did, but they still saluted his milestone.

Every Canadiens fans will remember P.K. Subban saying in 2014 he couldn’t wait to go to Boston and suck the air out of that building to win game 7 and doing it. Nobody has forgotten Carey Price and Tim Thomas dropping the gloves, or Milan Lucic threatening Dale Weise in the handshake line, Subban’s bone crushing backward hit on Brad Marchand.