An annual rite of spring

[Habsfan84]

There are certain things in life that are inevitable; death, taxes, and the Montreal Canadiens and the Boston Bruins squaring off against each other in the NHL playoffs.
To this day many outsiders view the Toronto Maple Leafs as the Canadiens main rival, their forever rivals according to some, but the true Habs fan knows that deep down the real rivalry, at least since 1967 has been with the Bruins.
Sadly, the Leafs and Canadiens have only met twice in the playoffs since that legendary final and both sweeps by Montreal didn't do much to inflame the old passions. The Bruins on the other hand are an entirely different matter.
Since 1967 and the advent of the modern National Hockey League, Boston and Montreal have faced off an incredible 18 times in the playoffs (1968, 1969, 1971, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1994, 2002, and 2004), with the vast majority of these battles being nothing short of epic.
Ask any fan in Montreal to name their favourite memories and chances are that many will involve the Bruins, whether it be the surprise win in 1971 or the too many men on the ice game from 1979. The same goes for the fans in Boston who will site 1988 and the breaking of their long losing streak to the Habs as an achievement on par with their two Stanley Cup triumphs in 1970 and 1972,
Boston and Montreal has been about players like Bobby Orr and Ken Dryden, Phil Esposito and Jean Beliveau, Gerry Cheevers and Henri Richard, Brad Park and Larry Robinson, Jean Ratelle and Jacques Lemaire, Gilles Gilbert and Guy Lafleur, Ray Bourque and Guy Carbonneau, Cam Neely and Patrick Roy, Saku Koivu and Joe Thornton and countless more. It is about the Boston Garden and the Montreal Forum, it is about Scotty Bowman and Don Cherry, Pat Burns and Terry O'Reilly and about the bleu, blanc, et rouge against the black and gold.

The Hockey News: Montreal Canadiens Blog: Canadiens Blog: An annual rite of spring