Define "better".
We finished ahead in the standings, but I don't really think we had a much better team. I liked our team last year much more than the 02 or 04 versions.
We were far too dependant on one player for offence, and he seemed to disappear every April.
That 02 Habs team was God Awful, except for Theodore.
I think we’re being unduly harsh on Bruins' fans gentlemen, there are plenty of genial characters amongst their ranks. There’s Gee Wally, Hab Habbieton and all those Boston fans who don’t have internet access.
Define "better".
We finished ahead in the standings, but I don't really think we had a much better team. I liked our team last year much more than the 02 or 04 versions.
We were far too dependant on one player for offence, and he seemed to disappear every April.
you need us to post our roster from 02 and 04?
seriously, we were bad, very bad!
You kidding right? In 2002 we had scrubs like Odjick, Dykhuis, Traverse, Brisebois, Perreault, Audette, Sundstrom, Dackell, Juneau, Van Allen...while you guys had a 1st place team...In 2004 you guys finished 2nd with Thornton, Rolston, Gonchar, Nylander etc.
You kidding right? In 2002 we had scrubs like Odjick, Dykhuis, Traverse, Brisebois, Perreault, Audette, Sundstrom, Dackell, Juneau, Van Allen...while you guys had a 1st place team...In 2004 you guys finished 2nd with Thornton, Rolston, Gonchar, Nylander etc.
You were better and we still won.
'04 very likely yes. We had a solid team, and picked up Gonchar and Nylander at the deadline. '02... meh.
It all comes down to the same thing anyway. The Habs have dominated every incarnation of the Bruins for 10 years now. And before that, for about 20 years. we're close now though, probably not there yet, but in the vicinity, and that makes the games a lot of fun to watch. Like I said, a win here and there would be nice, but a la Sox - Yankees, every loss will make it that much sweeter when we finally break through.
'04 very likely yes. We had a solid team, and picked up Gonchar and Nylander at the deadline. '02... meh.
It all comes down to the same thing anyway. The Habs have dominated every incarnation of the Bruins for 10 years now. And before that, for about 20 years. we're close now though, probably not there yet, but in the vicinity, and that makes the games a lot of fun to watch. Like I said, a win here and there would be nice, but a la Sox - Yankees, every loss will make it that much sweeter when we finally break through.
'04 very likely yes. We had a solid team, and picked up Gonchar and Nylander at the deadline. '02... meh.
It all comes down to the same thing anyway. The Habs have dominated every incarnation of the Bruins for 10 years now. And before that, for about 20 years. we're close now though, probably not there yet, but in the vicinity, and that makes the games a lot of fun to watch. Like I said, a win here and there would be nice, but a la Sox - Yankees, every loss will make it that much sweeter when we finally break through.
You're a good poster Cneely and seem like a good guy.
But you must understand that your Bruins related hopes are doomed...
Why don't you see the light. Repent. Its not too late... the Habs family is large and welcoming.
Hail Price. Hail Poutine!
Relive the glory days of Richard and Béliveau and Vézina and Boom boom
'04 very likely yes. We had a solid team, and picked up Gonchar and Nylander at the deadline. '02... meh.
It all comes down to the same thing anyway. The Habs have dominated every incarnation of the Bruins for 10 years now. And before that, for about 20 years. we're close now though, probably not there yet, but in the vicinity, and that makes the games a lot of fun to watch. Like I said, a win here and there would be nice, but a la Sox - Yankees, every loss will make it that much sweeter when we finally break through.
Ahem.... its not because it happened in baseball that it will ultimately happen in hockey too.
But you can keep on dreaming, never stop hoping. Hope is what keeps us alive.
He was just a boston fan, living in a looooser's world...
He took the 6 oclock train, going to.. the.. gar.. den...
dude I LOL everytime I hear that song by Journey... makes me think of that Family Guy episode... and also my sister, who just can't stop listening to that song... love ya Sis!
lol nice analogy, though partly misplaced. The only part that fits here is the part where you equate the pretty girl with the habs. Your words not mine. Anyways, you can see the tide turning in this rivalry. You guys barely beat us on opening night, not to mention we outplayed you guys for most of that playoff series.
I hate the B's, but I'm notsurprised by their good start.
They have a good coach, Bergeron is back, Kessel is good, Lucic is playing well
Speaking of Bergeron, he's only playing at about 50 % right now...The long road of recovery from a servere concussion which included missing a full year of hockey. And Chara is nowhere near top form yet...so if those two start performing anyhwere close to their potential then the B's should be in very good shape.
Totally agree, regular season wise the Habs have owned the Bruins recently, and while the Bruins made a spirited comeback in the playoffs, they still lost.
That being said, the premise of my story was that the rivalry is alive again. Players on both sides feel it, the fans are into it (even in Boston, where the Bruins are just starting to pass the Revolution in terms of relevance, because of that series last year), and we the media feel it!
I grew up on the Bruins side of this, going to the games with my grandfather from 1984-1995. That was how it should always be for both sides. The passion, the fights, the amazing goals and comebacks from both sides. This was to what this new generation of Boston fans is Sox-Yankees. Unfortunately until 1988 very much like the Sox-Yanks until 2004! But still people came back for more!
Fast-forward to 2001-02, the season I started covering the Bruins and NHL and I haven't seen it resemble my childhood and teenage years until now. As I've grown as a reporter, you all know how much I've grown to appreciate your city and you as fans! You never let that passion go and never will!
I'll never forget when I first stepped into the press box of Game 6, 2002 (Koivu's comeback from cancer year) and the atmosphere. I almost cried thinking of my grandfather and the old Garden! Or drinking in the basement of Brutopia until the sun rose after the Habs eliminated the Bruins in that game. I listened and witnessed that passion and since then, I've never stopped respecting it! Thank-you!
That's what has been missing here in Boston until that Game 6 and that's why Bruins fans are clinging to it, building off it. Let them do that, because if they can ever sniff what I saw growing up and conceive what it's like in Montreal, this rivalry will be good for everyone, good for the game and the NHL!
Enjoy tonight, feel the emotion and keep battling with each other here. This is what the NHL needs and if it ever comes back, they will need to thank this rivalry for coming back!
Great post Murph.
I remember being in Boston 2 years ago, on december 23rd (yeah the date on which we haven't won a single game since so many years), having a snack at The Fours before the game. There were these two old men in their late sixties quietly eating at a table next two us, one wearing a vintage B's jersey, the other a Habs one. It seemed like a ritual for them that's been going on for decades, and they were certainly not used to seeing as many Habs fans as they often turned to look at us (ok, we weren't that loud!). Even though I had been aware of the history between the two teams, it's seeing these old timers, these two friends that became adversaries for one more night, that made me grasp how old and epic the rivalry has been over the years.
When me and my friends came out of the pub and joined the many other Habs fans marching towards the Garden, I was disappointed at the lack of reaction to our "Go Habs Go" chants. The Bruins fans looked at us with a puzzled look, but without responding. One of them did yell "Well, look at this fu**er!" while pointing at me... That reaction might have been caused by me wearing both a Yankees jersey and a Habs toque. (I'm really a Red Sox fan, but in enemy territory, you gotta do what you gotta do!).
By the end of the game, which we lost 4-2, the Boston crowd had finally become alive. We were almost thrown out of the building! It would have been more fitting if the chants were "Go Bruins Go" instead of "USA, USA", but thats another story. I haven't been able to catch a hockey game in Boston since then, but every friend of mine who did told me that the animosity between both fanbases is still very present and passionate, even before the games.
By the way Murph, I've been living in Dublin for 2 months and I still haven't found a pub that A) Opens late enough and B) Shows hockey games...Any ideas?
you need us to post our roster from 02 and 04?
seriously, we were bad, very bad!
In 02 our teams looked like this:
Donald Audette -Saku Koivu - Yanick Perreault
Richard Zednick - Doug Gilmour - Oleg Petrov
Andreas Dackell - Joe Juneau - Chad Kilger
Bill Lindsay - Chose Van allen - Gino Odjick
Def, I don't have exact pairing but it's something along the line of
Numbers that prove the Habs will always be better? I'd like to see those.
In all seriousness, from a Bruins fan perspective, I love watching these games. Yes, you guys have historically handed us our arses, but you can't beat the intensity. It's very much like the Sox - Yankees. It felt so much better when the Sox finally broke through. It may not happen this year, the Habs are still a damn good team, but I think we're getting a hell of a lot closer.
We're all indulging in trash talk. I know what it's like in Boston. I went to quite a few games in the old Boston Garden when I spent 4 months in Reading, Massachusetts, and took the train in to the North Station. Even then, Bruins fans disrespected the Habs, claiming that some long forgotten scrubs who totaled perhaps 1/2 to 2 NHL seasons were better than the Hall of Fame players on the Habs. I kept my mouth shut but snickered silently. Frankly, I can't account for the mastery the Habs have shown even in years when the Bruins have looked better on paper and finished ahead of them in the standings. History has been on the side of Montreal, but every season is new. It would be boastful to say that the Bruins are the Washington Generals on skates because the worm could turn at any time. For example, I was annoyed, even a bit concerned, when the Bruins won games 5 and 6 in the playoffs. Still, I'm pleased that this season's Game One went to the team with the greater tradition. Can the Habs take 12 points from the Bruins (it's no longer possible to take 16)?
Always good games vs the B's...they are a better club this year...I was hoping for Tim Thomas tonight, but Manny is playing, should be a good one guys! 5-3 Habs!!!
