This Sunday night from the TD Garden in Boston, one of the greatest rivalries in all of sports will be renewed as the Bruins host the Montreal Canadiens. Coverage will be on NBCSN, RDS, and Sportsnet with a faceoff time of 7:30 p.m. ET.
When these two teams take to the ice, images of Bobby Orr, Phil Esposito, Derek Sanderson, Jean Beliveau, Larry Robinson, Maurice Richard, Henri Richard, Ken Dryden, Guy LaFleur, Scotty Bowman and Don Cherry immediately come to mind. The Bruins and Habs boast a bounty of history, glory, and hate to make for a rivalry unlike any other in sports.
The Rocket Explodes
Montreal’s mercurial forward Maurice Richard set this rivalry on fire in 1955 when he retaliated for a high stick that required five stitches on his face by sticking Boston perpetrator Hal Laycoe. Richard had to be restrained by officials as he continued to chase Laycoe and eventually broke his stick over his rival.
Linesman Cliff Thompson eventually corralled the Rocket only to be punched twice in the face. The Boston Police attempted to arrest Richard but Canadiens players blocked the door. Richard got a season long suspension from NHL President Clarence Campbell as a result. The suspension set off a riot in the city of Montreal. The match was lit for a rivalry that spans generations.
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The Big Bad Bruins
After a decade of being the worst franchises in professional sports, the Bruins emerged as a potential dynasty in the late 1960s with the arrival of superstar and revolutionary defenseman Bobby Orr along with scoring ace Phil Esposito. The Canadiens were the established dynasty of the NHL. It made for a high stakes rivalry in which the Bruins and Habs made up 16 out of the possible 30 Stanley Cup Final appearances between 1965 and 1979.
The Big Bad Bruins were a swashbuckling crew of characters and talent. Orr and Espo packed arenas wherever the Bruins went and Turk Sanderson added additional personality to the team. Boston won the Stanley Cup in 1970 and 1972. They should have won it in 1971 when they posted the best record of the Big Bad Bruins era. Instead they suffered an upset for the ages.
The Flying Frenchmen and a Law Student
In 1971 the Bruins not only boasted the best record in the NHL but Orr and Esposito were setting scoring records. The defending Stanley Cup champions looked unbeatable. Montreal was a decided underdog in their playoff series against the Bruins. The Habs called up a rookie law student Ken Dryden to take over goaltending duties. They had nothing to lose.
In game two of the series the stage was set when the Bruins blew a 5-1 lead and lost 7-5 with Dryden saving their bacon time and again with spectacular saves. Montreal was inspired by the rookie and ended up with a memorable upset series win that went the full seven games. Boston fans and Esposito will tell you to this day that it was a blown opportunity that they will never get over.
Sour Grapes
The Bruins and Habs met in both the 1977 and 1978 Stanley Cup Final. The 1977 Habs are considered by many to be the greatest team of all time while Boston was a classic lunch pail team for head coach Don Cherry. Montreal swept the 1977 Final. In the 1978 Final, the Bruins brutalized flashy Montreal scoring machine Guy LaFleur, who ended the series with stitches after being high-sticked by Bruins players all series. Montreal still won in six games.
In 1979, the teams met in a memorable semi-final in which the Bruins led game seven in Montreal by one goal with four minutes to play. Cherry’s Bruins were called for too many men on the ice and LaFleur tied the score on the ensuing power play to send the game into overtime, where Yvon Lambert would break Boston’s hearts yet again with an overtime goal. It was sour grapes for the man known as Grapes as Cherry would be fired afterwards.
Adams Family
The hate and rivalry continued from 1984 through 1992 in the old Adams Division where the Bruins and Habs would meet each year in the playoffs. Montreal won the 1986 Stanley Cup while Boston made the 1988 and 1990 Final. The rivalry maintained its high stakes tradition that has carried it to this day.
Among the Best
The Bruins and Habs rivalry must rate right as among the greatest of all time in the history of professional sports. Currently, only baseball’s ancient rivalry between the Yankees and Red Sox can compare. Perhaps only pro football’s Chiefs-Raiders rivalry from the late 1960s and early 1970s can match the Bruins and Habs in historic context for high stakes hate and intensity.
