Boston Bruins vs. Montreal Canadiens is the Best NHL Rivalry
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There is not a more heated and hostile NHL rivalry than the Boston Bruins and Montreal Canadiens.
These historic franchises have played more games against each other than any other NHL squad, and usually when the Bruins and Canadiens meet, it’s a bloody bout.
John Kordic and Jay Miller dropped the mitts against each other eight times within their NHL careers, with Miller being notoriously known for his “taunting” of the Canadiens bench.
And who could forget Pierre Bouchard and Stan Jonathan‘s legendary bout, which resulted in both players and the referee leaving the rink in stitches. The most well known brawl between these two historic teams might be the bench clearing clash of 1986 where nearly everyone on both team squared up and brawled.
It hasn’t been all blood, though. There has been a lot of silver, and by silver I mean Stanley Cups. The two teams combined have hoisted the Cup 30 times, with the Canadiens capturing the prized procession a record 24 times.
The B’s and Habs are also in the record books for most playoff games. The two Original Six teams have faced each other in over 30 postseason series, with almost a third of those series going all the way to Game 7.
Former Canadiens head coach Jacques Martin dubbed the rivalry “one of the greatest rivalries in sports,” and I would have to agree. Both teams have passionate fan bases that represent not only their cities, but also their countries.
The latest installment of the rivalry includes Zdeno Chara‘s hit on Max Pacioretty that caused an uproar in Montreal, as well as the tension between P.K. Subban and Brad Marchand. This roller coaster rivalry has brought excitement to NHL fans for nearly a century, and luckily for us, it does not seem like it is going to stop anytime soon.
Stu Laperle is a NHL writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @stulaperle15, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google.
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