Sure, there's a little history there from the Bruins' playoff loss two years ago, but the Hurricanes aren't exactly the kind of traditional rival or star-laden team most fans would get excited about. There had already been 44 games played this season, and 38 more were still to come, many against teams that the Bruins are directly battling with for playoff position or ancient rivals like Montreal and Toronto with rabid fan bases that always make those matchups an event.
So what's the solution to turn a clash with Carolina into a must-see event? Make it a doubleheader.
The Bruins and Hurricanes played a home-and-home series this week, with Boston hosting the 'Canes at the Garden on Monday afternoon, then playing down in Carolina the following night.
The back-to-back clashes created an intensity often tough to come by during the midseason drudgery. Even with the Bruins rolling to an easy 7-0 win in the first game, the fact that the teams would meet again the following day added spice to the proceedings right to the final whistle. The Hurricanes tried to send a message with some physical play late, culminating in a bout between Adam McQuaid and Troy Bodie that drew one last rousing ovation from the Garden faithful who were already hoarse (and bare-headed) from cheering Zdeno Chara's first hat trick.
And the following day's encounter lived up to expectations. There were no more fisticuffs, but there was also no shortage of action as Tim Thomas stood on his head with a 43-save effort and the Bruins escaped with a 3-2 win to complete the sweep.
What could have been two pretty nondescript midseason games if they had been played a few weeks apart turned into a thrilling two-game mini-series.
"It's kind of like the playoff-type feeling when you're playing the same team back to back," McQuaid said. "Things can carry over from games."
Playoff hockey is an emotional roller coaster that cannot be matched by anything else in sports. A midseason home-and-home series won't ever approach the heights of an epic seven-game war with endless overtimes, but anything that captures even the slightest feel of that playoff magic in the regular season should be embraced and encouraged.
Sadly, Bruins fans won't get to see much more that effect this season. Nor will most other NHL fans. The Bruins have just one more home-and-home series the rest of the way, hosting Detroit on Friday, Feb. 11, then going to the Motor City on Sunday, Feb. 13, and around the entire league the home-and-home series is becoming an endangered species.
Boston had just four home-and-homes all season, and that includes the season-opening set against Phoenix, when both games were played on a neutral site in Prague. The only other back-to-back set against the same team was against Washington on Oct. 19 and 21, and the Bruins won both ends of that one as well.
The Bruins didn't play any home-and-home series against a division rival this season. Those used to be a staple in the NHL schedule, and the league needs to go back to rekindling rivalries with more such matchups.
They'd need to increase the number of games against divisional opponents to do it, but will anyone really miss the once-a-year visits from Western Conference teams that usually generate so little buzz?
The league should go back to having eight games a year against each team in the division, as opposed to the current six. And the extra two should be scheduled as a home-and-home series to ratchet up some extra intensity and excitement.
That would account for 32 games, with the existing four games apiece against the other 10 teams in the conference bringing the total to 72. The final 10 can be comprised of a home-and-home set with each team in one division of the other conference. Those matchups can be rotated so that every franchise faces every other team within a three-year span, but setting them as back-to-back games, perhaps even all on the same weekend to turn it into a league-wide event, would generate true interest in what are all too often listless inter-conference affairs.
Bruins fans witnessed the excitement a home-and-home set can elicit this week. Rangers and Flyers fans saw it last April when those traditional rivals ended the season with a home-and-series series. The Rangers won 4-3 in New York on April 9 to force a showdown for the final playoff spot in the East in Philadelphia on April 11. The Flyers won that game 2-1 in a shootout, which helped propel them all the way to the Stanley Cup Finals.
Not every home-and-home series will produce that kind of drama, but as the Bruins and Hurricanes showed this week, even a 7-0 blowout is a little more interesting when you know there’s a chance for revenge the very next night. The NHL gives teams 82 games a year. Can't they give fans a few more of them in the form of home-and-home series to increase interest and excitement?
Should the NHL increase the number of games against divisional rivals and include more home-and-home series in the schedule? Share your thoughts below.
