Bruins fans have a knack for picking out one or two opponents and going out of their way to hate them.
Although pretty much every Canadien is hated in this city, B's fans picked out P.K. Subban in the first round as their primary target and showered the young defenseman with boos as soon as he went near a puck.
Against Philadelphia, it was a toss-up between guys like Dan Carcillo, Russ Harnell, Jody Shelley and Chris Pronger.
Steve Downie and Ryan Malone were easy Tampa Bay targets, as the pair of agitators stuck out in the Lightning's sea of skilled snipers.
For Bruins fans who watched the Canucks sprint through the first three rounds of the postseason, one hard-hitting grinder likely caught your eye. Raffi Torres, the one responsible for the clean, shoulder-to-shoulder hit on Joe Thornton in Game 4 of the Western Conference Final among other gritty plays, is a blue-collar, Bruins-type of player. There's a strong chance you, the hardcore B's fan that you are, were rooting for him all postseason.
That's all going to change come Wednesday night in Vancouver.
The former fifth overall pick in the 2000 draft is a hard-nosed grinder who forechecks the heck out of opponents and jumps on every opportunity he can to land one on an enemies chin. More importantly, he's neither a goon nor a flopper. He is, however, going to be hated by Bostonians. But for the same reasons listed above, he'd also be loved by the city if he wore black and gold.
NESN's Jack Edwards appeared on The Sports Hub's Toucher and Rich on Wednesday morning to talk about the Canucks forward.
"Torres' game is really on the forecheck, he gets players in compromising and vulnerable positions and he hammers them and that part of the game again if you don't keep your head up you might get a shoulder to the chin. That's the way Torres plays," Edwards said.
It's these characteristics that will remind the locals of a former professional athlete who stole the hearts of the region after years of gaining hatred as an opponent.
"We all remember Rodney Harrison playing for the New England Patriots and there were a lot of people who called him a dirty player before he was with the Patriots and all the sudden he's a hard-hitting safety," Edwards explained.
Check out the entire interview below.
