They understood how every team they faced will have had that game circled on their calendar, with the chance to beat the reigning champs a mighty carrot.
But just three games into their reign as defending champs, it appears the Bruins need a refresher.
"They want to compare themselves to us," Bruins defenseman Johnny Boychuk said of the Avalanche, who posted a 1-0 victory over Boston at the Garden on Monday. "That's what a team like this will do. They're going to be fired up to face us. Every time we played a championship team we were always fired up to play, so we can't be surprised by that.
"We have to be prepared for that and match it if not bring even more than them," Boychuk added. "That's how we're going to win games, because we're not going to surprise anybody, that's for sure."
The Bruins didn't come close to matching Colorado's effort in this one. A strong effort in goal by Tuukka Rask kept the Bruins in the game, but Boston didn't deserve to take any points out of this one despite playing a team that had the second-worst record in the NHL last season and didn't have a goal for more than five periods to start this year.
"We got outworked by a team that was a lot more hungry than we were," Bruins coach Claude Julien said. "Right from the get-go, as soon as they got that power play it gave them some momentum and they just never looked back. Throughout the game I felt our team was second on the puck. We were losing races. And whenever we got there and got into a battle, they certainly were a lot hungrier than we were."
The Bruins survived an early 5-on-3 power play by Colorado, but finished the first period having been outshot 13-9. The Avalanche posted an identical 13-9 edge in the second, then finally broke through for the game's lone goal by Milan Hedjuk at 7:57 of the third.
"I think it's one of those games that you hope will give your players the opportunity to realize what we've talked about since the beginning," Julien said, "that every team coming in and playing us hard is going to happen. From the start, from the time they were in the room I could feel that maybe there was a little too much comfort. We have to understand that if we're not going to get prepared the same way every night we're going to have more of those nights."
The Bruins gave the Avalanche their due for their solid effort, but were more focused on their failure to match that intensity after the contest.
"I mean they played well, you have to give them credit," Bruins forward Milan Lucic said. "But on our part, we took today's game way too lightly. We lost most of the battles. They were first on pucks. Regardless of if we were the champs last year or not, they wanted the puck more than us. And that's why we weren't able to generate enough to get that goal."
The Bruins have to learn that every team they face this year is going to come with that kind of effort. They can't afford to take any nights off. That's part of the package that comes with being champions.
"Every team is going to play that way," Bruins forward Brad Marchand said. "Everyone wants to measure themselves against us and see how they compare. We just have to be prepared for that. I don't think we were ready for that tonight. They got a lot of momentum at the start with a couple penalties and we just never created enough momentum ourselves to capitalize on our opportunities."
Julien was disturbed by what he felt was too much "looseness" in the locker room before the game, and what he witnessed during the contest did nothing to improve his mood.
"The things that make us a good team were not there tonight," Julien said. "We made some plays. We had some chances. But the thing that separates us from other teams wasn't there. We're a team that likes to go out there and grind it out and work and put the pucks forward. When we had the puck, our feet weren't moving. It was a bit of a game where the transition and the speed of our game just wasn't there. When your feet aren't moving, you're losing races and losing battles. It kind of all went hand in hand."
The Bruins proved last spring that they can beat any team in the league with their remarkable run to the Cup. But Monday proved that when the Bruins don't play their game, they can also be beaten by any team in the league, even a young squad just learning what it takes to compete in the NHL like Colorado.
"They're young and they're skilled," Julien said. "When you keep drafting high, you get some pretty good players in your lineup. … When you give them the opportunity to play they can do a lot of damage. But had we gone out there and just played our game and made it hard on them, it would have been a little different. They came in and we allowed them to do what they wanted to do. Their speed, their enthusiasm and their energy, all that combined just resulted in them outworking us and making them the better team tonight."
The Bruins finished last season as the best team in the league and they've been paraded all over the region with the shiny trophy to prove it. But this is a new season. Last year's triumph won't earn them any points in the standings this year.
They have to prove themselves all over again, and do it against teams that will be going all-out to prove themselves against the Bruins every night. The Bruins knew that in the abstract this offseason. Now Monday's loss has shown them the reality of the challenge ahead of them, and it's up to the Bruins to once again show the same effort, will and resolve that carried them to the Cup last spring.
