The Bruins own home ice for their first-round Stanley Cup playoff series against the Maple Leafs, but Toronto’s head coach apparently doesn’t view that as a considerable advantage for the Black and Gold.
Toronto and Boston will begin their best-of-seven set Thursday night at TD Garden, where the B’s posted a 29-9-3 record during the regular season. The building surely will be rocking as the series gets underway, but Mike Babcock doesn’t seem all too worried about the raucous atmosphere his team soon will endure.
Mike Babcock on heading to Boston for Games 1 and 2: "As much as we say it's a hostile environment, I've never seen a fan play yet."
— Chris Johnston (@reporterchris) April 8, 2019
To be fair, the Leafs have fared OK at TD Garden in recent years, owning a 3-5 record over the course of their last two postseason meetings with the Bruins. Two of those losses, however, came in Game 7s, including the memorable 2013 clash that saw Boston erase a three-goal deficit in the second half of the third period.
There’s absolutely nothing wrong with Babcock’s comment, as the outcome of the series entirely comes down to which team rises to the occasion. That said, the remark probably won’t stop Bruins fans (and maybe even players) from using it as bulletin-board material.
