If you are a fan of the Boston Bruins or the Montreal Canadiens, whenever the NHL releases the season schedule, you would find the games between the Original Six rivals and circle them on the calendar.
Unfortunately, for old-time hockey fans, the two clubs have only met once so far this season at the Bell Centre in Montreal, with Boston coming out with the 4-2 victory. With only 12 games remaining in the season, the Canadiens make their one and only appearance in Boston Thursday night.
"Yeah, it is (strange). I said that even when we were in Montreal earlier this year. I think it was in January, and it was our first meeting against them all year," Bruins captain Patrice Bergeron said per team-provided video. "It's definitely something that is strange and is probably a first…I mean, I could be mistaken for myself and my career, but I think it is a first that it's been this late."
The Bruins, who clinched a playoff spot at the beginning of the month, sit atop the league with a 54-11-5 record, while the Canadiens at 28-37-6 will miss the playoffs for the second straight season.
"It's one of our biggest rivals, and it's always a lot of fun to play against them," Bergeron added. "There's lots of history on both sides, so you'd like to see a little bit more of those games, but I do understand that that is the way the schedule's been written, and it's not easy to make 32 different schedules. But it is strange, and I guess we're all really looking forward to it."
Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery is getting first-hand knowledge of the rivalry in his first year with Boston but knows the history.
"Montreal and the Bruins seemed to play each other every year in the playoffs the whole decade of the '70s," Montgomery said, per-team provided video. "I wish we played them, that team, particularly, more because it's the Black and Gold vs. the Red, White and Blue -- it's tradition of the game for me."
Bergeron's longtime linemate Brad Marchand knows the history of the rivalry but feels there are other teams that have almost overshadowed the Canadiens in recent years.
"We're in a little bit of a different position, and we've played Toronto and Tampa a little more in playoffs recently," Marchand explained, per team-provided video. "I feel more of a rivalry with Toronto and Tampa now than Montreal just because all three are contending teams, and we've had some really good playoff battles over the last few years."
Marchand knows that despite not facing Montreal in the playoffs in recent years, it's only a matter of time before the Canadiens are vying for the Atlantic Division title.
"For Montreal, they're younger and building, and they're gonna be a really, really good team in the future. They have some incredible talent coming up."
Across the ice, Montreal head coach Martin St. Louis told reporters he knows how good the Bruins are, but his team is not scared of facing them.
"They're so organized and are on the same page. We haven’t been intimidated by the opponents," St. Louis said, according to Sportskeeda's Abhishek Dilta. "I think we respect (Boston Bruins), but we're not scared of them, and we've shown that."
The Bruins and Canadiens will face off one final time this season on April 13 at Bell Centre.
