Why Bruins Fans Should Root For Canadiens Turnaround

Quick: When did the Bruins and Canadiens last play a meaningful game?

The answer is tough to come by. By happenstance, one could argue that changes Thursday night when the B’s welcome the Habs to Boston for the home opener at TD Garden. But it’s a meaningful game because it’s the home opener and not necessarily because it’s the latest installment in what has been one of hockey’s greatest rivalries.

There is also the notion that any Bruins-Canadiens game is significant, as just seeing those two teams on the ice together inspires a nostalgia that simultaneously makes you feel warm and fuzzy while also wanting to pick a fight.

The rivalry in recent years, however, has lacked juice, and that’s solely the fault of the Canadiens.

While the Bruins start every season with legitimate Stanley Cup aspirations, Montreal advanced beyond the first round of the playoffs just once in the last nine seasons. That came in 2021 when the Canadiens earned perhaps the most fraudulent Stanley Cup Final appearance in hockey history. The 24-21-11 Habs finished fourth in the NHL’s “North Division” and beat Toronto, Winnipeg and Vegas to earn the chance to get steamrolled by Tampa Bay in the Final. The NHL during COVID-19 was weird.

They went right back to sucking a year later, and have continued to do so even after turning things over to Martin St. Louis, the hometown kid from just over the bridge in Laval. Front-office turnover, sparked by putting former Bruins executive and Massachusetts native Jeff Gorton, has been a work in progress at best.

Putting schadenfreude aside for a second, though, Bruins fans should be doing the unthinkable: They should be rooting for the Canadiens.

That doesn’t mean showing up to the Garden on Thursday night in bleu, blanc et rouge. Nor does it mean anyone in the Hub should be pining for a Cup parade down Saint Catherine Street anytime soon. It would be nice, though, to get a little competition back in the rivalry, no?

Never mind the rivalry of the 1970s and ’80s. We’re not even looking for the playoff tussles of a decade ago. But remember when Brad Marchand and PK Subban averaged a run-in per game? It feels like forever since we got Carey Price and Tim Thomas dropping the gloves. “They have beaten them and tonight they have beaten them up” might as well be a lifetime ago. It’s been quite some time since the building was vibrating with Montreal in town.

The Canadiens haven’t mustered much of a fight at all when the Spoked-B is on the other side of the ice. Get this: The Bruins are 19-2-2 since the start of the 2017-18 season. Again, no one in Boston is going to ever feel bad about that one-sided outcome, but a little bit of competition would make this rivalry great again.

There’s reason to believe Montreal might finally be on the right track. Nick Suzuki is coming off the best season of his career. Cole Caufield is an undersized, gifted offensive player who literally fits the Brian Gionta mold. It’s hard to believe, but Brendan Gallagher is entering his 13th season with Montreal and remains a veteran who can stir up you-know-what with the best of them. Getting Kirby Dach back will also help.

A season-opening 1-0 win over the hated Maple Leafs will help inspire some early-season confidence, too, propelling Montreal into Boston with a little bit of momentum.

There’s no doubt the Garden will be buzzing Thursday night. The home opener brings that sort of energy regardless of opponent. The Bruins and Canadiens will meet again in a couple of months and then won’t get back together until April 3, Boston’s only trip to Bell Centre (the NHL’s schedule is also a major issue, but that’s a problem for another day).

Here’s hoping that the springtime matchup has a little something more on the line than just the pomp and circumstance of opening night. Recent history says the Bruins will likely hold up their end of the bargain. It’s on Montreal to get its act together. The rivalry is better for it.