Traditions—so easy to accept, so hard to change.
Tradition can hold an important place in people’s lives, providing a link to the past and keeping us aware of the history of a given event.
Tradition has families setting up the Christmas tree on a set date prior to the main event. Tradition has certain meals and certain guests for certain holidays. Tradition can even influence the political party we vote for, the beer we drink, the cars we buy, or the teams we root for.
At what point does tradition become an impediment? Can tradition hold back advancement and evolution of our perceptions and understanding?
The tradition that has me questioning evolution is with a time-honored rivalry. Bruins-Canadiens is considered one of the most storied rivalries in professional hockey. It breeds tradition on the part of fans and players alike.
Reality and rational thought can be excused as history overwhelms us and brings about Pavlovian responses.
Ring the bell (or sing the anthems) and we salivate, like the conditioned being we’ve become. These games are a little more intense than against 28 other teams.
But is this a good thing?
Even the most fanatical of Bruins fans has to admit, over the last century (yes, century) the Bruins have usually ended up with the short end of the stick when the inevitable comparison comes around.
Montreal has the skill, speed, and passing. Boston has the power, physical play, and scoring.
More often than not Boston wins the battles, Montreal wins the wars.
I question if this rivalry is even relevant anymore, does it translate to the new millennium?
It’s time for the Bruins and their fans to change their mindset. Perception CAN change.
History can be allowed to fade before it can impair natural evolution.
23 comments Last one added 5 months ago — Leave a Comment
5 months ago
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Revo Boulanger 5 months ago
?
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Day Chau 5 months ago
I like the canadiens, so I say keep on going lol. Nice read though.
And I agree that the NHL needs to change these old perceptions, but it's really the only league that's missing their image. Baseball may not have the best image around the country now, but at least they always have a solid fan base.
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Revo Boulanger 5 months ago
I was just commenting on how I thought that the Bruins would be better off without this perception.
Of course, if the Habs trade for V4, they may end up wanting to trash this tradition as well...
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Pete McKeown 5 months ago
Nice article. POTD vote earned.
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Revo Boulanger 5 months ago
Thank you for the support, praise, and for putting a Sox logo somewhere on my article.
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Harani T. 5 months ago
Well, at the present, Montreal has scored 6 goals in three staraight games and more important 5 goals on Saturday against a powerful eastern team which is Washington. I have feeling the Bruins are in for a tough ride and it's payback time for the Habs! We'll see what happens tomorrow! Go Habs Go!
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Revo Boulanger 5 months ago
Payback? For what?
Lucic, Laraque, Kessel, Koivu, Bergeron, and Price are all out.
Bostons distraction: What the hell is up with Fernandez?
Montreals distraction: Why are they looking to give up young talent for Vinny?
This isn't exactly going to be a "Clash of the Titans" grade matchup. Even if the Habs win, they'd still be 8 points behind.
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Sean Lavery 5 months ago
While it was a awesome piece that I enjoyed reading, I don't really see the connection between the rivalry and the future of the team.
Sure, niether squad (nor the NHL) is what it once was, but that doesn't mean the rivalry must die. Perceptions can change, sure, but the rivalry doesn't have to go away for that to happen.
The Cowboys aren't "America's team" anymore and the Redskins aren't winning super bowls with different QBs each year, but that rivalry is still fierce.
The Red Sox have won a pair of World Series' since the Yankees last one, yet that rivalry is the most hyped in all of sports.
Michigan is more than a decade removed from their last national championship, yet the Ohio State rivalry is still intense.
Rivalry has meaning even when the teams no longer play the same style.
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Revo Boulanger 5 months ago
The connection isn't the rivalry itself, rivaly is needed in sports. The problem is (in this instance) is that this rivalry has become a monument to itself...never a good thing.
Boston has rivalries with New York, Buffalo, Toronto, hell, even San Jose since the Thornton trade.
But opposing fans being slapped around after games? Cop cars torched and looting after a first round win? Fans wishing death and dismemberment of opposing players? It's just gone too far and it demeans the real fans.
Most of these kids were in diapers when the B's were last in the playoff finals-they don't need the idiotic baggage that has grown and festered over the years.
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Miah D. 5 months ago
this was an amazing read, hats off ! :D
the boston bruins are a much different team, obviously. seeing Julien sometimes has me wonder, why did he get fired again?
Montreal is pumped up right now, and I agree with a comment up that even if they get the win, they will get 8 points behind. but 8 is better than 10, and even better than 12!
plus Montreal is def coming into this season as the underdogs as compared to the black and gold. a familiar-not-so-familiar situation.
but those are games that are interesting. even if Lucic is out, Laraque is out and so on. it is always great to meet !
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Revo Boulanger 5 months ago
It is good for these teams to meet, and hopefully we won't have the needless and pointless drama of the whole "we gotta' kill Lucic" thing going on.
Just play the damn game. Both teams have some sinificant injuries and this will be a good test to see how both teams are able to weather adversity.
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Sean 5 months ago
Great article.
However I don't think you can get rid of the rivalry between these two original six teams, considering they meet so many times in the playoffs.
Go HABS
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Revo Boulanger 5 months ago
Thanks for the support. I don't want the rivalry itself to end, just the stupid BS that has grown over the years.
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Kyle Rhodes 5 months ago
Rivaliers make the game more interesting> They hyped up Detroit vs Colorado in the playoffs this past year even though it was the most lackluster match-up between the two teams in the playoffs. As welll, everyone who made that rivarly so interesting are gone now (Roy, Yzerman, Lemieux, Shanahan, Fedorov, Deadmarsh and Sakic and Forsberg aren't what they once were.) but still even though Colorado isn't the powerhouse they once were or poise much of a threat to Detriot that will always be their rival team up with the Blackhawks.
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Revo Boulanger 5 months ago
Detroit and Colorado is a good example of a "healthy" rivalry. They have history of facing each other but don't go overboard with the emotional brain cramps lke Boston and Montreal.
Ditto for Chicago and Detroit. Just good hard play without the whining and BS.
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Matt Eichel 5 months ago
It's an intense rivalry and for the Bruins sake, let's hope that the trend doesn't continue in Montreal's favour. Despite saying that Boston has been the cursed underdog, they've also been the powerhouse when it comes to the rivalry, two out of the last three meetings in the post-season, Boston had home-ice advantage and Montreal upset them.
Excellent read!
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Revo Boulanger 5 months ago
Thanks Matt, I just want these kids (and they are for the most part, still kids) to compete without 90 years of historical crap hanging over their heads. They've worked hard and overcome a lot to get here, they don't need fanatical nitwits trying to live vicariously though the players hard earned skill and talent.
Historically, the mindset regarding Boston has been that they are the "cursed underdog", but it's just that: a perception, and an only semi-accurate perception at that.
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Cornelius Hardenbergh 5 months ago
This is more a response to Revo's comment, but isn't nitwits trying to live vicariously through the players hard earned skill and talent a derogatory way of explaining what sports is all about?
If it's not, then what is sports about? Watching the skill of the players? Why do they have logos and home towns and team-specific fans?
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Dylan Hegarty 5 months ago
I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed reading this article and there were some good points in it. However, I don't feel that the Bruins-Canadiens rivalry will ever fade away.
The rivalry has too much history, with them both being original six teams. Plus, they have met countless times in the playoffs. Rivalries with as much history as the Bruins-Canadiens don't just simply die.
You are right about the fact that the teams aren't what they used to be. However, the games aren't just hyped up to be intense games, the players on both teams play with much more intensity than normal each time they meet, proving the teams truly dislike each other.
I was at the game a couple days ago, and the rivalry between the fans of the two teams only makes it more fun and intense. You could argue, in fact, that the rivalry between the Bruins and Canadiens is actually more intense than the Red Sox- Yankees rivalry since it seems as if the hatred between the actual teams in the Red Sox- Yankees rivalry has faded away and all that is left is the rivalry between the fans, while the Bruins and Canadiens players genuinely hate each other.
So, basically what I am saying is I am not willing to part with this rivalry as a Bruins fan, not just because of the tradition and history, but because games between these two teams are the most fun to watch out of all of hockey. Also, I feel that the rivalry is only growing stonger due to the fact that the Bruins seem to be more evenly matched with the Canadiens this year than ever before.
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Revo Boulanger 5 months ago
In response to Cornelius' observations:
"...but isn't nitwits trying to live vicariously through the players hard earned skill and talent a derogatory way of explaining what sports is all about?"
You have a point...to an extent, but that is not what sport is entirely about. My reasoning was that while rivalries are good, fans tend to take them to much too far an extreme, while more or less, not being the slightest of factors in what goes on in the field (or the rink).
Enjoying a good display of talent, skill and hard work is not living vicariously through someone elses accomplishments. We didn't snare the winning touchdown, score the cup-winning goal or drive in the clinching home run. Living vicariously means that you have elevated the acheivements of others while feeling that it has somehow filled something lacking in your own life. This dillusion makes for the worst type of fan. The kind that tramples people in crowds, flips and burns cars, destroys personal property of generally makes a reprehensible public spectacle of oneself.
Pride in your favorite team is one thing, but using it as an excuse to act like an imbecile is just that...an excuse.
In response to Dylan:
Thank you for expressing your enjoyment of my article, I didn't mean to sound like I was calling for an end to a rivalry, I was pointing out that rivalry can be elevated and pushed into something far different from its original intent. If the game you are reffering to was the Habs/B's game from the other night, it was a good display of rivalry without completely losing it's marbles.
My point was meant to display that this is a genuinely different team from past versions of the Bruins. These young kids don't need to be saddled and have to defend past actions like errant shoulder checks (McLaren/Zednick), sticks to the mouth (Nilan/Linesman), too many men on the ice (Cherry, 1979) or any other truly irrelevant moment that has as much to do with the present as, say, Eddie Shore almost killing Ace Bailey.
I called for a death of tradition, not the rivalry. Perhaps I could have made my intent more clear in the article but I blame tradition for instilling irrational hate from one generation to the next.
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Dylan Hegarty 5 months ago
Revo, I guess I did misinterpret your article to an extent. However, the whole article makes a lot more sense to me now that you cleared it up. Now that I know what the real meaning of your article is, I completely agree with it.
You are right that the young players on the Bruins who are just coming into the NHL shouldn't have to hear about the rivalry's past since a lot of them such as Kessel or Lucic weren't even born when incidents such as the too many men on the ice you referred to took place.
Plus, they shouldn't have to hear about the Bruins being beaten by the Canadiens in playoff series that happened long ago when last year's playoff loss is enough motivation. That would only put doubt into the minds of those young players who look to have a great shot at beating the Canadiens in a playoff series this year should one take place.
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Revo Boulanger 5 months ago
One of the editor's (the article was edited 7 times) pointed out that I could have expressed my point more clearly. After reviewing the majority of the comments regarding the article...he was probably right.
"Tradition" was the only word I thought would be usable for the point I was trying to make. "Predjudice" was a bit too inflammatory for my tastes, but probably would have helped to make my point clearer. I was just worried about it being interpreted as a U.S.A vs. French Canadian thing if I approached it that way. Since I'm both (a U.S. citizen with some F/C ancestry) any missinterpretation would have bothered me.
Hopefully I learn from this episode and can apply it to future articles.
Also, it seems that poking a finger in the eye of long held perceptions can be somewhat controversial.
But that part is kinda' cool.
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