Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Sunday, April 10, 2011
The Most Wonderful Time of the Year
The Red Sox play the rubber game of a set with the Yankees tonight. The Celtics battle the Miami Heat for playoff position, all the while preparing for a matchup with what will be either the Sixers or the Knicks in round one. And the Bruins travel to New Jersey for their regular season finale, a meaningless game that serves as their final tune-up before the ever-hyped matchup this week in the opening round against the hated Montreal Canadiens. Now we just need the Patriots to scrimmage the Jets and it would literally a Masshole's fantasy month.
The C's still have a few games left (and the Sox have more than a few left), so I'm focusing on the B's and the Habs right now. Some will say it's the greatest rivalry in sports. Being a hockey fan and a huge Bruins fan, I have a natural bias toward the affirmative on that issue. But what you cannot argue with is the fact that it is absolute insanity when these teams meet -- this season more than any in recent history. In the past three games these teams have played, let me remind you how things went.
On February 9th at the TD Garden, the Bruins topped the Habs in an 8-6 bull fight that featured 182 penalty minutes and all-out brawls. Typical bad blood between the black and gold and bleu blanc rouge. In a carry-over effect on March 8th at the Bell Centre in Montreal, the Habs beat the B's 4-1. More significantly, though, that marked the game during which Zdeno Chara blasted Max Pacioretty into the stanchion and sparking a Montreal police investigation. Police investigation? It was ridiculous. But in the finale of their season series, the B's blasted the Habs back at the Garden by a 7-0 tally on March 24th. It's been the ultimate roller coaster, and it will be the ultimate matchup dropping the puck in just a few days.
It is the most wonderful time of the year. Will we finally see the expectations surpassed?
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