Are the Bruins now the Leafs biggest rival?

[Tuna Tatarrrrrr]

The 1980s called, they want their rivalry back.

More 1970s but you should probably know this poster is right as a Bruins fan.

 

[Dr Pepper]

If the Bruins take out the Leafs in the first round in game 7 again... damn.

Third straight Game 7 in their own barn, too.

It's almost as if home ice means a lot in this series.

Now, again, Toronto COULD pull off the upset tomorrow and flip the narrative, but right now the odds are overwhelmingly in Boston's favour given the history involved and relative momentum.

 

[Derp Kassian]

Not necessarily. Habs vs Bruins is the most lopsided rivalry in the history of sport. We've been their boss for a century. They still called it a rivalry. Rivalry is just hate on ice, imo. But I guess in todays NHL it might mean playing each other a lot with a strong desire to beat the other team.

Is this an opportunity to puff your chest about 24 cups? Lmao. The Bruins and Habs have had many battles from 70’s and on and it’s been mostly back and forth in the last two decades.

 

[jgatie]

Is this an opportunity to puff your chest about 24 cups? Lmao. The Bruins and Habs have had many battles from 70’s and on and it’s been mostly back and forth in the last two decades.

Make that "24 Cups (at least 23 of which were won before I was born)!"

 

[Mickey Marner]

Yeah, probably. But this "rivalry" exists mostly in print and keystrokes. The Leafs have all of two players who played in all three series. One of whom is Kadri, who's spent 1/3 of these games in the pressbox and the other is Gardiner. The 2013 Leafs were the Phaneuf/Kessel era and bear no resemblance to the current squad.

 

[Brobust]

There has to be a back and forth for it to be a rivalry.

As of now, the Bruins are the bully and the leafs are the utterly incompetent losers.

No rivalry.

 

[HuGo Sham]

Well what I'm saying is the Habs biggest rival is not the Bruins, it's the Leafs. Bruins are second for both Canadian Original Six teams if anything.

sorry, you're wrong. habs haven't had a playoff series vs leafs since when? 1979?

 

[Tuna Tatarrrrrr]

Make that "24 Cups (at least 23 of which were won before I was born)!"

LOL, plenty of us (Habs fans) have seen the 86 Cup and there are a lot of Habs fans especially on the History of Hockey Board who are old enough to have seen some of the 70's Cup wins but since you're a Bruins fan, I understand why you're salty about that.

 

[jgatie]

LOL, plenty of us (Habs fans) have seen the 86 Cup and there are a lot of Habs fans especially on the History of Hockey Board who are old enough to have seen some of the 70's Cup wins but since you're a Bruins fan, I understand why you're salty about that.

Why would I be salty about 26 years since the last Habs Cup?

 

[Tuna Tatarrrrrr]

Why would I be salty about 26 years since the last Habs Cup?

Maybe because how often the Habs always beat the Bruins through the history and we have 24 Stanley Cups vs only 6.

 

[jgatie]

Maybe because how often the Habs always beat the Bruins through the history and we have 24 Stanley Cups vs only 6.

You're only as good as your last championship, and being a Bostonian, we usually aren't 1 or 2 years between them. So with 12 in the last 20 years, there's no way I'm salty about 26 won over a quarter century ago.

 

[Tuna Tatarrrrrr]

You're only as good as your last championship, and being a Bostonian, we usually aren't 1 or 2 years between them. So with 12 in the last 20 years, there's no way I'm salty about 26 won over a quarter century ago.

LOL, sure... This is the only argument every fans of other teams have against the Habs.

Who cares about other sports, I was only talking about hockey because we don't have an NFL, MLB and NBA team here. You're so insecure that you had to bring other sport championships here.

 

[nobody]

Never would I have expected a pissing war between leafs/ Bruins fans would turn into a pissing match between a hab fan and a Bruins fan.

 

[jgatie]

LOL, sure... This is the only argument every fans of other teams have against the Habs.

Who cares about other sports, I was only talking about hockey because we don't have an NFL, MLB and NBA team here. You're so insecure that you had to bring other sport championships here.

Keep watching those grainy YouTube videos.

 

[vanarchy]

If the format stays the same, there will no doubt be a legitimate rivalry. It reminds me of the Canucks battling the Hawks for many years, faltering each time until finally overcoming them and going very deep.

The same thing could happen with the Leafs. It would be a cool story.

 

[Tuna Tatarrrrrr]

Keep watching those grainy YouTube videos.

Keep dreaming about to catch the Habs someday.

 

[jgatie]

Keep dreaming about to catch the Habs someday.

No chance of catching them in most Cups won more than a quarter century ago, so I'll pass.

 

[Tuna Tatarrrrrr]

No chance of catching them in most Cups won more than a quarter century ago, so I'll pass.

It can be unfair for every teams who are not among the original 6. But they have still won the most Cups since the first expansion though and as an O6 team, the Bruins have no excuses. 10 Cups for the Habs and only 3 for the Bruins.

 

[Rhaegar Targaryen]

Well, they’re completely in the team and fanbases head at this point

 

[Maestro84]

It can be unfair for every teams who are not among the original 6. But they have still won the most Cups since the first expansion though and as an O6 team, the Bruins have no excuses. 10 Cups for the Habs and only 3 for the Bruins.

Yea even if we only include the post-expansion era (which is a more accurate assessment when comparing teams across the league), the Habs still have the most cups, finals appearances and other awards. The Bruins are probably still a top 5 post-expansion team though

 

[JJ68]

Make that "24 Cups (at least 23 of which were won before I was born)!"

I've seen 2. The fact is peeps were talking about teams needing to win now and then against another team for it to be a proper rivalry. I stated that wasnt the case because well...we made a history of kicking the B's asses but even in those first 50 years they still called it a rivalry. Rivals hate each other. It doesnt matter if one gets their ass kicked all the time or not.

 

[Dirty Dan]

Yup, the sens always get clapped and the sabres are lame now

Leafs Bruins series is a series of annihilation for the leafs. they must win this series and anything that happens after is a bonus for this season

 

[Michel Beauchamp]

Habs haven't been our biggest rival in decades. Its Boston clearly.

As I posted in a different thread, your biggest rival is and remain the team that was your team's biggest rival when you were in your teens.

So for me, it's Toronto and Detroit (born in 1949).

 

[Michel Beauchamp]

It's always a generational discussion when you're talking about multiple teams and there's an obvious recency bias as this is a current rival. The way a fan sees their biggest rival most often is likely to be linked to who they hated the most when they were growing up with the team and/or who they met most often in the playoffs.

Amazing !

You posted this 4-5 posts after the post I quoted and where I basically expressed an identical sentiment.

But with a very good Barolo/Barbaresco/Châteauneuf/Taurasi.

PS: For those who like wine and have never tried Taurasi (from Campania), go and buy some.

 

[Michel Beauchamp]

Rivalries go through peaks and valley's.

Right now it's Boston as #1. From 05-12, it's pretty hard to have a top rival, as we sucked. I suppose Buffalo? Then it was a mix of Ottawa, New Jersey, Philly and Montreal. Then we get into the weird part where the Leafs were in the Western Conference lmao

So yeah, Boston and Toronto I would argue are each other's top rival currently. Next year, that could start to change.

But you have to know that it would only take one series for the Montréal/Toronto rivalry to be rekindled to its highest degree.