Marco Sturm didn’t need long to identify the rivalry that still sits at the top of the list.
As the Bruins prepare to meet the Canadiens on Thursday night at TD Garden, Sturm made it plain that Montreal remains the one that matters most to him. That carries extra weight coming from a coach who lived the rivalry as a player in Boston, from the time he was traded for Joe Thornton through the 2009-10 season.
“I actually just got a question from a friend of mine yesterday: ‘What’s your biggest rivalry?’ I said, ‘It’s still Montreal, for sure.
Not even close.’ I had great games, great history [in] games versus them, regular season,…”
That answer fits the way Bruins-Canadiens has always worked. The rivalry never disappeared, but it lost some of its edge when Montreal spent years out of the picture.
It’s harder to burn hot when one side is chasing lottery odds. Now the Canadiens are back in the mix after reaching last season’s Eastern Conference Final, and they’re going toe-to-toe with Boston for first place in the Atlantic Division.
That’s why this one feels bigger than the usual regular-season meeting. The rivalry got a little spark again last season when both teams were fighting for playoff position, but there was still uncertainty around where the Bruins were headed and whether Montreal had truly arrived as a Stanley Cup contender.
This season, that doubt is gone. Both teams have real momentum, and the matchup has the kind of bite that has been missing for a while.
The individual battles give it even more juice. Jeremy Swayman against Jacob Fowler should be a fun one for years.
David Pastrnak and Cole Caufield could trade goals the way only elite scorers can. Charlie McAvoy and Lane Hutson bring an intriguing defenseman-to-defenseman wrinkle, even if they do it in different styles.
And while James Hagens and Ivan Demidov won’t be in the lineup Thursday, even their absence doesn’t erase the sense that this rivalry has young stars on both sides ready to shape it for a long time.
If Boston fans can stomach it, a playoff series between these teams would be exactly the kind of theatre the league has been missing for more than a decade.
In Other News...
Patrice Bergerons Hall Of Fame Honor Reopened A Bruins Debate
Patrice Bergerons Hockey Hall of Fame induction was always going to stir up a little nostalgia in Boston, but it also reopened one of the franchises favorite arguments: where does he belong in the Bruins all-time hierarchy? After 19 seasons in black and gold, Bergeron left behind a resume that includes 1,040 points and a reputation for two-way excellence that made him one of the defining players of his era.
Boston.com readers were quick to weigh in on the debate, and the responses showed just how hard it is to separate Bergeron from the names that came before him. The conversation centered on whether his combination of longevity, leadership and elite play puts him near the very top of the list, a discussion that says as much about Bruins history as it does about Bergeron himself. [Read more 🡒]
Bruins May Have Found More Than A Fill-In For James Hagens
With James Hagens landing on injured reserve, the Bruins turned to Mikey Eyssimont for a short-term answer and got an immediate one. Boston recalled him from Providence with the kind of need that usually creates a temporary lineup patch, but head coach Marco Sturm pointed to Eyssimonts flexibility as a major reason for the move, the sort of trait that can keep a player in the conversation even after the injured regular is back.
Eyssimont wasted little time making the call-up look worthwhile, scoring shortly after joining the lineup and giving Boston a useful jolt in a spot that suddenly needed one. The bigger question now is whether that quick impact turns into something more lasting while Hagens is out, especially with Eyssimont expected to keep a top-six role in the meantime. [Read more 🡒]
Bruins Face A Trade Deadline Dilemma On High-End Young Talent
The Bruins have put themselves in position to be active ahead of the trade deadline, with cap space and enough trade chips to make them a real player if they decide to chase high-end help. Around the league, several names are already floating into the conversation, from Dylan Larkin and Matvei Michkov to Nikita Kucherov, and Boston is doing what any contender should do at this stage: watching closely and weighing whether the market might open in a way that fits.
One of the more intriguing situations involves Simon Edvinsson in Detroit, where interim GM Shawn Horcoff has acknowledged taking calls as contract uncertainty lingers. For Boston, the appeal is obvious because young, premium talent rarely becomes available, but the cost would be steep enough to force a hard internal debate about which of its own young pieces it would be willing to move. And if the Bruins decide to press on one of these bigger swings, the real question may not be whether the player is available, but how much of the future they are willing to sacrifice to get him. [Read more 🡒]