The rivalry between the Boston Bruins and Montreal Canadiens has been going for years, dating back to their original six days. Every time these two organizations clash on the ice it’s personal. The Bruins and Canadiens have met over 700 times in the regular season and 31 times in the playoffs.
Decades upon decades of storied hatred has turned it into one of the most savage rivalries in all of sports. Top that off with divisional struggle, national pride along with a cultural barrier and it’s no mystery why there are always brawls in the crowd. Zdeno Chara’s hit on Max Paccioretty escalated the rivalry past the hatred inside the arena and into the realm of legal issues and cooperate boycotting.
The NHL ruled the hit as a “hockey play” and issued no fine or suspension to Chara. Normally NHL ruling is the judge, jury and executioner on these kinds of things, giving firm rule and leaving angry speculation to forums and talk radio. This time however, the Montreal community decided to take things into their own hands.
The Canadian House of Commons said it would take action if the league didn’t. On March 10th, 2011 the Montreal Police announced they would be doing an investigation on Chara’s hit, and Geoff Molson, owner of the Montreal Canadiens also spoke out saying “The news of the NHL decision yesterday was a hard blow for both the players and fans of the Montreal Canadiens. It was one which shook the faith that we, as a community, have in this sport that we hold in such high regard.” Molson also went on to say: “We understand and appreciate hockey being a physical sport, but we do not accept any violent behavior that will put the players’ health and safety at risk.”
It doesn’t end there. One of the NHL’s largest sponsors, Air Canada, threatened to pull their corporate sponsorship if something wasn’t done immediately to solve the problem.
Fans of the Montreal Canadiens have also engaged in an open protest outside of their arena as of Tuesday, March 16th. Although there is no question the hit was ugly, even those around the league are acknowledging the overblown witch-hunt of Zdeno Chara that has broken loose north of the border.
Head coach of the Washington Capitals, Bruce Boudreau, saw the protest outside the Canadiens arena when he arrived for Tuesday night’s game. “Listen, I don’t want to get into any controversy, but if that were Hal Gill who hit David Krejci, I don’t think there’d be a protest going on here today.”
“The fact that Habs fans called the police on Chara made me laugh at the top of my lungs,” Mike Payne, a student at PSU said bringing up the point that it was more of a case of bad luck and an architectural flaw in the building rather than a malicious hit.
In light of recent developments Bruins fans can only sit in disgust as members of their hated rivals’ community take “gamesmanship” to a whole new level. “If you don’t like hitting and how [things] happen in the game of hockey go curling or watch soccer,” Sophomore PSU student, Tyler Morse said about the reactions to Chara’s hit.
“They are classless acts,” Payne said about Canadiens fans, “the year they booed the American National Anthem at the Belle Center during the playoffs I think they all should have been shot for that.”
So what’s a Bruins fan to do? Many have brought up the suggestion of refusing to drink any beer under Molson, to spite the Canadiens organization. To the average Bruins fan, drinking Molson is a sacrilege, a betrayal to your team and the equivalent of crossing a picket line.
Pat Kearns, a Bruins super fan known widely as Big Scary Man Guy for his shield and Viking helmet at Bruins games and legendary sound bite on The Sports Hub, feels drinking products associated with Molson makes you more like the Canadiens, “which makes you more likely to cry, wet the bed, be more likely to fail, be stupid and above all else suck!”
With gorgeous weather and spring fling on the horizon, it’s safe to say that many residents over the age of twenty-one will be enjoying a drink or two. But if you’re one of the many sporting the black and gold around campus, be sure you know where your beer money’s going to.