The first in a series of blogs reviewing some of my favourite moments from the just-completed 2010-11 National Hockey League season:
Was this the most epic game of the 2010-11 regular season? I watched plenty of hockey this year, more than in any other season that I can remember, and I didn't see any other game that had so much drama as this one at TD Garden in early February. The hometown Bruins took on their most hated rivals, the Montreal Canadiens for the 709th time in regular season history, and it was a night worthy of history, a night where blood boiled, red lights flashed on with frequency and there were so many announcements to make, the PA voice should've been paid double overtime wages.
The game ended as an 8-6 Boston win on a night that no one in TD Garden or watching on NESN, TSN or Versus will ever forget. The important numbers: 14 goals on 67 shots, 48 solid hits and a whopping 182 penalty minutes.
It was the penalty minutes that surprised the most. When the game was 2-0 Boston at the end of the first period, no one could possibly have beleived the way the final forty minutes would play out. There's always plenty of emnity when these two long-time rivals get together, but nothing quite like this night's events had occured in many years.
A wild span of 6:19 in the second period saw a whopping 7 goals scored - 4 by the Bruins and 3 by the Canadiens - and, during that time, amidst a rash of pushing and shoving, the two goalies, Tim Thomas for the Bruins and Carey Price for the Canadiens got into what turned out to be a pretty weak fight. No serious punches were thrown, and it was the Montreal netminder who got on top, getting Thomas to the ice rather quickly. Despite the fact that there weren't any real blows traded, both goalies, who were pulled apart smiling, were assessed five minute majors for fighting.
Yup, the middle frame had it all. Everyone had scores to settle. It seemed like half a dozen Bruins were looking to smack PK Subban in the face (can't say I blame them) and there were a few Canadiens apparently with a death wish, going after the long arms and long reach of big Zdeno Chara. I guess everyone's gotta go somehow, right?
Even the crowd got carried away bt the internationally-flavoured rivalry, repeatedly belting out the "USA! USA! USA!" chant, despite the fact that the Boston roster has more Canadians than American. But what the hell, it was just great to see fans so engaged. Hockey is back in a big way in Boston.
Then came the real craziness of the game. It was with 0:44 seconds to go, when the score was 8-5 Boston, that Travis Moen of Montreal took exception to a questionable stick from Boston's Andrew Ference on Tomáš Plekanec. He went over to sort things out and that was when the fun really started. Here it is, from the NESN point of view, featuring play-by-play - or is that punch-by-punch? - from the very crazy (but wildly entertaining) Jack Edwards.
Insane!! The Canadiens were so out-matched in that one. Especially poor out Pyatt, who found out that Gregory Campbell is no slouch when it comes to using his fists. And, as Jack said, Boychuck did indeed make a mess of Spacek's face. It was old-time hockey at it's best. It rained goals and fights, there was some surprisingly good goaltending (despite it being an 8-6 game) and an amped up crowd to celebrate a great rivalry.
If this was your first game of hockey, surely you'd be a fan for life!!!
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