Let's Get It On.

Admit it: you were hoping this would happen.

A year ago, when the Bruins fell one game short of a miracle...

Back in November, when they broke an interminable regular-season losing streak...

When Blake Wheeler spoiled Patrick Roy Night...

When Lucic/Komisarek got personal, and then got even MORE personal...

Last week, when the Habs used a charity point to open the back door....

... you were hoping this would happen. Because it's the only right ending for this saga. Scores need to be settled. Legends need to be written. And at the end, a lot of hearts are going to be broken.

Whether either fanbase admits it or not, both were pumped about this series before it was even official. The Habs have one last shot at redemption after one of the most trying seasons in their history. The Bruins have a shot at redemption for the past 3 playoff seasons. Both teams will face an offseason of being raked through the coals if they fail.

With the Game 1 still half a week in the making, the opening salvos are already being fired.

• It started some time after the last game, when I questioned the character of a Canadiens franchise that has made a habit of bending the rules to try and steal victories.


• A certain Habs blogger took the criticism to heart, and responded by calling Bruins fans "cocky". Of course, he had spent the previous week launching no fewer than five taunts in the Bruins' direction. It involved monkeys and toilet paper. Winters are long in Montreal.


• Laughably, what began as a bunch of trash-talking at Four Habs Fans quickly degenerated into Habs fans speculating that either Jacques Lemaire, Denis Savard or Patrick Roy will be their next coach.


• That's when it started in earnest over at Habs Inside Out. The chest-thumping sounds a little too loud from a fanbase clearly insecure in its identity and not entirely confident about their prospects in this series.


• Stanley Cup of Chowder jumps into the fray with a gentle tweak of Quebec stereotypes, followed by some bad advice about staying "classy". I disagree; we should definitely burn some cop cars if we manage to dispatch of the Habs in 7 games or fewer.


• In a well-written and eerily convincing farce, All Habs says that Price will have to be "consistently very good" in order to win this series. For the first time ever, a Google search of the phrase "Carey Price" and the word "consistent" will now return a result.

We wanted it, now we've got it. Thursday can't come fast enough.