necdotal and biased? Yes, yes it is. But ane

Richard RiotOn March 13th, 1955 Maurice "Rocket" Richard was high-sticked in the face and cut for five stitches by Bruins defenceman Hal Laycoe. In the ensuing melee, Richard smashed Laycoe in the face with his stick, knocked out a linesman, and narrowly avoided being arrested by the Boston police. Or whats known in NHL circles as "hockey." Commissioner Clarence Campbell suspended Richard for the duration of the season and playoffs, which enraged the entitled Canadiens fan base. When Campbell attended the next Habs home game, the fans pelted him with eggs, vegetables, and other inexplicably handy detritus. A tear gas bomb was set off in the Forum to diffuse the situation, and the building was evacuated. What followed was a riot that engulfed the neighbourhood around the Forum, injuring over 40 policemen and civilians, resulting in $500000 ($4.5 million in 2014 dollars) in damages and dozens of arrests. The chaos lasted until 3am, interestingly also closing time for Montreal bars. The riot has taken on a mythology typical of Quebecs relationship with hockey. Many cite the Anglophone suspension of a Francophone player as a contributing factor in the Quiet Revolution of the 1960s. Others simply argue it gives Montrealers an excuse to set fire to stuff after hockey games. Ken Dryden Ken Dryden was drafted 14th overall in 1964 by the Bruins. Later in the day, he was traded to the Habs with Alex Campbell for Paul Reid and Guy Allen. Campbell, Reid, and Allen eventually combined to play zero NHL games, while Dryden would go on to get a BA from Cornell, win six Stanley Cups, get a law degree from McGill, win five Vezinas and a Conn Smythe, write a best-selling book, and be generally considered the best goalie of his generation while contributing to the Habs dominance over the Bruins and the league during that era. So lopsided was the trade that Dryden was unaware of it until the mid-70s. Reid didnt find out until 2002, and that discovery was predicated on the invention of the Internet. Too Many MenThe Bruins-Habs rivalry would reach its heights the 1970s, making it the most enduring and compelling matchup in sports, and creating the template for the hate that exists between the two teams today. Bobby Orr, arguably the best player of his generation, led the Bruins of the era while the Habs were the epitome of what a franchise should be, the crown jewel of the league led by coach Scotty Bowman. No moment would better represent the rivalry than the infamous too many men penalty taken by the Bruins in the 1979 semi-finals. Don Cherry, coaching the Bruins, could never quite get past his counterpart Bowmans Habs, having lost in the finals in 77 and 78. During seventh and deciding game, and having just taken the lead on a Rick Middleton goal, the Bruins were assessed a too many men on the ice penalty. Guy Lafleur would tie the game on the ensuing power play and Yvon Lambert would score in OT to send the Bruins home. Cherry would ultimately lose his job, and eventually end up on Hockey Night in Canada where he would perpetuate the rivalry with his Boston bias, intense hatred of the Habs, and inability to pronounce Francophone surnames. The Canadiens would go on to sweep the Rangers in the Cup final. Though the rivalry would continue, the 80s and 90s were marked mostly with brawls and only two Cups for the Habs.PedroThe Boston-Montreal rivalry extends beyond hockey, and nowhere is this more apparent than in the Pedro Martinez trade from the Montreal Expos to the Boston Red Sox in 1997, which would ultimately signal the end of days for the Expos. Montreal, having already endured the nightmare of a cancelled 1994 season where they were the most dominant team in baseball, and the sell-off or loss of players such as Larry Walker, Marquis Grissom, and Ken Hill, were struggling to maintain relevancy and a fan base. General manager Dan Duquette (the architect of the 94 team) and a native Massachusite, left to become GM of the Red Sox in 1994, and three years later robbed his former team in acquiring Martinez, the premiere pitcher of his generation and in his prime, for Carl Pavano, Tony Armas Jr., and a box of Kleenex. Martinez would go on to be a Sox mainstay and win a World Series in 2004, the same year the Spos left Montreal for Washington. BrosThe drinking age in Massachusetts is 21. The drinking age in Montreal is 18. Kind of. I mean, if you can make your way to a bar in Montreal, youre going to get served. Babies can be seen in sipping from shot glasses. Sweet 16s are held in bars. Its a fun city, the bars are open late, and there are strip clubs everywhere. There are 58 post-secondary institutions in the Boston area. Its a six-hour drive from Boston to Montreal. A forty dollar bus trip. The result? A wealth of bros infiltrating Montreal, a city they hate, to indulge in the citys offerings. Summer nights are marred by puking frat boys, eight to a hotel room, loitering Crescent Street, hitting on unimpressed locals, polluting the air with Boston slang and unearned bravado.So many tucked-in golf shirts. So many Red Sox hats. So many goatees. So many pre-ripped jeans. So many gold crosses on necklaces. So many diamond studs. Its like an Abercrombie ad got a Coors Light ad pregnant at Maroon 5 concert at Fenway and gave birth to an army of bros. Montrealers hate it, yet endure it. It fuels the fire.The Pacioretty Incident and the 2011 Playoffs On March 8th, 2011, while skating down the boards, Habs winger Max Pacioretty was checked into the metal upright that ends the glass by Bruins defenceman Zdeno Chara. The hit, even to the most strident of Bruins supporters, could at best be called gruesome. Pacioretty suffered a severe concussion and a fractured vertebra. Chara received no supplemental discipline, leading to Habs fan outrage and a Montreal police investigation. [Sidebar: You know you have a good rivalry when the police get involved on a regular basis.] Bruins winger Mark Recchi (a former Canadien) openly questioned the severity of Paciorettys injury, despite Recchis inability to complete medical school. The incident provided additional animus for the first round playoff meeting between the teams. Recchi, still not a medical professional, did not relent in his comments. The series went a thrilling seven games, with the Habs P.K. Subban tying game seven late and forcing overtime. Early in OT, the Bruins Nathan Horton scored to win the series. Boston would go on to win the Stanley Cup for the first time since 1972, devastating Habs fans.Pacioretty would recover to become the Habs most prolific goal scorer in twenty years. Mark Recchi would retire after the Cup win, and as of yet is still not a licensed practitioner of medicine.P.K. SubbanHabs and Bruins fans like nothing more (other than victories and Cups) than booing each others players. No more has this been more evident in the current incarnation of the rivalry than in the Bruins disaffection for Habs defenceman Pernell Karl Subban. It seems to be more venomous and vitriolic than hatred of the past, more angry and intense than the booing that Subban gets in nearly every other arena he visits, except the Bell Centre. Id like to write that it isnt racism, but its totally racism. Is my argument anecdotal and biased? Yes, yes it is. But anecdote and bias are the backbone of sports journalism, so Im going to argue that the most contentious of entities in the contemporary Boston-Montreal rivalry is Bruins fans intense and racially motivated hatred of the most dynamic defenceman to lace up Bauers since, well, Bobby Orr. The series will be a bloodbath, no doubt, and add to the legacy of its legend. Boston fans: Please direct your hatred to @mdspry on Twitter. Habs fans: Dont set fire to stuff. Shin-Soo Choo Jersey . -- James Harden scored 31 points, including 25 in the second half, and the Houston Rockets dug out of a double-digit, first-half hole to beat the Orlando Magic 101-89 on Wednesday night. Martin Perez Jersey . Bozak and Clarkson suffered the injuries in pre-training camp workouts, according to Carlyle, who said they made "small amounts of improvement" from Friday to Saturday. After the players were deemed less than 100 per cent by doctors after Thursdays medical testing, the Leafs held them out of on-ice testing and are being cautious. http://www.officialrangersgearshop.com/R...ds-Kids-Jersey/. Chris Johnson singled with two outs off left-hander Jerry Blevins (1-1), and Schafer pinch ran. With a 2-2 count, Schafer ran on the pitch and Upton dropped a single in front of Bryce Harper. Schafer already was rounding third when Schafer bobbled the ball. Robinson Chirinos Jersey . This has become the Raptors mantra as they embark on a new era with a new regime and, in the not-so-distant future, a new image. Nolan Ryan Jersey . Eller scored the midway through the third period after Dallas scored twice to tie it, leading Canadiens to a 6-4 win over the Stars on Thursday night. SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Canada played to expectation up until halftime. After that the game belonged to the upstart Americans. Brett Thompson scored a try in the 68th minute and Chris Wyles got a successful conversion to lead the United States to a 38-35 comeback win over Canada on Saturday in a Pacific Nations Cup mens rugby match at Bonney Field. It was the first time the U.S. had beaten Canada since 2009. Canada, which led by 10 at halftime, tried in desperation to get a try in the last two minutes of the contest, but the U.S. defence met them at every turn. "I think we were doing well up until then, but then we started playing poorly," said Canadas coach Kiernan Crowley. "We didnt make any tackles and you cant afford to do that and we cant afford to give away the amount of penalties that we gave away. It was just a pretty poor performance by us." Harry Jones led Canada with two tries, while Aaron Carpenter, James Pritchard and Ciaran Hearn each scored one. Pritchard added four conversions. Blaine Scully led the Americans with two tries. Danny Barrett, Wyles and Thompson scored the others. The U.S. made three conversions and Wyles had four off of penalties. The U.S. jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the first half with a penalty kick from Wyles, and he added another moments later to make it 6-0 when Canadian scrum half Phil Mack was issued a yellow card. But Canada came back to lead 7-6 on a try from Jones and a coonversion from Pritchard.dddddddddddd Canada scored twice before the end of the first half and led with a 28-18 margin. Carpenter drove over the line with a powerful pick-and-go to bring the game to 18-14 before Pritchard dove on a DTH van der Merwe chip kick for Canadas second score before halftime. "They were scoring off our mistakes," said U.S. centre Folau Niua. "They attacked us really well on turnovers. But what I like is that we didnt panic. Our captain gave us a few words and that was to play together." Canada picked up where it left off, striking early on Jones second try of the night for a 35-18 lead at the 43rd minute of the second half. The Americans mounted their comeback by scoring the next 10 points before retaking the lead. Both teams played with intensity around the goal-line in the last two minutes of the match. But it was the U.S. defence that conquered the moment, which ended with Scully recovering a turnover and Niua kicking the ball out of play to end Canadas effort. "We werent clinical enough, its as simple as that," said Pritchard. "We gave away too much ball, werent strong in the tackle areas and our tackling was weak. There was a second-place finish in the PNC up-for-grabs and there were times throughout the game that we could have put them away and in front of their home crowd they fought back." Attendance at Bonney Field was sold out at 7,804 spectators. ' ' '