If you’re a Canucks fan, it doesn’t take much.
2011.
That’s all you need to say to get all those flashbacks from the seven-game series against the Boston Bruins.
Perhaps as time passes, we can remember more of the good than the bad from Vancouver’s Stanley Cup run, but it still stings.
But as the Canucks prepare for a regular season game in Boston on Thursday, there’s something missing.
The hate and vitriol is gone.
First Canucks Vs Boston game today since I started dating a Bruins fan. Big relationship tester right here.
— Andy Cole (@AndyCole84) October 19, 2017
(Dating Bruins fans used to be prohibited in this province)
These two teams look drastically different 6+ years later.
Only three Canucks players in the lineup tonight were around back in 2011. Henrik and Daniel Sedin are still Canucks, and this could be their final trip to Boston. Chris Tanev is the other, though he was an AHL call-up back in 2011.
Who’s going to do the trash talking now that Ryan Kesler, Alex Burrows, and Kevin Bieksa are gone?
The Bruins have six players remaining from their Cup-winning team, though Patrice Bergeron may not play (he missed last game with an injury) and Tuukka Rask was merely a backup in 2011.
Do fans still hate Brad Marchand? You bet. But how many Canucks players have a six-year grudge with him now?
The fire from this rivalry is just a flicker now.
That’s evident in the banter from fans on Twitter.
Sure, many of them exchange memories. Others, are keeping track of ‘the series’ – it’s Game 17 by the way, series tied 8-8.
And that’s all that remains between these two teams now – the past.
The rivalry is over, and you’ll see that in the way these teams play. Canucks-Bruins is just another game… Finally.
Does June 15 still hurt? You bet it does.
But the rivalry? It’s dead.
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