It is always difficult to compare eras, no matter the sport. The game changes, the rules too. Hockey is no exception, whether it is a question of individual or collective records. Times have changed and the arrival of overtime and shootouts has inevitably increased the number of points and victories.
On this Thursday morning at the Bell Center, Jim Montgomery did not want to get bogged down in details. His Bruins broke the season record of 62 wins in a season and they just set the one for points. They have 133, one more than the 1976-77 Canadiens, a team the Montreal head coach idolized.
For a long time, this golden edition of the CH had also held the record for victories (60), a mark beaten three times since. But the figure remains symbolic.
“It’s amazing,” Montgomery said during his team’s optional practice for the duel against the Habs. I was 7 years old when the Canadian made this record. They almost did it three years in a row. When I think of Bob Gainey, Larry Robinson, Steve Shutt, Guy Lafleur, Jacques Lemaire, Serge Savard, Guy Lapointe, Ken Dryden, Réjean Houle, Yvon Lambert, it’s incredible. They are my idols. »
A colleague then took the ball and asked the former Patriotes du Cégep de Saint-Laurent who was Patrice Bergeron among this string of legends. “It’s Jacques Lemaire and Bob Gainey together,” he replied.
Made aware of the comparison, Bergeron reacted as the one that all parents would want for a son-in-law. “I don’t want to age Mr. Lemaire and Mr. Gainey, but I haven’t had the chance to see them play in person. I’ll take that as a compliment, a big compliment. I know very well that they had a big impact in Montreal. »
Speaking of breaking records, Bergeron broke Gainey’s record of four Selke Trophies last year, and he’s in an advantageous position to win a sixth this season.
What keeps us talking about the Canadiens of the late 1970s is because he won the Stanley Cup. Four times rather than one. At the same time, the Bruins had some of the best seasons in their history, but suffered several heartbreaking eliminations after their 1972 conquest.
“The challenge is to stay in the moment. It’s appreciating what you’re doing, but realizing there’s still a lot of work to do and taking it one game at a time. It’s cliché, but that’s been our approach since the start of the season,” summarized Bergeron.
The Bruins will present an almost complete formation on Thursday evening, even if the result of the match will have no impact on their classification. Goalkeeper Linus Ullmark and center David Krejci are the only veterans who will not don the uniform.
At this time last year, the Panthers landed at the Bell Center in similar circumstances, assured of 1st place overall. But for their 82nd game of the season, they left out nine veterans, including Aleksander Barkov, Jonathan Huberdeau and Claude Giroux. The Panthers then struggled through the first round, before being swept away in the next round.
The idea is not to make a causal link here. But the Bruins will opt for a different approach on Thursday.
“Injuries happen,” Montgomery agreed. But this is preparation for the playoffs. We want the first two lines to play about 18 minutes, the third line to play. It is important that you play the minutes you will play next week. »
“As the playoffs approach, the best way to prepare is to play games,” Bergeron said. We’ve had a bit of that lately, and I was one of the players who missed games to take care of little things. The players who play, they are ready and feel good. The transition will be quite fast for the playoffs, you have to stay ready and “sharp”. »
According to information circulating in Boston, the Bruins will indeed start the playoffs on Monday.
Bergeron remained vague when asked if Thursday’s game would be his last at the Bell Centre. He will be 38 this summer. “It’s always hard to know. I stayed in the present moment all year and I’m still here. It is not impossible. I don’t even want to think about that because there’s too much work ahead of me. As you get older, you realize there are fewer games ahead of you than behind you, and that’s even more true at 37. »
The Canadiens did not hold a morning workout the day after their loss in Long Island. Only Kirby Dach put on the skates. The striker wore a tinted visor, which is sometimes seen in players recovering from concussions.
