Music to listen to:  Do Me by Bell Biv DeVoe

If there’s a playoff series that represents old school hockey its the seemingly annual matchup between the Boston Bruins and Montreal Canadians.  Both franchises have had legends of the game wear their uniforms and represent arguably the best ever in their positions.  Patrick Roy.  Bobby Orr.  Ray Bourque.  Rocket Richard.  Larry Robinson.  Cam Neely.  Toe Blake, Jacques Plante, Ken Dryden, Phil Esposito, Eddie Shore.  The list goes on forever.

What you do notice is that none of those players have suited up for either squad since the 1990’s.  Furthermore, despite this being the 33rd playoff meeting between the two squads, neither squad has even made a Stanley Cup Finals, let alone win an NHL Championship since the 1993 Montreal Canadians.

Both cities have proud traditions but in the grand scheme of things, especially in comparison with their fellow Original Six partners, Detroit has won four Stanley Cups since 1993 and the New York Rangers and Chicago Blackhawks have one Cup as well.

At least all of them can mock the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Anyway, one of these teams has the potential to break the drought and come out of the East, but which one?

Keys to the series:

1)  How will the Canadians handle Zdeno Charo?

As a Rangers fan, Charo definitely makes my top-five of most disliked current players in the NHL but the former Norris Trophy winner is a game changer.

Charo is public enemy number one in Montreal for his nasty and borderline dirty hit on Max Pacioretty that left the Canadian with a severe concussion and a neck fracture.  The lack of remorse by the Bruin has made it even worse.

The Canadians had a chance to gain their revenge in the next meeting of the two squads after the injury, even going as so far as a team to say that Charo would pay.  However, the Bruins earned a devestating 7-0 home victory in that contest in the regular season series finale.

If Charo gets comfortable in this series, Montreal is in trouble.

2)  Can the Canadians take advantage of the special teams?

Montreal is seventh in the NHL in power play percentage (19.7) and penalty kill percentage (84.4).  This will be important because the only way that the Canadians are going to hang in this series is for them to take advantage of Boston’s physical play which will result in some penalties and power play opportunities for Montreal.

3)  Can Carey Price keep up with Tim Thomas at goal?

Thomas is not only the likely winner of the Vezina Trophy (top goalkeeper) award for all of the NHL for the Bruins, there is some talk that he may even be in the running for the Hart Trophy (MVP) as well.  Unless there’s a complete implosion, goalkeeping shouldn’t be a problem for Boston.

Price has been under intense scrutiny in Montreal where anything less than a Stanley Cup is unacceptable.  However, in his fourth full season as the main goalkeeper, Price posted career-best statistics in wins, goals against average, saves and shutouts.

However, Price has struggled in the playoffs.  Despite Montreal’s upset victory over Washington in the 2010 playoffs, he lost both games he appeared in for that series.   In fact, the Canadians went 0-4 in playoff games Price played last season.  He was also 0-4 in the 2009 playoffs in Boston’s sweep over Montreal that season.   What this all means is that Price has NEVER won a playoff game in his career.

Price has had the top year of his career, but if he doesn’t have a good showing in this series, there will be many questions about his ability to be a championship-caliber goalie.

4)  Can the Bruins handle their own playoff demons?

For all of the talent that Boston has, the playoffs haven’t been rosy for the Bruins themselves.

Boston’s last Stanley Cup Finals appearance was in 1990.  I was nine when that happened, which should NEVER, EVER happen for a franchise like the Bruins.

Last season, the Bruins lost four straight contests to Philadelphia in the Conference Semifinals after being up 3-0 in the series.  This made the Bruins only the third team in NHL history to lose a playoff series after leading it 3-0.

Prediction:  Boston in six

The Bruins will be too deep and physical for the Canadians but Montreal will put up a fight and may even win a game in Boston.  However, if the Bruins dominate the Canadians in the first two games, this has the potential to be an ugly sweep.