When Will These Top “Reg” Teams Learn?! Florida Ousts The Top Ranked, Record Breaking Bruins

Already, in a far bigger upset, (one is basketball, the other hockey), Miami had say 9 to 1’d top ranked Milwaukee, and ode to “The Spinners” “Games People Play,” memories did NOT get in the way, all year as the Bruins, I say foolishly, kept winning.

I posted here and will have “mucho” in the way of notes in the days ahead, but for now, the sad Bruins’ song is that Florida overcame a (3-1) series deficit, twice fought back to tie from 3rd period, one goal deficits in #6 and then dramatically got the tying goal from Brandon Montour with a minute left in “reg,” and then advanced on Carter Verhaeghe’s overtime goal.

Montour had “opened,” the Panthers led (2-0) before Boston, which had 65 wins and 135 points, each the most in a season, rallied to lead (3-2).

However, after “Fla” coach, Paul Maurice (he guided Winnipeg over top ranked/President’s Trophy winning Nashville in the 2018 “quarters”) pulled netminder Sergei Borbovsky–he was on the Columbus Blue Jackets team that swept and eased vs a Tampa Bay Lightning team that had almost as great a regular season as the 2022-2023 Bruins.

Again what for?

Perspective in one case is that the Lightning came back to win 2 straight crowns and make 3 consecutive final round appearances.

A better example is the loss by the Bruins, which evokes one they suffered in #7 of a “quarter,” on a Sunday afternoon at home vs Montreal and Ken Dryden in their first series, after greats like Bobby Orr, Phil Esposito and others, shattered individual records in ’71, took place on the exact 51 year anniversary of their (6-5) game 1 final round triumph vs the New York Rangers.

Those Bruins who won that Sunday afternoon and a first Cup in 29 years on one 2 years earlier, went on to title.

In that opening game, Boston dissipated a (5-1) lead before Garnet “Ace” Bailey took a pass from Mike “Shaky” Walton (Michael Waldman, a hockey fan then had died in the past few years), and scored the winning goal.

More or less, the same 29 years passed and on September 11, 2001–Bailey was killed, having been a passenger on one of the planes forced into a building.

Seemingly, only I recall all of that, but even aware of it, I lack the perspective– maybe not as much as most, that this sports stuff, even when both winter sports’ top ranked teams are out in the round of 16 (had it ever happened, you do the research and let me know and I will cite you here),  with one a record breaking team, it really means so little.

 

Garnet “Ace” Bailey scored the winning goal for the eventual champion Boston Bruins in game 1 of the 1972 NHL final.