CLAUDE’S MOVE TO ENEMY SETS HUB UP FOR MISERY
Babe Ruth started the rush nearly 100 years ago.
Others followed, great and small.
Wade Boggs. Roger Clemens. Adam Vinatieri. Johnny Damon. Ray Bourque. Mike Haynes. Jim Plunkett. Theo Epstein. Bill Ranford. Sam Gash.
Yes, we know there are more.
They are all sporting types who left Boston under varied circumstances and would win championships in New York, Indianapolis, Colorado, Chicago and elsewhere.
Will Montreal Canadiens coach Claude Julien be next? Julien, the winningest Bruins head coach of all time when he was fired last week, replaced Michel Therrien as coach of the Habs yesterday. Julien replaced Therrien as Canadiens’ coach 14 years ago, as well.
When former Boston athletes, coaches or executive types win a crown out of town, it often brings anguish, anger and plenty of cursing, if not curses.
The Yankees built a temple for Ruth and won a bushel of championships.
Roger Clemens never won the big one in Boston, but he juiced up the Yankees’ rotation during their title flood of the late 20th century.
Wade Boggs rode a (expletive) horse after he clinched a World Series ring in the Bronx in 1996.
Vinatieri’s golden foot helped trigger the Patriots’ 21st century empire and provided the margin of victory in three Super Bowls. He helped Peyton Manning and the hated Colts prevail in Super Bowl XLI, yet was inexplicably booed on more than one occasion in Foxboro.
Hate doesn’t always flow when those “why don’t we have guys like that” types won titles.
Red Sox fans combined admiration and exasperation watching Theo deliver salvation to millions of Cubs fans five years after he was exiled from Boston. Jon Lester, David Ross, John Lackey and (ex-Red Sox minor-leaguer) Anthony Rizzo were cheered, as well.
There were bittersweet smiles across the faces of old-time Patriots loyalists — myself included — when Jim Plunkett and the Raiders flattened Philadelphia in Super Bowl XV. The smirks returned three years later when Haynes and the Raiders whupped the Redskins.
In those days, the only Patriots who ever won Super Bowls were ex-Patriots.
Ray Bourque gained his lone NHL championship with the Avalanche in 2001. Boston was so thirsty for a celebration at that time that Bourque brought the Stanley Cup to City Hall Plaza and about 15,000 showed up to savor the moment.
Julien will not be getting a rally at City Hall Plaza if he guides the Canadiens to another Cup. Nor will any success in Montreal ever be met with any smiles by the Bruins or their fans.
Montreal remains the Holy See of Hockey’s Evil Empire.
There are no more scheduled games between the Bruins and the Canadiens this regular season. The “slumping” Canadiens remain in first place in the Atlantic Division. The Bruins are tied for third, six points back. These teams could meet in the playoffs if the Bruins make it that far. Montreal remains much stronger positioned to be playing after Patriots Day than Boston.
The Bruins were frozen in place most of this season and needed a change. They haven’t lost since Julien got the boot in a move announced three hours before the Patriots’ Duck Boat parade.
The hockey insider types tell me a similar situation exists in Montreal. The once red-hot but now stagnant Canadiens, too, will be re-energized by Julien’s presence.
That Julien could energize anything seems a reach given his sullen coaching demeanor and propensity to play front-line stars as much as fourth-line scrubs.
But goalie Carey Price is no Tuukka Rask, and that’s a good thing as far as Montreal is concerned.
Oh, and let’s kill the whole “should fans boo Julien when the Canadiens come to Boston” discussion months before it happens. Boston fans are wise enough to recognize the contributions Julien made to the Bruins and acknowledge his departure was both necessary and handled horribly.
Julien deserves a rousing pre-game ovation the next time he’s behind the visitor’s bench at the TD Garden. He will get the obligatory laudatory video at the proper time, as well. Then, he’s fair game. Just like everyone else who’s ever left town.