If only the Rangers and Montreal Canadiens played more often. An unmistakable, entertaining rivalry exists between the Eastern Conference powers, driven by a strong distaste for one another but tinged also with mutual respect.
It starts with longtime friends Alain Vigneault and Michel Therrien, the team’s coaches, two French Canadians who like to get under each other’s skin.
Therrien unforgettably cursed out Rangers assistant coaches for sitting in the Garden stands at a Canadiens morning skate during the 2014 Eastern Conference finals, claiming they had violated a “gentlemen’s agreement.” Vigneault was prodded jokingly on Wednesday at the Garden, before the teams’ second meeting of the season, if a new agreement had been struck to prevent another blow-up.