Boston Globe columnist defends historic Bruins loss with unprovoked Yankees attack

Your team just blew a 3-1 series lead in the playoffs, lost in Game 7 at home, and flushed the greatest regular season of hockey down the toilet. Your next move? Call out the New York Yankees. The natural progression for your average hater in sports.

But there's a bit more edge to it when there's a Boston angle, isn't there? Of course the Yankees dig was coming as this entire city needed to cope with an historic choke job against a No. 8 seed from Florida with a weak fanbase.

Forget dropping three straight games -- two at home -- to spiral out of the postseason. Forget the fact the Bruins notched 65 wins, 135 points, a .931 save percentage, and a +128 goal differential -- the first two of which are new NHL records. Forget their 34-4-3 record at home this past season.

Because none of that matters since the Yankees blew a 3-0 lead back in 2004 to the Red Sox. Yes, something that happened two decades ago in a completely different sport can help all of us learn valuable lessons.

On what planet wouldn't you, as a Boston hockey fan, be defending yourself from Yankees fans the moment you're eliminated from the postseason? The Boston Globe's Chad Finn did it to perfection in the most infuriating manner possible.

Bruins fans try to cope with loss by remembering Red Sox 2004 victory over Yankees

The sick part is that Finn isn't wrong! The Yankees indeed lost their identity and then some after that hellacious, franchise-altering collapse that will never be forgotten.

But how embarrassing it must be going to the well to bring up that very memorable incident that doesn't take a rolodex-wielding sports historian's memory to recall. This is the life of sports failure. You lose, you face the music. Bringing up what's happened in the past is the classic "deflect and attack" approach for those who can't handle the misery.

And you really want to play that game, Boston? How about the Giants derailing the Patriots' greatest season of all time in Super Bowl 42? And handling them again in the final seconds in Super Bowl 46? That prolonged a nine-year championship drought for the Pats, too. Boo hoo! Can't believe they almost went a decade without a title! What a sad and laborious existence!

"Man, life would sure be good if everything transpired exactly the way we wanted it to, especially in the trivial world of sports." - The City of Boston

Maybe Finn needs to link up with NBC Sports Boston for a good old debate, since they believe this playoff exit will "haunt the franchise forever," regardless of whether the city can lean on the 2004 win over the Yankees.

What's the whole thing with that "rent free" saying again? Either way, at least Aaron Boone has some sick new Bruins lowlights to show the Yankees the next time they're on the verge of losing the ALCS. For motivational purposes.