Old Rivalry Renewed: The Rangers and Canadiens will battle for a chance to play for the Stanley Cup.

For the first time since 1986, the Rangers and Canadiens will play in the Conference Final for a chance to compete for the Stanley Cup. By virtue of the Habs’ 3-1 win in Game 7 over the Bruins, they guaranteed that either they or the Rangers will play for Lord Stanley for the first time in two decades. The Canadiens last won was 1993. The Rangers won the following year in 1994.

It’s a sexy Original Six match-up between old rivals. This will be the 15th playoff series between the franchises. All-time, they’re tied 7-7. It’ll be the first meeting since 1996 when the Rangers rallied from 0-2 down to defeat the Canadiens in six games. Previously, they met in the Wales Conference Final in 1986 with Montreal prevailing in five. In 1979, the Habs defeated the Rangers 4-1 to win the Cup. In best-of-sevens all-time, Montreal owns a 6-4 record over New York.

As has already been documented, the Canadiens will have home ice. During the regular season, they finished with 100 points to the Rangers’ 96. Game 1 is set for Saturday at 1 PM on NBC. An unfriendly time due to the Preakness. Many are up in arms over NBC and the NHL rejecting the Rangers’ request to move the game to Saturday night due to Martin St. Louis’ Mom France’s funeral. Instead, the St. Louis family moved the funeral to Sunday so the entire team could attend. I’m mystified as to why NBC wanted a 1 PM time slot for Game 1 of the ECF. It makes no sense. Why not have the game on NBCSN at 7:30 PM? Shame on them.

Be that as it may, the Rangers finally have a couple of days to recoup from another taxing series that went seven. They’ve played 14 games so far compared to the Canadiens’ 11. Montreal swept Tampa Bay in the first round. They still dug deep coming back from 3-2 down to stun Boston. With rumors of another back-to-back for Games 3 and 4 at MSG, the Rangers again have their work cut out. But as I referenced last round, the schedule is the same for both teams. Hopefully, they’ll handle it better than Round 2 when they put themselves in a 3-1 hole.

I’m very excited about this series. The Rangers versus the Canadiens for the right to play for the Cup. It doesn’t get any better. As I already alluded to, they haven’t played a lot recently. The stakes are high. One team will advance and have a chance to deliver a championship. As fun as 2012 was facing the Hudson rival Devils, this feels bigger. There’s something to be said for history and tradition. My Dad can’t stand Montreal. He grew up in a different era when the Canadiens dominated led by Ken Dryden and Guy Lafleur winning six Cups in the 1970’s including a fourth straight in 1979 over the Blueshirts. Since, they have added two (’86, ’93) for an NHL record 24 Cups.

Unlike the rich history of Montreal, the Rangers have only won four Cups. The last time they won, I was a teenager. It’s hard to believe they only won in 1994. That was a great team. Sometimes, you don’t realize how lucky you are. When you’re younger, you think your team will win every year. But sports aren’t like that. It’s made me appreciate it more. As our resident New Jersey blogger knows, nothing lasts forever. When they lost two years ago, it sucked. I went for a long walk after that series ended. I doubted whether they could get back. Here they are two years later playing a more exciting style under a different coach with most of the core still intact along with a few other pieces.