For the first time in a long, long while it's safe to call Boston a hockey town again.

In fact, with the Bruins getting ready to face Montreal in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs, and Commonwealth Avenue still pulsating over Boston University's come-from-behind win in the NCAA championship game Saturday night, it might be safe to call Boston Hockeytown with a capital "H."

Sorry, Detroit.

For pure anticipation, the NHL couldn't have scripted this opening-round matchup between the Bruins and Montreal Canadiens.

It's a rematch of last year's first-rounder, when the top-seeded Habs needed a full seven games to dispatch the upstart Bruins.

Now, it's the Bruins who are ranked first in the Eastern Conference and the Canadiens trying to pull the upset.

In an era where there is little animosity to be found between pro athletes, there is truly bad blood between these teams. We saw it on Thursday, when the teams combined for 76 penalty minutes in Boston's 5-4 overtime win.

The Bruins went 5-0-1 against the Canadiens this season after coming close to knocking them off last spring.

"We had a lot of guys who hadn't played in the playoffs yet so to have that atmosphere in Boston (was) a nice taste for them," Bruins vice president and Hall of Famer Cam Neely said at the start of the season.

"Then, to have that opposite feeling when you lose Game 7 and be done for the season, it's good to have that contrast for these guys to understand that it was great to win and it (stinks) to lose. From a growth standpoint, it was good for a lot of our young players."

Those players are still young, but Phil Kessel and David Krejci and Milan Lucic are certainly more experienced.

They went through the ups and downs of that series last April, and learned what it was like to be the top gun in everyone's sights this season.

They seem ready to put the Bruins into the second round for the first time since 1999 and only the second time since 1994.

The Bruins don't need any additional inspiration for the playoffs, but if they did they could look to the team that already celebrated two hockey championships at the Garden this season.

The Boston University Terriers won the Beanpot and Hockey East titles there, but those were just a warmup act to what is already being called the greatest college hockey game ever.

Maine fans who remember the comeback against Lake Superior State back in 1993 might disagree, but it is hard to match what BU did Saturday night in Washington, D.C.

Trailing 3-1 with a minute to go, the Terriers scored twice (having pulled their goalie with a full 3:30 left in the game) to tie it up, ultimately winning in overtime.

Jack Parker, who has coached the Terriers for 36 years, said it was the best game he had ever been part of as a coach.

It capped a remarkable run that saw the Terriers edge UNH with a last-minute goal in the NCAA regionals, and stage a third-period comeback to defeat Vermont in the Frozen Four semifinals.

Now, they keep the national championship in Boston, following in the footsteps of 2008 champion Boston College.

In this snapshot in time, all is well in the Hub of Hockey.

This winter, rinks were once again teeming with youth hockey players, many of them wearing the jerseys of a new group of Big, Bad Bruins.

Lucic and Chara sweaters have finally replaced Neely, Bourque and Orr replica models worn by young skaters.

As kids put away their skates for the summer ahead, they are watching closely in hopes the Bruins keep wearing theirs well into June.

Tom Caron is the studio host for Red Sox broadcasts on the New England Sports Network. His column appears in the Press Herald on Tuesdays.