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Rangers’ Boyle: “I hate the Bruins. I hate them with a passion”

Brian Boyle

New York Rangers forward Brian Boyle -- a native of Hingham, Mass. -- is a huge Boston Red Sox and New England Patriots fan. Yet, as CSNNE.com’s Joe Haggerty found out, Boyle’s love of New England sports doesn’t extend to the Boston Bruins.

“I hate the Bruins. I hate them with a passion,” Boyle said prior to tonight’s tilt against New York. “That’s how it’s supposed to be, I think, and that’s how it’s been for a while. Last year they won and congratulations to them, but it really made me upset. I was pretty angry about it.”

The B’s and Blueshirts have only met once this year -- a 3-2 OT win for the Rangers on Jan. 21 -- and while Boyle was held off the scoresheet, he still made his presence felt. The 6-foot-7, 244-pound center had three shots on goal, dished out three hits and blocked two shots in 16:51 of ice time.

Based on his comments, you can expected another spirited effort tonight.

“I had a lot of aunts, uncles and cousins or whatever that were all excited [about the Bruins’ Cup victory], but I’m in a different situation,” Boyle said. “That’s what made me hate it all the more. You want that. That’s what you drive and train and prepare for as your goal.”

Boyle sees his hatred as a good thing, adding to the heated rivalry between Boston and New York.

“In baseball it’s always talked about on ESPN,” he said. “In football with what’s happened lately, a [Boston/New York] rivalry can only help the game.”