The Bruins are saying and doing all the right things.

They were a “one game at a time” quote machine heading into a highly-anticipated playoff series against the Montreal Canadiens that’s got underway Thursday night.

B’s bench boss Claude Julien says the pressure associated with being the Eastern Conference top seed is non-existent, and that it’s about “playing the way that’s made the team successful this year.”

“One game at a time.”

“Full sixty minute efforts.”

“Putting the biscuit in the basket.”

“Put the puck in the net more times than the opposition.”

They’re all time-honored classics, and they’ve all been dropped with clock-setting regularity now that the puck playoffs are here.

The Bruins coach even called out the star-crossed history of the B’s/Habs rivalry as “BS” when it comes down to pertinence in the current playoff series.

But there is another kind of soul-crushing pressure, and it’s there as clear as the hate steaming up from the ice whenever neighboring hockey clubs in Montreal and Boston tangle — be it in the regular season or the playoffs.

It’s the pressure of expectation and excitement that the Bruins have deliberately drummed up during a magical regular-season ride. The Black and Gold haven’t piled up a regular-season point total like this season (116) since the Bobby Orr Glory Days. There was never the same sense that something special was afoot when laid-back “No Show” Joe Thornton and his bunch of merry Spoked B skaters seemed more amped about catching waves on a West Coast trip than pounding out wins on the frozen sheet.

Most of Bruins Nation has bought into this particular B’s blend of blue-collar tough guys Milan Lucic and Shawn Thornton, mixed with the breathtaking skill players like Marc Savard and David Krejci. Add to that the heart-stopping, never-surrender goaltending style of Tim Thomas, and it’s an intoxicating brew for the long-dormant citizens of Bruins Nation.

The fans, the media and the casual Boston sports mind cares again about hockey in Boston despite watching the top-seeded B’s blow it in 2001-02 — and then tank again after building a 3-1 lead over the Habs n 2003-04.

They care despite knowing that this particular organization hasn’t always spent the money or shown the combination of heart, courage and “Damn the Torpedoes” derring-do — I’m looking at you, Thornton — needed to be victors in the “Just for Men” Stanley Cup playoffs.

But the relationship between fan base, media and the Black and Gold hockey club is at a delicate stage entering this particular playoff run with as much hype, hullabaloo and expectation as any B’s moment in the last 15 years.

One misstep in the first round against the hated Habs could wipe away everything the Black and Gold accomplished during a hugely entertaining regular season. The goodwill could be as fleeting as a handful of clunkers, and lead to an early exit to the golf courses this spring.

There’s even a faction of voices that will be disappointed with anything less than a Stanley Cup Finals appearance just one year after sneaking through the postseason backdoor. Advancing to the conference finals in the second real year of the hockey team’s redevelopment should be enough for most, but this is the Bruins we’re talking about.

Another first round exit — their fifth in a row and potentially their fourth against the Bleu, Blanc and Rouge during Boston’s current 10-year stretch of postseason futility — could be a potentially fatal blow to a hockey club finally showing strong signs of life with even more space to grow.

Questions will linger about Tim Thomas’ ability to elevate his unconventional goaltending game and carry a team through the playoffs. Perhaps the Jacobs clan could even have a flashback to the dark days of the Sinden era and — in a fit of pique — decide that Peter Chiarelli isn’t the right guy for the B’s GM gig. It would be disastrous, to be sure, but stranger things have happened.

Aaron Ward has been around the hockey block, has raised the 35-pound Stanley Cup over his head in victory and knows the approved cliché-speak, even if he doesn’t always adhere to it. Ward knows full-well that there’s pressure going into this playoff run, but he also freely admits that even a Stanley Cup-worthy B’s team won’t be knocking off the Red Sox in terms of popularity or placement in the fan’s hearts anytime soon.

The stage has been propped high for the Bruins, but they’ll take it as opposed to the alternative.

“We’re human and we know what we’ve done in the past,” said Ward. “There’s a big load to bear when you’re that successful [in the regular season] and you come up short. But we adhere to the last dominant thought, and the last dominant thought is that we had a great regular season and we’re ready to continue that.”

Prior to last season every hockey publication known to man picked the Bruins to finish out of playoff contention, and were memorably upbraided by Jumpin’ Jack Edwards when the Spiked B clinched a seat at the postseason table.

This season, the Bruins are being picked by everyone from computer simulators to Dandy Don Cherry to qualify for the Cup Finals and bring the hockey glory back to the Hub for the first time in 37 long and sometimes lean years.

With all that being said, it might be best if any Bruins particularly afraid of heights don’t take any quick peeks down in the next few weeks.

It’s a long fall down to the bottom.
 
Joe Haggerty covers the Bruins for WEEI.com.