Rivalries tend to access a specially reserved palette of emotions for people all across sports. Players step up their games, referees face further scrutiny, and fans slash tires. As the Bruins gear up for their first preseason game against the Canadiens on Wednesday, perhaps the exhibition may remind players of just how intense the biggest rivalries in professional sports can be.

Nathan Horton wouldn't know.

If he weren't just 25 years of age, one might look at the permanent smile Horton's worn since arriving in Boston and wonder if he's had some sort of facelift. On the ice or in the locker room, that's been Horton's expression since day one. A native of Ontario, he's been gushing with excitement to play in a town where hockey is appreciated, but in coming to Boston, Horton also gets his first taste at being on one end of a two-city battle.

"It's pretty big actually," Horton said of his enthusiasm to jump into the rivalry. "You watch it on TV and the place is going crazy. It's a really big rivalry. It's definitely fun to watch so it's going to be even better to be part of it."

As has been well-documented, Horton spent his first six years in Florida, where he and the Panthers never saw the playoffs and finished 22nd or worse in attendance in four of the seasons. No games were circled on the calendar by fans more than others. As Horton said, the Panthers had "a little rivalry with Tampa Bay in Florida, but not really."

Such an environment was also lacking during his junior hockey days. Playing for the Oshawa Generals in the OHL -- and putting up numbers so impressive that the Panthers had no problem moving out of the first spot and drafting him third in the 2003 draft -- Horton had back-to-back seasons on a fourth-place club. As such, there weren't any games that could easily be mistaken for an Original Six matchup.

"Eh, you kind of had a rivalry with everyone, but not as big as this," Horton said Tuesday of his time in the OHL. "This one's crazy. … It's always going to be a battle no matter what [venue] or how many big players or anything."

The man who traded Dennis Wideman and a pair of draft picks to secure his talents can see where Horton's excitement is coming from, but feels the smaller sample in the earlier parts of his NHL career could have given him an early taste of what he's heading into.

"The Florida-Tampa rivalry, when it was going, actually there were some good games, but Montreal-Boston … he'll see that [Wednesday] night first hand," Peter Chiarelli said.

Horton is just as excited about the Bruins' fanbase as they seem to be about him (a girl at the Garden Monday bought one of his No. 18 t-shirts, as well as a pair of backups for good measure). He's gotten his feet wet in town by making the rounds at various charity events and by being on the ice at each of the team's captain's practices earlier this month. He's taken a liking to the city of Boston, but he's even more excited to see what happens when "two places that are very passionate about hockey" butt heads.

Though each day passes with the likelihood increasing that perhaps Horton's excitement won't subside for a while, Chiarelli would rather people take precaution when putting pressure on the 25-year-old. He himself has big expectations for Horton, but would understand if it takes a bit before they are met.

"I think it's probably going to take him some time to adjust to the everyday goings on of playing in a major market like this and an original six city. It's a new team, too, so it's going to take some time. but as Claude [Julien] said earlier, in practice he's flying.

"He looks rejuvenated, if I had a reference point of seeing him in Florida," Chiarelli added. "He's a robust player, and he's a professional. I'll give him a little bit of leeway but I expect him to hit the ground running at some point."

Horton is expected to be the team's leading scorer in the coming season, with many throwing around the 40-goal plateau as a realistic feat. He is highly optimistic when assessing the team and agrees that it could mean better output from him, but won't place a number on just how much better he'll be after scoring 30 goals just once in his career.

"I know I can do more than I've done. If I'm in the best shape and work as hard as I can, I think it will fall into place," Horton said. "I'm playing with such good players, no matter who I'm playing with [here]. I think it's a matter of working hard, having a little bit of fun and enjoying playing hockey."

By all indications, Horton has worked hard in camp thus far and is undoubtedly having fun. As for the third part, it seems a given that fans will enjoy him should he take a leading role in this rivalry.