For Bruins’ Julien, old friend becomes foe for Cup Final

Julien

BOSTON — The texts between Bruins head coach Claude Julien and his Vancouver counterpart are going on hiatus for at least the next couple weeks.

Julien and Canucks head coach Alain Vigneault are from the same area of Canada and played together in the minor leagues. Now that they’re going head to head in the 2011 Stanley Cup Final, which starts Wednesday in Vancouver, the friendship is on hold.

“Alain and I are from the Ottawa area, we ended up playing together in the St. Louis organization as a 20, 21-year-old. We were actually good friends and hung around a lot and our paths went different ways,” recalled Julien yesterday.

“But we always come back to the city in the summertime and will bump into each other once in a while. But we also text each other during the season and now throughout the playoffs we kind of were cheering for each other because we felt that throughout our career, and what we’re going through actually here in Boston and him in Vancouver, expectations are high. And to be able to get through all of that and meet in the finals is great.

“But right now that’s where it ends. We’re both here and right now both have a job to do and I guess the next time we talk will be after it’s all said and done. But he’s a good friend of mine and right now we understand what’s at stake and right now my loyalty is to the Boston Bruins and his loyalty is to the Vancouver Canucks.”

This series should make for some interesting chatter when the two coaches “run into” one another this summer around the Ottawa area.