This one still hurts. Hockey season is over in these parts, but the sting of blowing a 3-1 series lead against the Canadiens lingers on.

No, this wasn’t as bad as watching Grady Little fiddle while The Bronx burned. That was Red Sox/Yankees. That was an eighth-inning, Game 7 collapse to the most hated team in the history of Boston sports.

But don’t tell me this one doesn’t matter. Don’t tell me that it isn’t a big deal because people didn’t care about the Bruins until the final weeks of the regular season.

That’s precisely why it was important.

For the first time in years, hockey mattered in Boston. Long time puckheads were coming out of hibernation, caught up in the Bruins’ late-season trades for Sergei Gonchar and Michael Nylander. The casual sports fan got caught up in the feel-good story of the Bruins, a good group of guys with a top-flight young goaltender.

Game 7 was the most-watched hockey game in the 20-year history of NESN. By 9 pm, 22 percent of the Boston households watching TV were watching the Bruins. They were ready to celebrate, to embrace the B’s, to settle in and get ready for a second-round series with the Philadelphia Flyers.

Instead, they went away angry. Again. Another first-round KO, and for the fifth straight year hockey was over before the end of April.

To make matters worse, we don’t know when this team will play again. While ownership and union officials are scheduled to meet twice this spring, there is little enthusiasm for a settlement. Owners and players don’t agree on much in the NHL – but both sides believe there will be a work stoppage.

Where does that leave the Bruins? With 13 unrestricted free agents, and a fan base that is once again angry at the end result of the hockey season. Shut this league down for a few months and watch the apathy waiting when the puck finally drops.

This was supposed to be a final thrill ride. Forget about the lockout, enjoy the first real post-season run we’ve seen in more than a decade. Damned the future, this could be fun.

Instead, the future is now. We don’t know when the Bruins will play next, but we know they’ve played their last game in a while.

The memories are all we have now and they’re painful memories for anyone who got caught up in this playoff run.

Lewiston native Tom Caron covers the Bruins and Red Sox for NESN.

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