If you have been a Bruins fan, particularly one in every of a sure age, the place to be on Wednesday was in entrance of the Garden.
Prior to the B’s residence opener for the group”s Centennial season, the membership staged a “gold carpet” grand entrance for a lot of the greats which have performed on Causeway Street.
From the Big, Bad Bruins to the Lunchpail AC gang to the greats of the late ’80s-early ’90s to the latest Stanley Cup group, all the celebrities and characters have been represented. Bobby Orr, Ray Bourque, Terry O’Reilly, Tim Thomas, Derek Sanderson, Phil Esposito, Zdeno Chara. And the record went on and on. In a pre-game ceremony, they held “Rafters Reunion” for nice gamers, or their descendants, from all eras. Orr, as standard, acquired the largest hand, nevertheless it was carefully rivaled by members of the 2011 Cup group.
Johnny Bucyk has been a related to the Bruins in a technique or one other for 68 of the 100 years the group has existed ever since being traded right here from the Red Wings in 1957. And there was no different place that Bucyk ever needed to play after coming to Boston.
“There’s just something here that attracts you and keeps you here. You don’t want to leave. That’s the way I’ve always felt,” mentioned Bucyk after strolling by means of a boisterous tunnel of followers. “They’d asked if I wanted to be traded and I said ‘No! I never want to be traded .It’s the greatest city I’ve ever played for or in. I started in Detroit, but it was nothing like what we’ve got here.”
The B’s are placing on a three-day reunion for the alumni that started on Tuesday on the Kowloon, a favourite spot of lots of the Bruins over the a long time. The B’s will maintain a Gala on the Fairmont Copley Plaza on Thursday.
Brad Park remembers the final time he was on the Kowloon – for all of the improper causes.
“Last time I was there, I was over-socialized,” cracked Park. “It was actually after we lost the too-many-men-on-the-ice game against Montreal and we had our breakup party there. So, a vivid memory.”
Park had a singular perspective on the Bruin expertise, having at first been on the opposite facet within the intense early Seventies rivalry with the New York Rangers earlier than being traded with Jean Ratelle and Joe Zanussi to the B’s for Esposito and Carol Vadnais.
“When I got traded, cried, because all I knew was New York,” mentioned Park, who’d the Big Apple’s reply to Orr. “And as it turned out, I came to an unbelievable city with the people. In New York, I could go anywhere and walk around, nobody knew me. I came here and they were all staring at me. It’s such a great sports town. And to be able to play in the Boston Garden, on the side that was light, it was pretty special. A lot of good memories.”
Thomas received two Vezina Awards, the Conn Smythe and led the B’s to their solely Stanley Cup, in 2011, within the final 51 years. He left the B’s two years after that pinnacle of his profession, suffered a concussion whereas he was taking part in for the Florida Panthers, the results of which he’s nonetheless battling, although he mentioned it’s getting significantly better since he met with reporters at his induction into the US Hockey Hall of Fame in 2019.
It was his first look on the Garden since retiring.
“It feels great,” mentioned Thomas. “I didn’t really think about it. I didn’t know what it would be like to be back. I knew I was invited to the game, I didn’t know I’d be walking through a red carpet area, I didn’t know there’d be media. Having said that, it’s kind of a surprise to me. But it feels great. I felt a lot of this type of energy over the years when I was playing for the Bruins, all the love from the fans essentially. And it’s good to feel that again.”
While the B’s have all the time had stars, the appreciation for the boys who made room for stars was all the time nice all through the years on the Garden. It was why a man like Shawn Thornton, who had 42 targets in 705 NHL video games, was voted into the Historic 100 Bruin gamers of all-time just lately. The appreciation went each methods.
“It’s a little humbling to be completely honest. I figured I’d be forgotten about by now. It’s just a huge honor. You go out there and do your job, you try to do the right things, but you’re not sure what’s going to happen 10 years later. It sounds like a lot of us are getting the same reaction we did when we played here. We’re pretty lucky,” mentioned Thornton.
“To be on that list is a huge honor, top 10 players on an Original Six organization that’s been around for 100 years, I did not expect it. So it’s a huge honor. There were some names that were left off that I’m really surprised that I made it. I don’t take it lightly, that’s for sure.”
Source: www.bostonherald.com