There is so much to remember in 100 years of Bruins hockey, and other thoughts - The Boston Globe
The Bruins turn 100 Sunday and plan a centennial birthday party before their 3 p.m. game at the Garden against the Montreal Canadiens.
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▪ The Bruins turn 100 Sunday and plan a centennial birthday party before their 3 p.m. game at the Garden against the Montreal Canadiens.
Nice symmetry there. The Montreal Maroons were the Bruins’ opponents for their first game ever — a 2-1 win at Boston Arena Dec. 1, 1924.
The Zamboni of those days was a horse-drawn, plow-like scraper followed by a team of broom-toting sweepers (no jokes about slow horses playing for the 2024 Bruins).
As much as anything, Sunday’s celebration will be a salute to the Hub’s hockey culture, and the grip the Bruins have had on this region for as long as Jimmy Carter has been alive.
It’s a day to toast the moms and dads who rise in the dark of morning, hoist stinky equipment bags, then drive mites and squirts to cold rinks made tolerable by hot chocolate. While kids learn to skate and control the puck, shivering parents stand alongside vending machines that feature rolls of stick tape alongside Cokes and Gatorades.
These are New England hockey people, and they love their Spoked-B’s. Their parents and grandparents remember when Eddie Johnston was the Bruins’ everyday goalie and when winger Tommy Williams was just about the only American-born player in the entire NHL. They remember putting aluminum foil on the TV antennas to stop the snow on Channel 38′s UHF telecasts. They remember “The Nutty” and Eddie “Clear the Track” Shack.
They remember Bobby Orr, the greatest hockey player who ever lived. Orr humbly says it’s Gordie Howe, and many have made a case for Wayne Gretzky, but eyes don’t lie, and anybody who watched No. 4 for five minutes knew he was the best there ever was. No New England boomer can forget steaming-hot Mother’s Day 1970, and Bobby’s statuesque moment.
Old Bruins fans remember Orr beating up Keith Magnuson and Mike Milbury grabbing a shoe and letting Rangers fans taste some leather. They remember Harry Sinden storming out of press row in Montreal’s ancient rink, screaming, “Death, taxes, and the first penalty in the Forum!”
They remember the Lunchpail AC. Bob Wilson. Gerry Cheevers. Grapes. The Turk. Lyndon Byers. Fred Cusick. Johnny Peirson. Rick Middleton. Fred Stanfield. Jack Edwards.
They remember the grace of Ray Bourque, returning his No. 7 sweater to Phil Esposito, and (with Don Sweeney) sweetly steering Normand Leveille around the ice when the Old Garden closed for good in 1995.
They remember Johnny Bucyk — who turns 90 in May — skating around the Madison Square Garden ice with the Stanley Cup in 1972. They remember Tim Thomas, Zdeno Chara, Patrice Bergeron, and Brad Marchand in Vancouver in 2011.
It’s all connected. Just ask Richard Johnson, curator of the Sports Museum, and co-author (with Rusty Sullivan) of “Blood, Sweat & 100 Years — A Century of Bruins Hockey.”
“On an inbound Green or Orange Line train to North Station, one can imagine a Gallery God vintage grandparent making the apt comparison to their grandchild of ever-gritty Leo Labine to Brad Marchand while on their way to Sunday’s 100th anniversary matinee date with Les Canadiens.”
The Bruins are Boston’s second team to turn 100. The Red Sox celebrated 100 years of big league status in May 2001, bringing back the likes of Yaz, Carlton Fisk, Jerry Remy, and Dick Radatz on a rainy Sunday before playing the Blue Jays at Fenway. It was a full month after April 26, 2001, the 100th anniversary of the Boston Americans losing to the Orioles, 10-6, in Baltimore in Boston’s first official American League game.
Alas, the Celtics and Patriots are mere kids compared with the Red Sox and Bruins. The Celtics have played “only” 79 seasons and the Patriots just qualified for Medicare (they need it), turning 65 in September.
This weekend, it’s all about the Bruins turning 100.
“It’s hard to put into words what it means to be a Boston Bruin,” team president Cam Neely wrote in “Blood, Sweat & 100 Years.” “Because being a Boston Bruin doesn’t just mean you throw on some hockey equipment, pull a jersey over your head, skate around the Garden a few times, and move on with your life. No, being a Boston Bruin is your life. For life.”
Same for Bruins fans.
Happy birthday to the Black and Gold.
