Bruins to honor 3-year-old battling brain cancer at Tuesday's game
The Bruins acquired Charlie Coyle from the Wild on Feb. 20 because they realized they needed to plug a gap on their third line before the playoffs. Coyle, a Weymouth native, was more than happy to come home to help out the B’s -- and just about anyone else in his hometown who needed a hand or a lift.
The latest example comes on Tuesday night. Quinn Waters, the 3-year-old Weymouth boy who has become known as “The Mighty Quinn” as he battles brain cancer, will drop the ceremonial first puck before the Bruins host the Sharks at TD Garden (7:05, NESN, WBZ-FM 98.5).
“I’m excited, and I know the guys are excited,”
Coyle told The Patriot Ledger.
Coyle was acquired just weeks after doctors discovered a tumor on Waters’ brain stem. “They’ve been kind of been asking about it, hearing about it. It’s going to be really cool.”
Coyle, who has participated in many local charitable events since coming home, was a natural to visit Waters this summer at the “Quinndow” -- the picture window where Waters, who was confined to in-home recovery because chemotherapy erased all vaccines and natural immunities, greeted a swelling number of guests that included local youth teams, first responders, superheroes, musicians, and athletes like Coyle, who brought along Bruins mascot Blades and a load of Bruins gear.
Things have changed since then. Late last month, Waters was allowed to go outside his house for the first time since treatment began, and he and his family -- parents Jarlath and Tara, 7-year-old sister Maggie -- were able to accept the Bruins’ invitation to drop the first puck at Tuesday’s Hockey Fights Cancer Night.
“We’re just so happy he can be out and about, having fun outside the ‘Quinndow,’” Coyle said. “Not that he didn’t have fun there, but just to be out, and to come to a Bruins game -- they’re big fans, and all that -- and to get recognized, as he should. I’m sure he’s really excited, maybe a little nervous.”