Bruins Raise Cup Banner to Rafters

by Curtis Fraser

The Boston Bruins opened their 88^th NHL season last Thursday, October 6 at Boston’s TD Garden by raising the franchise’s sixth Stanley Cup Championship banner. For the oldest American-based NHL franchise, the raising of a Stanley Cup banner for the first time in 39 years was a spectacle for Bruins fans young and old.

The TD Garden was buzzing from the time the doors opened, up until Captain Zdeno Chara stepped on the ice with the Cup. The Cup was passed among the members of the 2010-11 team, including now-retired winger, Mark Recchi. It was the first time the Stanley Cup had ever been on the ice at TD Garden, since it was won last June in Vancouver. A number of onlookers considered this display a bit over the top. Boston fan and high school student Adam Benincasa believed the Bruins had to “turn the page very [quickly],” and that “having the [Stanley] Cup on display near the Bruins’ bench would have been more appropriate.”

Speeches followed by Bruins owner Charlie Jacobs, Bruins president and former legend Cam Neely, Chara, and defenseman Andrew Ference.

Members of the 1972 Stanley Cup Champion Bruins team, the last to win the Stanley Cup before last season’s team, were on hand to pass over their reign as Bruins legends to the 2011 team. The 1972 team members handed the banner over to members of the Bruins management team and the defending Cup holders, who then raised it to the rafters of the TD Garden.

Overshadowed by the festivities was the game against Philadelphia that followed. The Bruins had swept the Flyers out of the playoffs in the second round on their way to winning the Stanley Cup. The Bruins jumped out to an early lead on a goal halfway through the first from playoff hero Brad Marchand, but couldn’t muster any more offense, eventually losing the game 2-1. After the first period, the Bruins seemed distracted by the ceremonies, as casual Bruins fan Nathan Sweny could tell that the ceremonies “may have negatively affected their play.”

The struggles have continued for the Bruins, as the Stanley Cup hangover that seems to annually plague the defending champions has struck the Bruins early on. The Bruins are 3-5 on the young season but have played very well in their past few games. With a crucial home and home series with struggling rival Montreal opening on Thursday, October 27, the Bruins and their fans are eager to see the team turn the bad start around.