A Banner Night In Boston
Friday, October 07, 2011
What a night!
If you were at the TD Garden Thursday or even parked in front of your television, you had to have felt the chills running up and down your spine. If you didn’t, check your pulse because you may not be alive.
It may have been 39 years in the making, but for Bruins fans it was well worth the wait. The Stanley Cup was back in Boston.
The festivities started just before 6pm when the B’s took to the ice to an amazing and well-deserved ovation. They skated around while each member of the team raised the Cup above their head. Even the retired Mark Recchi came back to be a part of the celebration.
After B’s owner Jeremy Jacobs, GM Peter Chiarelli and President Cam Neely addressed the crowd, a very special introduction was made. Members of the 1972 Stanley Cup Champion Bruins were introduced whipping the crowd up into a frenzy once again.
Finally, the moment everyone had been waiting for took place. Jacobs, Chiarelli and Neely grabbed the rope on one side while Tim Thomas, Zdeno Chara, Patrice Bergeron and Mark Recchi grabbed it on the other side. Together they hoisted the “Boston Bruins Stanley Cup Champions 2011” banner to the Garden rafters. And, thus, last year’s magical season was put to bed and it was time to open up the 2011-2012 season.
It got off to a rousing start for Boston which scored on its first power play of the season midway through the first. Brad Marchand, off a feed from Tyler Seguin, beat Flyers goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov with a backhander through the 5-hole for a 1-0 Boston lead.
Philadelphia would answer not once, but twice before the end of the first. Claude Giroux tallied first for the Flyers with :50 seconds to play in the period while Philly was on the power play. Then, with just :03 seconds remaining in the period, Jakub Voracek put Philadelphia on top 2-1.
The Bruins would go on the power play 4 more times and had some golden opportunities to tie the game, particularly in the third. Unfortunately, they were unable to get the puck past Bryzgalov.
Philly outshot Boston 25-12 through the first two periods before Boston came to life in the third. The B’s outshot the Flyers 11-4 in the final 20 minutes but Boston couldn’t put the puck in the net.
Nathan Horton, Tyler Seguin and David Krejci all had golden scoring opportunities but failed to score the equalizer.
That the Bruins lost was somewhat irrelevant because this night was all about raising the banner to the Garden rafters. On this night, the B’s were anything but losers.
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