Those of us who are older than a certain age,(and I'm not telling you what age that is), can remember the days of "The Big Bad Bruins". Boston was a huge hockey town and playing "pond hockey" with your friends was the sport of choice in the winter. We would get dressed up, my Mom would hand us a bag lunch and we would head out to the local pond in the woods for an all-day hockey fest. Each of us would want to be Bobby Orr or Phil Espisito...These were our Heroes and Hockey was huge...Every kid wanted to find new hockey skates & a new hockey stick under the Christmas Tree.As time went forward, Hockey lost some of the luster after the Bruins became regular cellar dwellars...we had the 1980's USA Olympic Team which had many hometown players from the Boston area. The Bruins teams we had in the late 1980s and early 1990s had some of the best players we had seen in Cam Neely, Ray Borque and Andy Moog. Those were good days but still no Stanley Cup while the other teams in Boston,(Patriots, Red Sox and Celtics) all made efforts to once again stand on the top of the mountain....Only the Bruins lagged behind.
NOW, we will see if the 2011 BOSTON BRUINS can recapture the magic and the title of the BIG BAD BRUINS....THIS will be good.
‘It’s unbelievable!’
Fans fired up as B’s skate into finals
By Ira Kantor
Tuesday, May 31, 2011 - The Boston Herald
Hundreds of devoted fans clamoring for a long-sought Stanley Cup triumph sent their hometown heroes off with cheers at TD Garden yesterday, as the Bruins [team stats] headed for Vancouver and a brutal battle with the Canucks.
“It’s the first time they’ve advanced to the finals since I’ve been alive,” said Colleen Donovan, 21, of Lynn. “It’s long overdue. We don’t have any passengers on this team. Everyone’s up front.”
Season-ticket holder Danny Fortunato, 54, of Beverly brought along his son, Michael, 18, who was not only wearing a Bruins jersey coated in autographs but also was draped in a Bruins flag. The die-hard fans have a Bruins “shrine” in their home full of team paraphernalia.
“The players are really into the fans and vice versa. You can just feel it throughout Boston — it’s like a family atmosphere,” said Danny Fortunato, a social worker. “You don’t see it every day like this. You got to take it all in. We’ll be following them the whole way.”
“I will not move,” added Michael Fortunato, “I don’t want to a miss a second of it.”
Fans proudly draped in black and gold stood behind a yellow barricade in the Garden’s parking lot chanting, “We want the Cup!” and, “Let’s go, Bruins!” as star players, including defenseman Johnny Boychuk and center Tyler Seguin emerged from inside to slap high-fives and sign autographs.
“It’s unbelievable,” Boychuk told the Herald. “Everybody’s dream is right now. We just got to make sure we fulfill that dream.”
Seguin called the fan support “phenomenal.”
“Everyone wants the Cup back here in Boston,” Seguin, 19, told the Herald. “If hockey wasn’t in Boston the last few years, it definitely is right now.”
Game 1 of the 2011 Stanley Cup finals takes place tomorrow night in Vancouver. The Bruins have not won a Stanley Cup since 1972.
“It’s such an awesome feeling,” said Julie Happel, 45, of South Weymouth, who came to the Garden with her husband, Fred, and sons Michael, 9, and Sean, 4. “It’s true hockey at its best.”
Jay Dellisola of Lynnfield said he encouraged his two sons Alex, 14, and Jack, 7, to stay up late on school nights to watch the Bruins’ nail-biting playoff games.
“I was 7 when [Bobby] Orr won us the Cup, now (Jack’s) 7. It’s a sign,” said Dellisola, who predicted the Bruins would win in six games. “I don’t think they’ll let this chance fly by. It’ll be a great two weeks.”
“It’s the first time they’ve advanced to the finals since I’ve been alive,” said Colleen Donovan, 21, of Lynn. “It’s long overdue. We don’t have any passengers on this team. Everyone’s up front.”
Season-ticket holder Danny Fortunato, 54, of Beverly brought along his son, Michael, 18, who was not only wearing a Bruins jersey coated in autographs but also was draped in a Bruins flag. The die-hard fans have a Bruins “shrine” in their home full of team paraphernalia.
“The players are really into the fans and vice versa. You can just feel it throughout Boston — it’s like a family atmosphere,” said Danny Fortunato, a social worker. “You don’t see it every day like this. You got to take it all in. We’ll be following them the whole way.”
“I will not move,” added Michael Fortunato, “I don’t want to a miss a second of it.”
Fans proudly draped in black and gold stood behind a yellow barricade in the Garden’s parking lot chanting, “We want the Cup!” and, “Let’s go, Bruins!” as star players, including defenseman Johnny Boychuk and center Tyler Seguin emerged from inside to slap high-fives and sign autographs.
“It’s unbelievable,” Boychuk told the Herald. “Everybody’s dream is right now. We just got to make sure we fulfill that dream.”
Seguin called the fan support “phenomenal.”
“Everyone wants the Cup back here in Boston,” Seguin, 19, told the Herald. “If hockey wasn’t in Boston the last few years, it definitely is right now.”
Game 1 of the 2011 Stanley Cup finals takes place tomorrow night in Vancouver. The Bruins have not won a Stanley Cup since 1972.
“It’s such an awesome feeling,” said Julie Happel, 45, of South Weymouth, who came to the Garden with her husband, Fred, and sons Michael, 9, and Sean, 4. “It’s true hockey at its best.”
Jay Dellisola of Lynnfield said he encouraged his two sons Alex, 14, and Jack, 7, to stay up late on school nights to watch the Bruins’ nail-biting playoff games.
“I was 7 when [Bobby] Orr won us the Cup, now (Jack’s) 7. It’s a sign,” said Dellisola, who predicted the Bruins would win in six games. “I don’t think they’ll let this chance fly by. It’ll be a great two weeks.”
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