BOSTON — The Bruins kicked off their centennial celebration last season when the Original Six franchise announced its “Historic 100” list of legendary players.
Throughout the 2023-24 season, the Bruins honored milestones of the club’s history by inviting legendary players back for pregame ceremonies. Boston capped off the year-long celebration with a centennial game victory over the Montreal Canadiens at TD Garden on Sunday.
“It was a really nice day,” Charlie McAvoy said after the game. “It’s kind of weird. I didn’t really know what to expect, to be honest. I know that there were a lot of special games last year celebrating the centennial, so I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this one.”
The Bruins brought back legends who wore the Spoked-B over the past century, including Bobby Orr, Phil Esposito, Johnny Bucyk, Rick Middleton, Ray Bourque and Patrice Bergeron, for a pregame ceremony filled with montages of highlights throughout Bruins’ history. The current players sat on the bench, watching the momentous occasion unfold before puck drop.
“This one might have been my favorite one,” McAvoy said. “This was awesome. This was really cool. To see all those guys before the game. I shouldn’t need a reminder, but sometimes you do. How special this is for everyone and how much pride you should have in wearing the same jersey those guys wore. We tried to emphasize that tonight. Really fortunate that we won in front of those guys tonight.”
McAvoy honored what it meant for him to wear the Bruins crest on his jersey during his shorthanded goal celebration to begin the second period.
The 26-year-old New York native celebrated his second goal of the game with a celebratory Spoked-B kiss.
“I thought about it after the first goal, and that was when I should have done it,” he said. “That was what I should have done. I ended up scoring again, and then I did it. Just love for this city, this organization and just how amazing it is to be a part of it, really.”
