BOSTON — As the final ceremony in a year full of ceremonies marking 100 years of Bruins hockey ended on Sunday afternoon, there was a collective warmth flowing through TD Garden before Sunday’s 6-3 win over the Canadiens.
The event which featured a handful of Bruins icons — captains and players (or relatives of deceased players) whose numbers have been retired were introduced after short highlight packages. They saluted the fans and then were joined by area boys and girls youth players — including a sled hockey player — for a symbolic puck passing to the next 100 years.
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It was powerful and done in a way that both the observers and participants left fulfilled. The Bruins understand their identity as well as any franchise and Sunday really captured it.
The simplicity of the event gave weight to it. The ceremony was conducted with the same tone as each of those it followed from last season. They each sparked nostalgia without drenching the fans with it. They avoided the missteps that derail events like this. There were no speeches. No songs. No gimmicks. No representative from a corporate sponsor invited to take part because they’d been generous.
The organizers respected their fans’ knowledge. They didn’t need long introductions highlighting the resumés of each man. They trusted fans to either know already or look it up.
The ceremony left the real work to the memories of those watching. It didn’t tell fans which moments to remember or which players were more important. The Bruins just trotted out legends likely to trigger those recollections and let everyone’s personal history and imaginations take the wheel after that.
“It’s been a phenomenal year. The Bruins organization has done a great job,” Ray Bourque said. “It’s amazing the history and everything that’s happened in 100 years. It’s been amazing to be part of it.”
Too often well-intentioned ceremonies attempt to cram too many things into a small window. One more detail. One more speech. The result ends up being an overfilled buffet tray, dripping over the edges and sagging under the weight of too many good things.
There were a lot of people across different Bruins departments and subdepartments, who all had a hand in the design and execution of the year-long celebrations. With that many ideas and that many advocates for each suggestion, the ability to keep it on a minimalistic path was almost heroic.
Internally, this worked smoothly because the players wanted to be there. They didn’t have to be convinced or cajoled into attending. In addition to the former players on the ice for the ceremony, there were dozens of others in attendance in most cases because they wanted to be around it, be part of it and see each other.
“The history of the game and this organization is something we’re all very proud of in here,” Bruins captain Brad Marchand said. “To have a lot of alumni in the building to be part of the event, is really special. … Guys, you look up to, not just growing up, but guys that our parents and grandparents have looked up to, is something we’re very honored to be part of. I can’t say enough about how incredible this organization is and the guys that continue to want to be part of it.”
One of the best moments of the day was unscripted, at least not by the organizers.
Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy has always been vocal both about his reverence for Bruins tradition and his desire to be a steward for continuing it. So after scoring an early goal — and McAvoy doesn’t score a lot of them — he was kicking himself for not doing a more meaningful celebration with all of those legends in the building.
When he scored again, 38 seconds into the second period, he tugged on the Bruins crest on the front of his shirt as if to kiss it.
“It was love for the city, this organization and how amazing it is to be apart of it,” McAvoy said. “You shouldn’t need a reminder, but sometimes you do and how much pride you should have wearing the same jersey those guys wore.”
With his career winding down at 36, Marchand cherished getting to be the captain of the current team during the anniversary season. He gave a speech at Saturday’s unveiling of the team’s new bear statue and stood among the legends at center ice on Sunday.
“It is extremely special being part of things like this. It’s special now, but I think it’ll be even more special down the road when you get to look back at your career,” he said. “There’s a lot of days that kind of blend together and go by, but this is one that will stand out.”
Follow MassLive sports columnist Matt Vautour on Twitter at @MattVautour424.
