By Jon Hilton
BOSTON- As Zdeno Chara hoisted Lord Stanley’s cup high over his head, I am not sure that everybody watching truly understood what the Boston Bruins Victory over the Vancouver Canucks 4-0 on Wednesday night meant to the franchise and it’s future. The Boston Bruins are now relevant.
It is clear that up until this the Bruins were a distant fourth when it came to major sports in this town. The Red Sox are clearly number one, followed by the Patriots then the Celtics and then the Bruins. It is understandable, the Bruins hadn’t won it all since 1972, I personally was five at that time and have no memory of them winning and therefore no nostalgic connection to the storied franchise. To me, The Bruins always meant a team that would not or could not get over the hump and win it all. If they had a great regular season and finished in first place, surely a disappointing first round exit at the hands of the hated Montreal Canadians was coming. If they got a three game lead over the Flyers, your hopes would rise and then be smashed like a jack-o-lantern on Halloween. Why were we to believe that this year was any different? The Bruins are coached by a man everyone in Boston thought should be fired a month ago. Their captain carried the tag that he couldn’t win the big game or series. Their goalie could have been had by any team in the league who made the right offer. There was no rational reason to believe this team would be the one to exercise the ghosts of Bruins past, but they most definitely and emphatically did just that.
The 2011 Stanley Cup Champion Bruins have captured the imagination and hearts of several key demographics across New England and across the continent. Everyone now has their victory moment to tie to the Bruins. Twenty years from now, you will remember everything about how Tim Thomas was “the man” and they just don’t make goalies like him anymore. You will wax nostalgic about the teamwork, unselfishness and work ethic of the 2011 Stanley Cup Championship Bruins and how the teams of 2031 just don’t seem to measure up. You will remember where you were and who you were with when the Bruins finally defeated those bleeping Canucks once and for all. This will all happen because the Bruins are now relevant to a whole new realm of people.
I have heard many so-called “real” hockey fans complain that everyone is just jumping on the band wagon and real fans should be appalled, that people who have never even skated or don’t understand what this offsides business is all about, are paying attention to hockey. I say enjoy the moment, every fan started somewhere, you were once exposed to the sport, through playing it or watching it with your Dad or someway that caused you to love hockey and root for the Boston Bruins. There are a whole lot of people who have just had their first experience with hockey and now are fans. Like it or not your going to have to share your team with a lot of people who two months ago didn’t know what a puck was made of and didn’t care. Now they’ll be sitting next to you at the Garden and loving the game just as much as you. Get used to the idea because it is going to happen. Just ask any Red Sox fan.
Where exactly do the Bruins rank now in the major sports scene of Boston? That remains to be seen. I think a lot will be shown when the Cup is paraded through Boston on Saturday. This parade is on a weekend so it is safe to say the it will be attended by hundreds of thousands of people willing to show their appreciation and I expect it to be second only to the 2004 Red Sox Parade in significance and meaning. Let’s face it 86 years was a long time and none of us ever thought we would live to see that day, it was a pseudo-religious experience of biblical proportions. This one will be similar but on a slightly lower emotional level. Whatever happens it will be a spectacle worth watching and it will prove that the Boston Bruins are now a much more relevant member of the Boston sports scene. For better or worse the Bruins have won the hearts and minds of a whole new generation of sports fans.
