Bruins Model Centennial Jerseys at JetBlue Takeoff Event

BOSTON – Let’s just say that strutting down a runway during a fashion show is not exactly in the wheelhouse of Milan Lucic or Brandon Carlo.

Fortunately for both veterans of the Spoked-B, they’re teammates with Brad Marchand.

“Marchy was talking us up, making us feel pretty good about ourselves so he had us confident going up and down the runway there,” Lucic said following the Bruins’ Centennial Takeoff event on Saturday night inside the JetBlue hangar at Logan Airport.

Before the event, during which the Bruins unveiled the three new jerseys – a primary home and away and a vintage alternate – they’ll don during the upcoming 2023-24 campaign, Marchand was doing his best to perfect his modeling poses and struts.

“I was very nervous, definitely stepping out of my element there,” said Carlo. “I was just watching Marchy in the back do all these different poses, so I just tried to take a couple from him.”

Marchand admitted that he, too, was feeling a bit out of his element, though you wouldn’t have known it by the way he commanded the stage once the event commenced. The B’s longtime winger, dressed in Boston’s new alternate sweater, tossed a cookie to his wife, Katrina, who was seated in the front row, as he made his way past the crowd, before stopping to pose for the cameras with his stick around his shoulders.

“I was more concerned about the walk. I didn’t know what I was gonna do walking,” said Marchand. “It’s a long walk so I kind of panicked on the way down. But once you get out there you just let it flow.”

To finish things off, Marchand took off his Centennial ball cap and fired it into the crowd with a slapper.

“I’m retiring early and I’m gonna be a model – that was a blast,” Marchand said with his patented smirk. “It was a lot of fun, actually. I think it made it easier knowing that everyone here was a Bruins fan and excited to be a part of it too. It was a great experience.

“Put on the resume now that I’m a part-time model. The jerseys look great, excited to wear them this year.”

The sweaters, developed in conjunction with adidas and the National Hockey League, were designed to “pay homage to the club’s 100-year history” and the primaries feature a sparkling “Centennial gold,” which is a “symbolic toast to 100 years of history.” The alternate, meanwhile, is brown and gold and is “inspired by vintage sweater designs from the club’s origins.”

“Obviously, a huge responsibility,” said Bruins president Cam Neely, who added that he was heavily involved in the creation of the sweaters. “Love looking back at the history of the franchise. We wanted to do something special for the home and away, and for the third, we really wanted to go back in time a little bit.

“The home and away we’re wearing for this upcoming season and then they’re done. We wanted to make it as special as possible and really have the history brought into it but also the future as well.”

Per the club’s press release, the new primary uniforms are “a spin-off of the recent black and white home and away jerseys…[and] feature new crests, coloring and striping.” The uniforms, for the first time since the early 1990s, “are adorned with complementary team crests – a gold-trimmed Spoked-B on the home uniform and a black-trimmed Spoked-B on the road uniform.”

“I think it looks great,” said Lucic. “The ‘Centennial gold’ with the stripes and, I guess, kind of the ‘80s Bruins jersey that Cam and Ray [Bourque] and them wore, the one that a lot of people know from the Happy Gilmore [movie], that style. It’s cool, it’s something new and I can’t wait for Game 1 to be able to wear these.”

The “Centennial gold” is also incorporated into the striping on the sweaters, which include three gold stripes on each sleeve for in a nod to the B’s six Stanley Cup championships.

“I think it’ll look good under the Garden lights,” said Carlo. “It will be fun to show them off soon…it’s incredible, you look at the history of this team, that’s something that’s so special. We just had our golf tournament the other day and all the new guys are saying how amazing it is to have Ray and Bobby [Orr] around.

“To be able to meet those guys and the history they created, hopefully we can create some more. Very, very blessed to be here and the opportunity to be around this year.”

Lucic, who is back in Boston after an eight-year hiatus, concurred, noting how privileged the players feel to be part of such a unique and historic celebration this season.

“For me, not only to be back but back for a Centennial season just makes it extra special,” said Lucic, who played his first eight NHL seasons in Boston from 2007-15.

“It’s a huge honor. It’s what you dream of when you become an athlete to be a part of a special team, a special organization – to do it in a special city. To experience what I’ve experienced so far as a Boston Bruin has been more than what I could ever dream of.

“To add all of this and what comes with the Centennial season just adds to the list and makes it more special.”