Centennial Stories: Handwritten Memories of Boston Garden

BostonBruins.com – When the Boston Garden closed its doors in 1995, the memories of a nearly 70-year existence were too many to recount.

But some Bruins, NHL, and media legends – many of whom have since passed on – did their best to recall some of their favorites upon the building’s closing with handwritten and typed out letters to the team’s public relations department.

Those remembrances were then published in a special commemorative program on September 26, 1995, for “The Last Hurrah” celebration when the Bruins closed down the Garden with an exhibition contest against the Montreal Canadiens.

Here are some of the letters that were included in the program:

WESTON ADAMS, JR., BOSTON BRUINS PRESIDENT (1969-75)

"To pick one or two favorite memories is an impossible task. My family brought the

Bruins and the NHL to Boston and the United States and provided the rental guarantees that allowed the Garden to be built. Three generations of my family operated the hockey team and have been inexorably bound to the Garden. The Garden wasn't a series of dates and events to the Adams’, it was family and a way of life.”

JEAN BELIVEAU, MONTREAL CANADIENS FORWARD (1953-71)

"I have always thought that the Boston fans have seen great hockey over all those years in the venerable Boston Garden. I am so happy to have played in this great building against tremendous hockey players where each game was hard-fought. It was also in the Boston Garden that I took over from Toe Blake during a game and coached the Canadiens for two periods. To the Boston organization and the great Boston hockey fans, I thank you for all of my cherished memories.”

LEO BOVIN, BOSTON BRUINS DEFENSEMAN (1954-66)

"The year I came from the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1953-54, the crowds were just average but by the end of the year the Garden was full al 13,909. When we played Montreal in the Semi-Finals, we lost four games straight, but the fans gave us a standing ovation. That really stands out in in mind. Playing in the Boston Garden was great as it fell like the crowds were really close to the ice with the upper balconies nearly on ton of us. I loved it!”

DON CHERRY, BOSTON BRUINS HEAD COACH (1974-79)

“I have many favorite memories of the Boston Garden, but the one I remember most was a Bobby Orr goal against the Atlanta Flames in 1974. Bobby was killing a penalty and he was playing that game of his (never giving the puck to the other team). He would stand behind his net and if the team chased him he would go in front of his net. If they chased him there, he would go behind his net. Meanwhile, he was killing the penalty.

“On this night, the Flames would not chase him, they forced him along the boards As he slowly made his way along the right side of the boards, the Flames did not rush him for fear he'd go behind his net again, so Bobby skated into their end in the right corner and put it into high gear: The Flames all rushed at him and for some reason, they all fell down in the corner, including the goalie. Bobby took off behind their net came out in front and backhanded it in the empty net. This was the first time and last time I ever saw a crowd stunned by a goal - there was silence for ten seconds and on the bench, we just sat there not believing what we were seeing.

“Bobby put his stick on his pads and his head down (he was embarrassed that he had embarrassed the Flames). There was no hot dogging or jumping around, he was almost saying ‘Sorry, guys.’ Bobby was class personified, the greatest plaver who ever lived and ever will live."

FRED CUSICK, BOSTON BRUINS BROADCASTER (1957-97)

“As an eleven-year-old growing up Brighton, MA, I was invited to a Bruins game vs. Chicago on December 21, 1930, by Mr. William Doherty, a next-door neighbor who had season tickets. We sat in the west end balcony, the Bruins won, 4-1, and the immortal Eddie Shore scored a goal. October 12, 1952, with the Bruins playing Montreal was my first broadcast, having succeeded Frank Ryan, who had retired. There wasn’t of a chance to yell ‘Score!’ - it was a 1-1 tie.”

WOODY DUMART, BOSTON BRUINS FORWARD (1935-46; 1953-54)

“I have many memories throughout my career at Boston Garden, but a few of my favorites include winning two Stanley Cups in 1939 (on Garden ice) and 1941 and being honored by the Boston fans with Milt Schmidt [on March 18, 1952] and being reunited with Bobby Bauer (who had retired) for the game."

FERNY FLAMAN, BOSTON BRUINS DEFENSEMAN (1944-51; 1954-61)

"My memories begin when I came here almost 5O years ago with the old Boston Olympics and playing with the Olympics for three championships. One of my other big memories is when we won our first Beanpot for Northeastern University, the first one in 27 years at the Boston Garden. The crowd just stayed and everybody stood up and cheered. I don't think that anyone ever thought we could do it but we did it. Another one is when they honored me with a night and presented me with a car ana my mother stepped out of the car. I saw a lot of handkerchiefs. It was a very emotional night. And the fans in Boston are tremendous, I think they’re the best in the league. Those things stand out in my memory.”

BEP GUIDOLIN, BOSTON BRUINS FORWARD (1942-44; 1945-46); HEAD COACH (1973-74)

“I remember being 16 years old and scoring Two goals in my first game in the 'Gahden' against the Chicago Blackhawks. Then, Harry Sinden gave me the job as coach of one of the best teams in the world, the Boston Bruins, and to coach one of the best plavers in the world, the greatest of them all. Bobby Orr was one of the best guys I ever coached and one of the best guys I ever met.”

TOM JOHNSON, BOSTON BRUINS DEFENSEMAN (1963-65); HEAD COACH (1970-73)

“I remember my first NHL game as a member of the Montreal Canadiens was in Boston Garden. It was the last game of the season (March 21, 1948) and I was still an amateur. Another favorite memory is when I was coaching the Bruins. It was the first game of the 1972 Stanley Cup finals against New York. The score was tied with a minute to go in the game and it was Ace Bailey’s turn at left wing. I told him someone else was going to go, but the other person didn’t go out. Bailey went out and ended up scoring the winning goal.”

FRANK MAHOVLICH, HOCKEY HALL OF FAMER (TOR, DET, MTL)

"Mv memories of the Boston Garden go back to the late 1950s when we had a playoff game against the Bruins and the famous "Uke" line. Harry Lumley was in the nets and I can see Harry take his stick and break it over the net in an overtime loss. There was a time in the late 1960s when Bobby Orr was dominating. I happened to collide with him and we both ended up on opposite sides of the rink! My fondest memory was the 1971 series, Montreal vs. Boston, Sunday afternoon, seventh game. I had scored two goals and an assist with seconds to go in the game and the goalie pulled in favor of an extra forward. Orr was defending the net when I hit the post. My memories of the Garden also include the great fans that Boston has had over the years and how supportive they were not only for the Bruins but also for the great game of hockey.”

DON MCKENNEY, BOSTON BRUINS CENTER (1954-63)

“There are many great memories of this old building…the great fights between Tony Demarco and Carmen Barillo in the 1950s; watching Bruce Kidd, the miler, bringing the whole building to its feet his last ten laps as he set new records; the Rocket Richard - Hal Laycoe incident in the ‘50s (being on the ice at that time, it was a very scary atmosphere); over 12,000 showing up for the Beanpot game the night of the [1978] blizzard with several thousand spending the night in the Garden (I finally got home Thursday morning after walking from North Quiney to Braintree); coming so close to winning the Stanley Cup in the ‘50s against those great Montreal teams; winning the Gallery Gods award in 1960-61 after many years in Boston
; winning the f
irst Beanpot for Northeastern in the 1980s with 90% of the people cheering for Northeastern in the third periods and overtime.”

DOUGH MOHNS, BOSTON BRUINS WING/DEFENSEMAN (1953-64)

“Most thrilling…stepping out onto the ice wearing a Boston Bruin uniform for the first time at the start of the 1953-54 season. Most exciting…Hal Laycoe and "Rocket" Richard's encounter and explosion at the Garden in 1954 when every player on both teams cleared the benches and waged a battle that must have been the longest ever on ice. Most enjoyable…playing on defense with Ferny Flaman as my defensive partner in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Most rewarding…being presented with the Elizabeth Dufresne Trophy as the most valuable player in 1961-62 and being presented the Eddie Shore Trophy by Eddie Shore himself.”

STAN MIKITA, CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS FORWARD (1959-80)

"I had some great, memorable games in the years BBO and BPE (before Bobby Orr and before Phil Esposito!); after that it was not much fun. However, it is not the building itself that brings back memories. After all, it is just brick, concrete, wood and frozen water - it is the people that came into that building. Other than one incident, when an over-exuberant fan decided to stub out his cigarette butt on my neck, I was very happy to play in front of the Bruins supporters. Thank you, fans, for the memories of 22 years of fun (most of the time!).

JOHNNY PEIRSON, BOSTON BRUINS FORWARD (1946-54; 1955-58)

"I’ve had some great memories here in Boston Garden, almost too many to isolate just one. I think the thing that I will always remember is the closeness of the great Boston fans and the amount of noise they can generate to shake the rafters here in the old building. The fans will always be the thing in my heart that I’ll remember most about the old Garden.”

BILL QUACKENBUSH, BOSTON BRUINS DEFENSEMAN (1949-56)

"Tops among my memories would have to be the 4-2 win over the Detroit Red Wings in the 1953 Stanley Cup Semi-Finals. In the 1950-51 season, I had my brother, Mazx Quackenbush, on left defense. I remember one game against the Rangers when injuries had us down two defensemen and we played the last 35 minutes. And of course who could forget the Gallery Gods or John Kiley, Henry McKenna, Nick DeINino, D.Leo Monahan, Herb Ralby, Roger Barry, Tom Fitzgerald…or the fact that my wife was seen reading the newspaper during a hockey game!”

FRAN ROSA, BOSTON GLOBE BRUINS WRITER

"Who wouldn't choose Bobby Orr's Stanley Cup winning goal as the most exciting memory at the Garden? Not any of the 250,000 people who claimed they were there that Mother's Day of 1970. The Garden to me, though, went beyond the events and victories and defeats and the people who made them. It was the people who worked there – maybe the people who resided there is a better way of putting it. They inhabited the place. There was Walter Brown, probably the truest sportsman Boston has ever known. And his successor, Eddie Powers, the happiest man I've ever known, who called the building the House of Magic, a great storyteller of the misadventures.

“Then there was Herb Ralby, the Bruins public relations director, whose stock phrase was ‘wait a minute' and his assistant, Tony Nota, saying, ‘I’ve spent half my life waiting a minute for Herb.’ And there were moments I'II always remember and smile, moments not necessarily in games, but at practice. I remember once as a Bruns practice wound down and the players had left the ice, Phil Esposito, pointing to the door where the Bruins came on the ice, shouted over from center ice, “Leave the gate open about a foot.’ He skated to center ice, a puck on his stick, and as be reached the top of the right circle, he scaled a shot at the door.  The puck hooked and went through the small opening - nothing but air. 'Wow, do it again, Phil,' I said. 'No way,' he laughed as be came off the ice.

“Then there was the time when the Bruins were loosening up as they skated around the rink before practice. Terry O'Reilly says to John Bucyk, 'Chief, do owe you any money for the tickets to the last game in Toronto?' Bucyk replies, 'Yes. 40 bucks. ' O'Reilly asks, ‘Will you take a check?’ Bucyk says, ‘Sure,’ and pow, he’s flat on the ice.

“And one final memory from a game…Don Cherry is the coach of the Colorado Rockies, back for his first game in Boston as a visting coach. Sometime in the third period he takes a timeout, turns bis back on his players and signs autographs for people sitting behind the Rockies bench! Outrageous. I'll miss the Old Lady of Causeway Street. No tears, just memories. I have loved her – more than the written word can say – for 40 years.”

DEREK SANDERSON, BOSTON BRUINS FORWARD (1965-74)

"My first game in Boston Garden was in 1965 my junior team in Niagara Falls and it was against Oshawa, where Bobby Orr played. We were both Bruins-owned and were supposed to be the Bruins future. There was big excitement playing in Boston Garden, there was something grand about it, something Boston about it that I learned to appreciate.

“There was no experience like it, the people right on top of you and the place was packed for this game. Now when I left home my father had said to me, ‘Son, there’s two people those Boston fans are going to appreciate. Bobby Orr and the one that beats him up.’ So in the first period, I fought Bobby. When the game was over, Oshawa had won, 6-5, and I'm in the men's room and there’s a Bruins fan in there. He says, ‘Hey you're Sanderson?' I said, 'Yeah', and he says, 'Did you fight Bobby Orr?' And I said, ‘Yeah’, and he says, ‘They re going to like you in this town.’

“Bobby had six points in the game and in the papers the next day, that’s the only two things they mentioned. Bobby’s six points and my fight. I had five points, they didn’t care. So my dad was right. And the building’s still the same.  The fans appreciate hard work and toughness and the building exemplifies Bruins fans.”

ED WESTFALL, BOSTON BRUINS FORWARD (1961-72)

"[After winning the Cup in 1970, I] was walking up the staircase behind the Bruins dressing room, with all of my uniform and skates on, to the Garden Club. I found Mr. and Mrs. Weston Adams down in thew private room to congratulate them. I had the most fun walking through the Garden Club with the fans in there and I shocked the daylights out of the Adams.”

BOB WILSON, BOSTON BRUINS BROADCASTER (1965-94)

"So many memories, so little space. I first saw the Garden as a child in the Thirties. First the circus, then the rodeo. At that time the steepness of the balcony stairways impressed me. Scared me might be a better way to put it. My first hockey experiences came in the Forties with the Bruins and the old Olympics – fifty cents for the ‘Pics on Sunday afternoon and a dollar something for the Bruns that night.

“My early memories include Milt Schmidt adjusting his elbow pads before faceoffs, Dit Clapper's hair, few helmets, the ice surface scraped and flooded by hand and on and on. And Orr's goal in 1970 is probably everyone's choice as their all time number one memory. The Garden is a special place and it will never be replaced.”