Bruins to begin centennial season with red-carpet arrival, home game against Blackhawks

Gerry Cheevers kicked, sprawled, dove, lunged, even rushed the puck on his way to his 1985 Hockey Hall of Fame induction.

The Boston Bruins lift the curtain on their centennial season against the visiting Chicago Blackhawks at TD Garden on Wednesday (7:30 p.m. ET; TNT, MAX), then with a fundraising gala Thursday. 

Excited for each event, their 82-year-old, forever-entertaining goalie guarantees one thing:

"Don't look for me on the dance floor."

Cheevers, not quite two months ago having had his left knee replaced, is among the many Bruins alumni in Boston this week, legends and lunch-pail grinders assembled to celebrate 100 years of a franchise that is part of the deep soul and blue-collar fabric of the city, New England and the team's fans far beyond.

The Bruins are the third NHL team to reach this milestone and first United States-based organization to mark a century. They follow the Montreal Canadiens, whose 1909 birth predates the League by eight years, and the Toronto Maple Leafs, a charter-member franchise in 1917 first known as the Torontos, or Arenas, then the St. Pats.

Gerry Cheevers in 2020, and in a 1970s pose with the Boston Bruins.

The Bruins have an ambitious slate of multiplatform centennial-season events planned for 2023-24, highlighted by five Era Nights against "Original Six" rivals, unique initiatives and many fan-friendly events and exhibitions. 

The celebration begins outside TD Garden on Wednesday with a pregame red-carpet arrival of 40 or so alumni, players spanning six decades of Bruins history from the 1940s into the 2000s. The team's all-time greats will be celebrated during the "Rafters Reunion" ceremony as part of the game against the Blackhawks, who with the Detroit Red Wings and New York Rangers will celebrate their 100th anniversaries in 2026-27.

Festivities continue Thursday at the Fairmont Copley Plaza with a black-tie event benefiting the Boston Bruins Foundation, the Centennial Gala beginning with a red-carpet arrival of current Bruins and alumni at 5:15 p.m. ET. The 20-player All-Centennial Team will be unveiled around 8:30 p.m. ET and live streamed on the Bruins website.

The "Historic 100" was announced Sept. 23, a list of the 100 most legendary players in Bruins history chosen by a 30-member panel of journalists, media representatives, historians and the hockey community. 

That same committee met Sept. 7 to debate and select the All-Centennial Team of two goalies, six defensemen and 12 forwards.

Milan Lucic (left) and Brad Marchand wear NFL New England Patriots hats for warmup before a game against the Los Angeles Kings at TD Garden on Jan. 31, 2015.

On Monday, Bruins captain Brad Marchand spoke almost reverentially about those who have gone before him and his teammates.

"We don't forget about those guys, they built the road that we walk on today," Marchand said. "We give the previous players a ton of credit. The amount of pride that we have in wearing this jersey, walking in this room every day."

Fan favorite Milan Lucic is back in Boston for his second tour of duty. He played the first eight of his 16 NHL seasons for the Bruins from 2007-15 before skating for the Los Angeles Kings, Edmonton Oilers and Calgary Flames.

"For me to be a part of this is great because when I got here, I didn't know much or any of the history of the Boston Bruins," Lucic said. "Just kind of learning it all and taking it in as a 19-, 20-, 21-year-old and being here for eight years … you learn what it means to be on an Original Six team, to be in an original sports city where they love their teams and their athletes so very much. 

"To be back for this, it obviously means a lot for me as an individual. I'm really looking forward to it starting Wednesday."

Unmasked Gerry Cheevers makes a kick save in a Dec. 28, 1966 game at the Montreal Forum against the Canadiens. From left: Wayne Connelly, Skip Krake and Dave Balon.

Marchand and Lucic were voted to the Bruins' Historic 100. So too was Cheevers, the 1970 and 1972 Stanley Cup champion and one of 11 goalies on the list.

"I'm getting ready to play golf. I timed my knee replacement, so I'd have an excuse not to dance in Boston," he joked last week from his home in Florida.

Cheevers played all but two of his 418 regular-season NHL games for the Bruins, breaking into the NHL in 1961-62 for two games with the Maple Leafs, and all 88 in the Stanley Cup Playoffs were played for Boston. He was 227-104-76 with a 2.89 goals-against average, .901 save percentage and 26 shutouts. In the playoffs: 53-34, 2.70, .902 and eight shutouts. He still holds a half-century-old NHL record, going undefeated in 32 consecutive games in 1971-72. 

Cheevers left the Bruins that fall to play 3 1/2 seasons for Cleveland of the World Hockey Association before returning as a free agent in January 1976 for the final four-plus seasons of his career. He then coached the Bruins from 1980 through 56 games into the 1984-85 season.

"Being a Bruin has always been important to me, winning the Cup was always important," Cheevers said. "And the Bruins have always been there for me. I went to the WHA, but they welcomed me back. They always had a job for me, they treated me royally. I'm very happy to participate in their centennial celebration. I was only a small part of the Bruins, but it was very, very important to me because they've treated me unbelievably well."

Gerry Cheevers in 1970s Montreal Forum action against the Canadiens.

Cheevers expects a great many stories to be shared with his former teammates over the next two days and the season ahead, some of them even rooted in the truth.

"A lot of stories will pop up," he said. "And if some of us can't remember the details, I'm sure others will. It'll be a lot of fun."

At the top of the list will be the Bruins' 1970 Stanley Cup win, his most cherished memory. The four-game sweep of the St. Louis Blues is legendary for defenseman Bobby Orr's airborne Game 4 winner scored 40 seconds into overtime, the dramatic clincher in the 4-3 victory celebrated in a statue at TD Garden.

"Here's what really happened," Cheevers said. "I let in two terrible goals just so that Bobby could score his. I tell Bobby, 'If I wasn't so bad in that game, you never would have had a chance to score in overtime, we'd have won straight up in regulation time and maybe we'd never have heard of you.'"

And he laughed.

"Well, we probably would have heard of Bobby anyway." 

NHL.com staff writer Amalie Benjamin contributed to this report

Top photo: Gerry Cheevers looks to move the puck to a teammate during a 1970s game. © Lewis Portnoy/Hockey Hall of Fame