“It’s special,” Bruins captain Brad Marchand said. “A lot of the guys that have come through are guys we looked up to over the years, and they’ve built the foundation and the culture that we still try to strive to accomplish every single day. To have them in the building, and we got to meet a number of the guys after [Wednesday’s game], it’s pretty special.”
For the alumni, who entered TD Garden on Wednesday walking on a gold carpet surrounded by fans, the Centennial Gala marked the next stop in a long line of celebrations coming up this season.
“Three days here to kick it off. If [the whole season] is anything like these three days, it’ll be a lot of fun,” Bourque said on Wednesday. “I don’t know how many times some of us are going to be asked back, but whenever it happens, we’ll certainly jump on it.”
With Bourque and the rest of the Bruins alumni looking back on old times, the newest Bruins players got a taste of their future. Forwards Matt Poitras and Johnny Beecher made their NHL debuts on Wednesday, and both attended the Gala on Thursday with the rest of the current roster.
“You look back at all the history, and everything this franchise has done, it’s pretty special to be a part of the 100th year,” Beecher said.
Among the festivities, the organization plans to release the Bruins All-Centennial Team, a full 20-player lineup of the best players in franchise history as determined by a selection committee of local and national media members.
While focused on the season ahead, Marchand said he will cherish the memories he’ll make on Thursday as time goes on.
“I don’t think it’ll really, truly sink in what we got to see and be part of until down the road,” Marchand said. “As we still play, you kind of take some stuff for granted, but looking back, it’s definitely going to be one of our favorite moments.”
