Ahead of Thursday’s Centennial Eras Night, members of the 2011 Stanley Cup Champion Boston Bruins visited TD Garden for Bruins morning skate. The team will be honored in a pregame ceremony before the Bruins face off against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Ahead of Thursday’s Centennial Eras Night, members of the 2011 Stanley Cup Champion Boston Bruins visited TD Garden for Bruins morning skate. The team will be honored in a pregame ceremony before the Bruins face off against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
BOSTON – The Boston Bruins will host their fifth and final “Era Night” of their Centennial season against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday. The Era Nights have been spread across the season, celebrating a different point in Boston’s history during matchups against each of the other Original Six teams.
Thursday’s Era Night will celebrate "Return of a Champion," spanning 2001-present, which is highlighted by the 2011 Stanley Cup champions. The Bruins hosted members of the 2011 team during their morning skate.
Only one player from that team remains on the Bruins roster today: Brad Marchand. However, the elder statesmen and captain in 2024 is not treated as such by his former teammates.
“I’m still the guy that gets picked on,” Marchand said after Thursday’s morning skate. “It’s funny, I’m the old guy in here, but when we all get together I’m the young guy again, so the bullying continues. … It’s fun, everyone has a lot of fun together and yeah, the excitement is definitely there.”
Boston will face the Maple Leafs for the second time in four days, currently holding a six-game win streak against its division rival. After blowing another late-game lead to the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday, the Bruins are hoping to get a much-needed rebound win.
Coach Jim Montgomery believes the presence of the 2011 Cup-winning members, including Zdeno Chara, Andrew Ference and coach Claude Julien, will give his group some extra juice.
“What I’ve noticed on the Era Nights is that our normal preparation is the same in the morning, and having a few of them around – like Ference was around today, [Julien], ‘Big Z’ – it adds to our players about why it’s special be a Bruin,” Montgomery said. “And then tonight, the ceremony gives us a lot of emotion.”
While Marchand is the only remaining member of the 2011 Cup team, their presence is resonating with the rest of the players. Danton Heinen and Parker Wotherspoon were Vancouver Canucks growing up in British Columbia, and both happened to attend Game 7 when the Bruins clinched the championship.
Even the players without personal ties were excited by the energy.
“It’s really nice seeing those guys back here,” Pavel Zacha said. “I wasn’t part of it, but hearing the stories from the guys who played with them and stuff, it was a great year and we’re just lucky to be able to celebrate them today.”
For Marchand, it was a full-circle moment.
“You don’t realize how fast time goes by, and it just feels like yesterday we were together, and you know, the memories of our time together," Marchand said. "It was so special, and so many great stories that we had to talk about, but it's great to kind of see everyone and hear how their lives are now with their families and post-career and all that, so a lot of great time catching up.”
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