BOSTON – It’s set to be a raucous night on Causeway Street.
Not only are the Black & Gold hosting the Atlantic Division rival Toronto Maple Leafs for the clubs’ last meeting of the regular season, but the showdown comes on Boston’s final Era Night of the Centennial celebration, as the team gets set to honor the Bruins of the early 2000s and the 2011 Stanley Cup champions.
“It will be exciting, for sure,” said Bruins captain Brad Marchand. “Toronto’s been probably our biggest rivalry in the last decade. They’ve been a great team. We’ve had some really good playoff series – probably between them and Tampa we’ve competed the most and had some of the most exciting games. The fans definitely embrace it and enjoy it.
“And then you add the guys coming back, even a lot of the guys from the different teams before [2011]. The building will be rocking. It will be exciting and should be a lot of fun. It’s exciting for the group in here to use that as some motivation to come out hard tonight.”
Many of Marchand’s former teammates, as well as some of the Bruins from the early 2000s, attended morning skate and were visiting the dressing room after the session. Among the visitors: Zdeno Chara, David Krejci, Tim Thomas, Claude Julien, Andrew Ference, Michael Ryder, Dennis Seidenberg, Daniel Paille, P.J. Axelsson, P.J. Stock, Byron Dafoe, Hal Gill, Mike Knuble and Kyle McLaren.
“What I notice on the Era Nights is our normal preparation is the same in the morning,” said coach Jim Montgomery. “And having a few of them around, like Ference was around, Claude, Big Zee…it adds to our players about why it’s special to be a Bruin. Then tonight the ceremony gives us a lot of emotion.”
