Obviously the Days of Y’Orr crew has taken most of the last week off. We’ve been busy basking in the glow of the Bruins Stanley Cup wins and plotting some summer blog mischief.
As we ease back into a regular blogging schedule (remember, B’s got top ten pick in this Friday’s draft and Chara and Thomas might take home more hardware at the NHL Awards tomorrow!) we thought we’d share a few stories.
One of the best parts of this season for us was being able to blog/bitch about the ups and downs and the journey the Bruins took with all of you. We’ve already told you what that journey meant to us personally.
Last week on our Facebook page we asked you to send us some stories about what this season meant to you. We’ve met a lot of great people through our blog and we love hearing from you so we thought we’d start to share the stories we got from you. We’ll be posting a couple stories every few days. If you haven’t emailed us yet and would like to share your story, email us at [email protected].
Our first story comes from E.J.:
This season, marks the re-addiction of myself to hockey…I had stopped following hockey co-incidentally enough when the Bruins had to trade Ray Bourque to the Avalanche and give him a shot for the Cup (which he eventually won because he’s a boss). However, after transferring to Washington, DC and realizing there’s a hockey team right here (as I always lived far away from ‘civilization’) I ended up going to watch the Capitals play…Of course it was all about ‘Ovechkin’ blah blah blah, but my first game was a pre-season which was….wait for it………….against the Bruins.
I was given the tickets for free at work since everyone thinks pre-season is gay (but hockey is hockey to me) so I went and watched them win. (HOORAY -insert Rancourt fist pump). Needless to say, once I walked out of the arena, I wasn’t cold…I wasn’t tired…I felt….reborn. So before I even try writing 20 worthless and mind-boggling pages, what ended up happening is me, for the first time in many many years, with my own money, ended up watching several Capitals games (3 against the Bruins…preseason plus both home’s in the 4 game season series) and even made my way up to Boston for the free military appreciation game against the Devils (Add a win there), last home game of the year against the Senators (Another win please!) and the 1 game I won’t forget anytime soon….Game 4 of the Stanley Cup (Yes, you already know…add another win!).
Needless to say, when I was in Boston, I was clearly the ‘tourist’ getting lost and walking back and forth everytime glancing at my phone for directions…but it really was clear to me during game 4…the passion of Beantown being reborn with hockey influence, pre-gaming in front of the TD Garden sign, and seeing so many diverse jerseys (aka not just ‘Ovechkin’) made me realize…I -will- live in Boston one day and I -will not- put hockey on the backburner ever again. Sooooooo, the tl;dr version of this is….Watching hockey brought me back to my favorite team, made me want to live near them, and magically won a Cup….I must be good luck.
In all honesty and regards,
The #1 Elmer Johnson….but don’t call me that. I’ll accept Ej.
-Go Marchand!-
E.J. certainly isn’t alone. We’ve been hearing that from a lot of fans. How they stopped following the Bruins for a bit because of the Jacobs family, because of heart break over Bourque, etc. This season was wonderful for all B’s fans, young and old. Welcome back!
After the jump…. a couple more stories about this season in your words……
Our next story comes from Cory Burt:
My name is cory and i love the bruins. This season was f@#$in awesome. I do not think i missed a game all season. At one point this season my family got a brand new 65 inch tv and it was during the time when the bruins were losing all kinds of games in a row. My family actually considered getting rid of the tv (we thought it was bad luck) Then the bruins started winning again and it wasnt the tv. When playoffs came i had only 1000 in the bank as a 18 year old and i spend every dollar in that account going to games. That is how much i love this team. My family also had routines that things had to be in the same place for games and little superstitious things like that. I had to miss one playoff game because i had a senior cruise but i bought an app for my phone so a group of b’s fans could sit away from everyone (dancing having a good time) so we could watch the game. I am a die hard bruins fan and i cant wait till i can afford to buy season tickets. Lets go stanley cup champion bruins!!!
Ahhh a superstitious fan. Just like us! Ha. Wearing and now washing the same shirts we wore for each B’s win did not go over well with our girlfriends. They just don’t understand!
Our final story for today comes from Alex MacDonald:
I’ve seen enough Game 7’s that didn’t mean anything.
I watched Raymond Bourque blast a series clincher past Patrick Roy in 1994 only to watch that team blow a 2-0 series lead to Chris Terreri, Martin Brodeur and the New Jersey Devils, losing in six games.
I watched the Canadiens take the Bruins out in seven games in 2004, and 2008. I watched the Bruins lose in OT against the Hurricanes in 2009, and I watched the Bruins lose a Game 7 when they were up in a series 3-0.
And tonight made up for all that hockey heartbreak.
As the Bruins took a 3-0 lead into the third period tonight I could not believe it. 20 minutes until the Bruins were Stanley Cup champions. When there was only three minutes left in the game I still could not. I was so overwhelmed. I cried. I must have been one of many New Englanders who was down on their knees and crying tears of joy as Brad Marchand ripped the Bruins fourth goal of this Game 7 victory, the third Bruins Game 7 victory of the 2011 postseason.
This after going 17 years without winning a Game 7. None since April 1994!
I was so happy. I called my dad first and cried on the phone. I asked him if he remembered the first game we went to, which he did, a 2000 game between the Bruins and the Sabres where the Bruins blew a 1-0 lead in the last minute and gave up a goal in the final minute to Alexei Zhitnik. The game ended in a tie, which happened back before the 2004 strike, ties.
I called my friend William James McLaughlin. We have been to about 15 Bruins games in the last three years and have watched many more together on TV. I called him, got his voicemail, and cried talking to his voice mail about all we have been through.
As a Boston sports fan this should be nothing. This is the city’s seventh championship since the year 2000.
But this title, means so much more. It reminds me of my childhood. Of my father. And of my friends, both from home and from college. This Stanley Cup means the world to me, my family I am sure, and my friends. And I am glad to share it with all of them tonight.
We’re with you Alex. Bet there was not a dry eye in Boston when the B’s hoisted that Cup. Funny how one single moment can erase a life time of sports heartbreak. Best part? B’s are not even close to done. Great core locked up. Another top ten pick in the draft this Friday. They are the ultimate team. Not a collection of players, but a team. So hard to put what the Cup win meant to all of us into words, but you’re all doing a great job.
Don’t worry. If you emailed us we will post your email! We’re just doing them in the order they were sent in the interest of fairness. Thanks again to everyone who has sent in a story so far.
Until next time.
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