Health & Fitness
More Than A Hockey Game
Wednesday's night's Bruins game was an emotional first sporting event since the marathon bombings
On Wednesday night, the Bruins gave the city of Boston something to smile about, even in a losing effort.
Prior to puck drop, a video entitled ‘Boston Strong’ played loudly on the TD Garden HDX. The video showed pictures of runners and bystanders helping in the aftermath of the marathon bombings. After the video, a moment of silence was held to honor the victims of the bombings. If the video didn’t get you to cry, then the singing of the national anthem certainly did. Rene Rancourt began singing The Star Spangled Banner only to be picked up by the crowd after the first few bars.
And in that moment, everyone was a Boston fan.
Find out what's happening in Dedhamwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
The 17,565 in TD Garden came together delivering one of, if not the most bone-chilling and memorable renditions of the national anthemin Boston history. Forward Brad Marchand admitted postgame that “the whole time we were fighting back tears.” You are not alone Brad.
As I looked around in my seat and saw the passionate faces of many, I realized that I would never forget this night. Boston came together over a hockey game
easing the pain of the events that transpired at the 117th running of the Boston Marathon on Monday afternoon.
Find out what's happening in Dedhamwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
The game wasn’t about the Bruins giving up another late third period lead; it was about healing our city and giving it something to smile about. The game brought back normalcy in our lives. The singing of the anthem along with the numerous amounts of American flags present in the Garden showed Boston’s love and pride for its city. Chants of “Let’s Go Bruins!” were replaced with “Let’s Go Boston!” and “We are Boston!” Brad Marchand commended the fans postgame for the chants saying, “the amount of energy we created from that [the chants] is incredible.”
In the end, it didn’t matter that the Bruins lost 3-2 in a shootout to Buffalo, the atmosphere and compassion of the game alone lifted the spirits of Boston.
I will remember the chills that the anthem gave me for the rest of my life. As Captain Zdeno Chara put it, “It makes you proud to be a Bostonian, proud to be a Boston Bruin."