BOSTON, MA – NOVEMBER 18: Members of the Bruins Stanley Cup winners of 1970 and 1972 raise the banners to the Garden rafters on Big Bag Bruins night before a game between the Boston Bruins and the Montreal Canadiens on November 18, 2023, at TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Fred Kfoury III/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
The Boston Bruins’ Stanley Cup winners from 1970 and ’72 finally got their chance to raise a banner to the rafters on Saturday night.
As part of the club’s 100th season celebration, the club honored what was called the “Big Bad Bruins Era” from 1960-76.
During that period, they captured Cups in ’70 and ’72 but they never had a ceremony to raise the banner.
Before the team faced longtime rival Montreal Canadiens, some of the members of those teams — led by Hall of Famers Bobby Orr and Johnny Bucyk — walked onto the ice wearing a jersey and hoisted banners.
Get Boston local news, weather forecasts, lifestyle and entertainment stories to your inbox. Sign up for NBC Boston’s newsletters.
“I’ve seen it done in other cities and how they’ve gone about it, it meant a lot to our guys,” said former forward Wayne Cashman, 78, a member of both Cup winning teams. “You really feel the championship.”
Dallas Smith, 82, a defenseman on both teams, also felt special pride raising the flags that honored the achievement.
“It meant a lot,” he said, smiling. “It’s nice to be recognized. We’re lucky to have won the Cup twice. We wish we could have won it more, but that’s how sports is.”
President Cam Neely felt like the moment meant a lot to the players and the fans.
“It’s extremely special. Obviously, a team as old as the Bruins and the players that have come through here and worn the jersey, to have so many ’70, ’72 guys here is pretty special,” he said.
Neely didn’t know they hadn't a banner ceremony until someone in marketing brought it up.
“I didn’t even realize it until a couple of months ago,” he said. “They’d show up the next year and the banner was already hanging.’’
