The Boston Bruins have kept their distance over the last few months, but they'll come together in the NHL bubble.
The Bruins plan to lock arms during the playing of the Canadian and U.S. national anthems prior to games in the restarted 2020 NHL season, the team announced Tuesday.
The gesture will be "a sign of solidarity with the Black community," per the team, and is "solely intended to be a positive sign of support for the Black community, and a way for us to use our platform to help end racism."
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The Bruins issued a statement supporting the "Black Lives Matter" movement in early June following the death of George Floyd at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer.
Their players since have taken action, with Patrice Bergeron pledging a donation to the Boston chapter of the NAACP and Zdeno Chara participating in a rally in Boston to protest racial inequality and police brutality.
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Now, the Bruins will demonstrate their support of racial justice publicly with a symbolic gesture prior to games. Their first opportunity comes Thursday night, when they'll scrimmage the Columbus Blue Jackets at 7 p.m. ET in Toronto.
The Bruins begin their round-robin schedule Sunday, Aug. 2, with a 3 p.m. ET game against the Philadelphia Flyers.
How Bruins plan to support Black Lives Matter during national anthems originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
