Bruins Fan’s Encounter With Big Black Bear in Canadian Forest Could Be Good Omen

Editor’s note: NESN.com is asking Bruins fans to share their favorite Bruins memory. Derrick Spafford from Yarker, Ontario, Canada shares this memory

Growing up in rural Canada, like many kids, I played and was passionate about hockey from a very young age. I remember watching the Bruins win the 1972 Cup as a six-year-old and have longed to see another one since.

My dream of playing in the NHL never materialized as I realized in my teens that I didn’t have the ability to make it. At this time, I switched my focus to competitive long-distance running. I now compete in 50 mile and 100 mile ultramarathon trail running races, but am still a die hard Bruins fan. 

On Monday, I was out for one of my daily trail runs in the woods near my home. During this run, I was thinking a lot about the Bruins and about being down 2-0 in the series. I see wildlife regularly during my runs, but was shocked to come face to face with the largest black bear I have ever seen in my life. I was a little startled to see him, with me being miles away from home on the trails. The bear wasn’t too concerned with our meeting though and slowly wandered off in the other direction.

For the remainder of my run, I was thinking about this bear encounter and the more I thought about it, the more I convinced myself that this was a sign that the Bruins were going to come back and win.

Well, you know the outcome of the past few games since my bear encounter, and I’m expecting that to continue. I’m really looking forward to two more Bruins wins, so I can go for another run on those trails and thank a certain black bear.

Do you have a Bruins story to share? Send your story, along with a photo, to fanvoice@nesn.com. Please include the subject line “Share Your Memory” with your name and where you live in the body of the email.