The Cup was back in Boston on Monday night, as were a few of the key players who helped bring it here in the first place. Brad Marchand, Shawn Thornton and Andrew Ference, along with team president Cam Neely, were on hand at Loews Theatre in downtown Boston for the premiere screening of the new Bruins championship DVD.
Ference and Marchand brought the Cup along with them, and has become their trademark, they found another original way to transport hockey’s most cherished prize. A month after Ference took the Cup on a tour of the North End in his daughter’s baby stroller, he enlisted some help with the longer trek downtown as he and Marchand hopped into a pedicab with it.
“It was fun,” Ference said of the ride. “We keep trying to find unique ways to take it around the city.”
And as environmentally conscious as Ference is, recycling the stroller idea simply was not practical on this occasion, and his other mode of transport was vetoed.
“It’s too far [for the stroller],” Ference said, “and they wouldn’t let me skateboard.”
No matter how it arrives, the Cup is always a hit. That was the case again on Monday when the hundreds of fans on hand at the theater erupted in applause when the Bruins brought it into the lobby.
“It just seems everywhere we go, whenever the Cup’s around, the place is packed,” Marchand said. “It shows the support of everyone, and how special and how much it means to everyone. It’s just pretty special.”
There are drawbacks to the instant fame and adoration winning the Cup has thrust upon the Bruins, who can now relate to popularity the Red Sox and Patriots have long been accustomed to experiencing.
“We can’t go anywhere anymore,” Thornton said. “It’s like David [Ortiz] and Youk [Kevin Youkilis] and those guys, you don’t see them out too often and I’m starting to figure out why. Boston fans are very passionate. I walk my dog and three people stop and shake my hand. It’s been a great experience and I guess I kind of expected it, but it’s been even more so than I expected.”
Ference, ever the man of the people, downplayed the differences in his daily life since winning the Cup.
“We’ve all lived in our neighborhoods and know everybody around, so you still see the same people that you knew from before,” Ference said. “Everybody’s excited and happy and walking around with a bigger smile, but other than that it’s pretty normal.”
Normal, of course, can mean very different things to different people, and the sight of a giant, shiny silver trophy riding down Tremont Street can distract a few folks.
“It was me and Marsh, and I lot of people didn’t recognize us,” Ference said. “They were wondering what we were doing with that big Cup in a pedicab rolling through town.”
The answer was simple: What better way to enjoy a night out at the theater? And once there, what could be better than a chance to relive their memorable run to a championship on the big screen?
At least one Bruin was hoping that the DVD would also include some of the low points of the season, as overcoming that adversity was just as important to building the Bruins into a Cup winner.
“I’m hoping they captured what it took to get there,” Thornton said before the showing. “The adversity. I’m hoping they captured everything, because there’s some things that happened during the year that weren’t positive too, but they contributed to building us into a team and making us stronger. Obviously, the trophy going over Zee’s [Zdeno Chara] head is the most exciting part. The look on his face, the elation, the excitement, there’s no words to explain how happy he was. I still get the hairs on my neck stand up when I see it, so I can’t wait to see that. But I hope everything’s in there.”
The DVD was a crowd pleaser, but it definitely focused more on the high points of the Bruins’ historic run. It also shied away from some of the more controversial moments, as no mention was made of Ference’s “unintentional bird” in Montreal.
There were some revealing moments from the on-ice mics, with Ference stealing the show when he chirps Alexandre Burrows by telling him “You’re not that tough” and sarcastically asking Henrik Sedin if he was all right after one of the Vancouver captain’s dives. It doesn’t come close to telling the complete story of the Bruins’ remarkable run, but it hits enough of the high notes to please Bruins fans who have waited almost four decades — and innumerable advances in video technology — for a championship keepsake of the club.
And best of all, unlike watching the playoffs live, this DVD is completely stress-free, with a guaranteed happy ending.
“This one is not going to be a nail-biter,” Ference said, though footage of Burrows’ chomp on Patrice Bergeron is included. “That’s all right, I can hit up Harry Potter or something afterward if I want to.”
