Centennial Provides Bruins Champions With Moment Decades In Making

BOSTON -- The Bruins celebrated another "Era Night" on Saturday at TD Garden, welcoming members of the 1970 and 1972 Stanley Cup championship-winning teams back to Boston to celebrate their centennial season.

It wasn't your normal celebration, however.

The B's had some business to attend to before they could drop the puck with the Montreal Canadiens. The "Big Bad Bruins" had to (finally) raise their banner.

A moment 50-plus years in the making.⁰
For the first time, the 1970 and 1972 Stanley Cup champion #NHLBruins had the chance to raise their banners to the rafters. pic.twitter.com/D0qfHvGh8N

— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) November 19, 2023

"I didn't realize until a few months ago, but they never got to raise the banner," Bruins president Cam Neely said following the ceremony. "They just showed up one day and the banner was up. It was nice to give them that opportunity."

It might seem like a relatively small oversight, but members of those dominant clubs from the early '70s waited a long time to do what they'd seen so many other champions do.

"We'd seen it done in other cities and how they went about it," Wayne Cashman, who served as Bruins captain from 1977-1983, said. "It meant a lot to our guys. You really feel the championship, and how you strived to win it, when you raise the banner."

"You really feel the championship, and how you strived to win it, when you raise the banner."

Ex-Bruins captain Wayne Cashman

Bobby Orr, Johnny Bucyk, Gerry Cheevers, Phil Esposito, Ken Hodge, Derek Sanderson, Dallas Smith and Cashman were among those in attendance, finally putting the finishing touches on their championship seasons from 50-plus years ago.

"I just think of us a winning club," Smith said. "... I'm lucky enough to have been part of a winner. There were a lot of big personalities on that team we were guys that just wanted to have fun."