Former Bruin Marc Savard Declares Boston Feels Like ‘Coming Home’

BOSTON -- Marc Savard took a lap around TD Garden ice, stopping momentarily to look up at the banners hanging high in the rafters.

Savard joined the Flames as an assistant coach before the season and with the Boston Bruins hosting Calgary on Tuesday night, he took the opportunity to admire the rink he used to call home.

"It's awesome. I miss this place so much," Savard told NESN.com. "It just feels great. It feels like I'm coming home. Taking it all in, but seeing the Stanley Cup one again ... just looking around and reminiscing. It's a great place to play hockey."

After playing two and a half seasons with the Atlanta Thrashers, Savard signed with the Boston Bruins as a free agent before the 2006-07 campaign. The decision to sign with an Original Six franchise was easy for Savard to make.

"It was huge. I always loved coming here as a visitor, too, so it was Peter (Chiarelli), but I kind of had this on my radar before that."

Savard added: "It's such a great history here. Amazing place to play. The city's second to none. It was just always on my radar, and when it all came to fruition, I was really happy to be here."

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The City of Boston and the Bruins fans embraced Savard as much as he embraced them.

"Every time I put something up on (X, formerly known as Twitter), the fans really come back out and show me their love and passion."

Before becoming a part of the Flames organization, Savard was an assistant for the St. Louis Blues. At the time, the Ottawa native would sit in the coaches' room above the ice so Tuesday's tilt at the Garden will be the first time Savard is on the bench.

"This will be a different game down on the ice," Savard said. "That'll be a bit more emotional. Since day one here, they really treated me like one of their own. I was able to produce here and had a lot of fun here and made a lot of great memories."

Savard's career was cut short due to lingering effects from concussions he suffered during the 2009-10 and 2010-11 seasons. Despite not playing the required number of games for his name to automatically be engraved on the Stanley Cup when the Bruins won the title in 2011, then-general manager Chiarelli and the Boston front office petitioned the league to have his name included.

"That's how this organization has always been," Savard said. "It's a family-first type of organization. You can still see it. For them to do that for me was also the emotional part for me. They didn't have to do that.

"But there's a big part of what went on here and the rebuilding kind of, if you call it that, and getting this team back on the map. And it was very special for Peter and the Bruins organization to do that for me."

Savard formally announced his retirement from the National Hockey League on Jan. 22, 2018; seven years after he played his last game.

The retired forward was named to the Bruins "Historic 100" ahead of the Centennial season. The honor was not lost on Savard -- especially given the history and players that skated for Boston.

"It is amazing to be part of that top 100 Centennial team with all the great names," Savard said.

In the five seasons Savard donned the Spoked-B, he was known for his playmaking abilities -- especially on the power play. He lit the lamp just 74 times, but with 231 assists, Savard registered 305 points in 304 games.