Bruins Fan Created His Own Unique Tribute To Franchise History

When the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic in March 2020, citizens were relegated to their homes.

For many, the pandemic caused boredom and depression, but for lifelong Boston Bruins fan and history teacher Ray Reetz, it gave him the opportunity to create his own tribute to the 100-year history of the Black and Gold.

Reetz is not your typical Bruins fan from Boston; the 59-year-old has lived in Michigan his whole life. Ironically, he was drawn to the B’s instead of another Original Six franchise — the Detroit Red Wings.

“I must have been four or five, and my parents put on my bedroom wall a picture of Bobby Orr and Keith Magnuson,” Reetz told NESN.com. “I kind of went Bobby Orr’s way. Then I got a Boston jersey that I wore when I was four years old until I was 10 or 12.”

One of Reetz’s favorite moments when watching hockey games is the bird’s-eye view of the rink, which shows the teams’ logo at the center faceoff circle.

“To me, the Boston center (ice) is like the most beautiful picture in the world,” Reetz said. “And I wanted that picture in my man cave. I couldn’t find one that does it justice, so I decided, I had to do it myself.”

Photo courtesy Ray Reetz

Reetz purchased a McFarlane Toys rink and created the centerpiece to represent the Bruins. Once the rink was complete, it was time to start making the individual figures representing the iconic players, coaches, announcers and plays in franchise history.

One of Reetz’s favorite pieces is a tribute to Ray Bourque’s removal of his No. 7 jersey on Phil Esposito night to reveal his new number — 77.

Photo courtesy Ray Reetz

Each of the figures is also a McFarlane, but unfortunately, there were no Bruins figures for Reetz to purchase, so he bought various Mark Messier, Wayne Gretzky, and other random figures to create his vision.

“I’m a collector to begin with,” Reetz explained. “I got the Fab Five in basketball from Michigan. I had their figures in the pros, but I didn’t watch them in the pros, so I wanted to make the (1991) Michigan (University) team.

“I just kept painting, and painting and painting them. I’m thinking, ‘Wow, I gotta do some hockey ones because that’s what I really like. I’m doing a Bobby Orr and I was just smiling the whole time. It was fun.”

Reetz explained that some medication he takes causes his hands to shake which would disrupt his work on the figures he was creating, but even the mistakes wouldn’t discourage him from stopping.

“Even when I’m screwing it up, and I gotta redo it, I’m smiling,” Reetz said, grinning from ear to ear. “Not one was a chore. It was just so fun doing each one.”

Wanting to get every detail right, Reetz didn’t want to rely on his memories alone, so he researched the different eras in Bruins’ history.

“I found out about those (Montreal) Canadiens carrying the Kraut line off the ice,” Reetz said. “How awesome was that? I never heard that story before. I saw the picture and I put it in there. I like how it turned out.”

Photo courtesy Ray Reetz

Reetz doesn’t just have the most iconic moments in Bruins history displayed, like the 1979 brawl in the stands. He took the time to create figures of head coach Jim Montgomery, defenseman Charlie McAvoy, and goaltenders Gilles Gilbert, Tuukka Rask, Linus Ullmark and Gerry Cheevers. He even created Patrice Bergeron bent down at the dot ready to take a faceoff. Across the rink, there are more than 70 figures donning the Spoked-B.

Photo courtesy Ray Reetz

To bring it all together, Reetz completed the display by purchasing a lamp of the old Boston Garden’s scoreboard to center high above the ice, flanked by two cards displaying the Bruins and Celtics championship banners and retired numbers.

Photo courtesy Ray Reetz

From Eddie Shore to Johnny Bucyk carrying the Stanley Cup to Tim Thomas sprawled out in front of the Bruins’ net with the Vezina Trophy, Reetz has it all and so much more. Which is his favorite?

“Tuukka Rask,” Reetz said. “I was so mad at him, and then he just changed my opinion (of him). He deserved to be a Stanley Cup winner. So, I really like that one.”

As for any current works in progress, Reetz said he is painting Mason Lohrei at the moment.