Boston was enemy territory Tuesday night for former Bruins forward Jake DeBrusk for the first time in his NHL career.
But the current Vancouver Canucks forward didn’t find it as hostile as some opponents do when they step onto the TD Garden ice.
DeBrusk received plenty of cheers and a tribute video in his return. He even came through with the decisive goal for the Canucks in a 2-0 win over the Bruins.
“I got no chirps today,” DeBrusk told reporters, per Boston.com’s Conor Ryan. “I was actually a little bit shocked.”
But then DeBrusk corrected himself, stating that he did hear it — in a good-natured way — from one of his former teammates.
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“Actually, no — sorry,” DeBrusk said. “Charlie Coyle called me ‘scumbag,’ because we just call each other scumbags.”
DeBrusk left the Bruins in free agency this offseason to join the Canucks on a five-year, $38.5 million deal after spending seven seasons with the franchise which drafted him in the first round of the 2015 NHL draft. He totaled 138 goals and 128 assists for 266 points in 465 career regular-season games for the Bruins.
The 28-year-old is off to a solid start in a Canucks sweater as he has six goals and eight assists in 20 games.
And perhaps the next time DeBrusk is in TD Garden, which won’t come until next season or if the Bruins and Canucks somehow meet in the Stanley Cup Finals, the nostalgia will have worn off and he will be treated differently.
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Featured image via Winslow Townson/Imagn Images