I remember my first time watching a hockey game on T.V. We had just upgraded to a bigger (and hi-def) T.V, and my dad and I quickly grew fascinated with the sport, with all the hard hitting action and very little time for breaks. I didn’t go to a Bruins game until the 2010-11 season, the season when the Bruins won the Stanley Cup, ending a 39 year drought. It was a few days before Christmas and the Atlanta Thrashers were visiting Boston. I had prime seating, 5 rows up from Tim Thomas’s net. At the drop of the puck, gloves were thrown off and I experienced my first NHL fight.

Grittiness and physicality is a constant feature in the Boston Bruins style of playing, and I loved it. From Shawn Thornton, Milan Lucic, and Johnny Boychuk to Chris Wagner, Connor Cliffton, Kevan Miller and Charlie McAvoy, the grittiness and hard hitting style has slightly faded from the current Boston Bruins. The Bruins Stanley Cup Final teams (2011,2013 and 2019) all differ. In both 2011 and 2013, they were known as “The Big Bad Bruins” and used fear and aggression to silent their opponents. The 2019 Bruins are a smaller and faster team as the league today is shifting to a more skilled direction as opposed to a fear tactic one. I agree that the game has gotten more skilled based, which is great, but I tune into a hockey game to be entertained. I still enjoy the “Big Bad Bruins” style of play from their last successful Cup run.  

Seeing women being added to a sport I love, and a team that I will always cheer for gives me hope that one day I will be able to be among those working in the NHL. Being a woman in a “man’s sport” is a challenge every woman in the sports industry has to face, but recently the Bruins just added their first woman PA announcer, Jayme Parker,  earlier this year, making me happy and hopeful for the future of women in sports. Watching the game and falling in love with a sports team is something any sports fan can relate to, and for me I fell in love with an inclusive organization that I will cheer for, throughout the good, the bad and the ugly times. Being a Bruins fan is in my blood, is it in yours?  

Until Next Time

∼RJ