It didn’t turn out to be the entire 2011 Stanley Cup Boston Bruins team that turned out for the "Locker Room Time Machine" live stream to watch the Game 7 broadcast of the Stanley Cup Final between the B’s and the Vancouver Canucks.
Nathan Horton never made it onto the live stream on the Bruins YouTube channel as his former teammates joked that he was “on the moon” and couldn’t get a WiFi signal.
Tomas Kaberle didn’t make it past the first 10 minutes of the first period before he dropped off the call after the conversation never really moved his way, and then his former teammates joked that he “was out delivering groceries” for the rest of the stream.
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Michael Ryder popped in late from Newfoundland -- just as he was infamously late for so many team meetings during his playing days in Boston -- but arrived with a smile and the same happy-go-lucky attitude he always had with the Black and Gold.
Even if one or two guys were missing from the re-watch of Game 7 broadcast on NESN on Tuesday night, all of the key players were there for the entire two-plus hours watching the game. Current NHL players on other teams like Milan Lucic, Johnny Boychuk and Tyler Seguin logged on for the entire thing, Hall of Famer Mark Recchi was there as well, and elusive Conn Smythe-winning Tim Thomas also was watching the game that cemented his legacy in Boston.
Current core Bruins Zdeno Chara, Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron, David Krejci and Tuukka Rask were all watching, and retired Bruins like Chris Kelly, Andrew Ference, Shawn Thornton, Adam McQuaid, Daniel Paille, Gregory Campbell, Ryder, Shane Hnidy and Rich Peverley were on hand, as well.
The event was sponsored by Bud Light so some of the chirping was exactly the kind of brotherly ribbing that took place every day with the 2011 group -- and spurred on as the wine and beer kept on flowing throughout the stream.
Gregory Campbell was the unlikely MVP of the Zoom stream. He repeatedly roasted Brad Marchand for his hairline, his March&Mill Co. clothing line with Kevan Miller and pretty much anything else he could think of along the way.
At one point Marchand shot back, calling Campbell “a muppet” and made fun of the Merlot Line center begging him for free March&Mill Co. clothes. It was all in good fun, but it also totally comical as the two forwards talked smack with each other on and off throughout the entirety of the two hour video stream.
Lucic talked trash about Canucks center Ryan Kesler (“He’s not in the league anymore…[expletive] him") and the Bruins collectively laughed about Lucic’s body check on goalie Ryan Miller destroying an entire franchise in the Buffalo Sabres.
"I wonder what must have happened for them to get so sensitive about it.. .. Hey, he shouldn't have been standing there,” said Lucic of the NHL moving in recent years to protect goaltenders from taking hits.
The whole thing was highly entertaining while everybody got an inside look at exactly what made the chemistry so special with the Bruins in 2010-11, and how much they loved each other beyond the chirps and bickering.
“Let’s just cheers to the fact that we got our names on the Cup and that we won together. This is a family that we will have for the rest of our lives,” said Lucic, leading all of his Bruins teammates in a toast as they watched video of their on-ice celebration after raising the Cup back in 2011.
“I love you guys and cheers, boy.”
Lucic also led a toast to Thomas, who hasn’t been back to Boston as a celebrated Cup winner since his split with the team after the 2011-12 season, when the former Vezina winner and Conn Smythe winner skipped out on the team’s day celebrating the Cup at the White House.
Most of Thomas’ teammates haven’t seen him since the last time he played in the NHL, so it was pretty cool to see them enjoying each other’s company during the Zoom call.
"I haven't seen Timmy T in a long time,” said Lucic. “You were the MVP that season… a .938 save percentage. What a historic season for a goalie. Tank, I appreciate what you did that year. I love you man. Cheers."
Boston Bruins
The love, genuine affection, brotherly ribbing and the chemistry you watched on the Bruins Zoom call Tuesday night is exactly why the Bruins won the Cup that season. It was a fun, strong-willed hockey team with tons of talent, but tons of character up and down the lineup, too.
I was lucky enough to be there for every day of it while covering in person all 82 games they played that season plus the playoffs, but everybody was able to get a peek behind the curtain on Tuesday night as to what made that team so special in the first place.