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Bruins raise Stanley Cup banner, honor Mark Recchi during season opener

Flyers Bruins Hockey

Members of the Boston Bruins’ 1972 Stanley Cup championship team, top, and the current Bruins, bottom, team carry the 2011 Stanley Cup banner across the ice of the Boston Garden prior to the Bruins facing the Philadelphia Flyers in an NHL hockey game in Boston, Thursday, Oct. 6, 2011. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

AP

The Boston Bruins started their first regular season game with a bang, as Brad Marchand scored the NHL’s first goal of 2011-12 by beating Ilya Bryzgalov (see this post’s final video). For some fans, the Bruins’ first game of the season is just icing on the cake after seeing their team celebrate their 2011 Stanley Cup victory one last time. Maybe losing to the Philadelphia Flyers 2-1 will sting for a while, but it was still a fantastic night for fans of the B’s.

The team honored a wide array of figures during the ceremony, which encouraged plenty of amusing comments on Twitter. As fun as it is to inject snark into the occasion, it’s tough to blame the Bruins for milking the moment for what it’s worth after waiting 39 years to raise the Cup once again.

Check out this video of the 2011 Stanley Cup banner-raising ceremony.

One of the standout moments of that presentation was the tribute made to Mark Recchi’s career. The recently retired winger suited up one last time and appeared on the ice with his teammates for the ceremony.

Finally, here is Marchand’s goal. In an interesting quirk, Marchand scored the last goal of 2010-11 and the first of 2011-12.