History certainly on Bruins side

The Bruins have not divulged all their celebratory plans, but the franchise will keep a bright spotlight on its 100 years of history, especially during the week that includes the Opening Night puck drop Oct. 11 on Causeway St. vs. the Blackhawks.

The Montreal Maroons were in town for the franchise opener, Dec. 1, 1924, and John J. Hallahan was the Globe’s man on the beat, chronicling the Bruins’ 2-1 win at the Arena (still operating today as Matthews Arena at Northeastern).

“Fair Sized Crowd Sees Boston’s Professional Hockey Team Open League Season With Victory”, heralded the eight-column headline across the top of Page 12 of the Globe the next morning. Neither the story nor game summary provided the attendance figure. The Globe is the city’s only media entity to have chronicled the club’s every season and did so for decades in both morning and evening editions.

In the lead paragraph of the game story, Hallahan kept in mind he was introducing the pro version of the sport to a new audience, noting, “It was an auspicious start, for the Bruins, as the team has been nicknamed . . .” Everything was so brand new.

And in his third paragraph, Hallahan provided the details of a fight in the final minute of play between Montreal’s Harry “Punch” Broadbent and the Bruins’ Herb Mitchell.

The combatants were “winding their arms around each other’s heads and indulging in a real battle.”

An 11-game losing streak — five of those on Arena ice — followed that auspicious start, before the Bruins pinned a 3-2 loss on the Canadiens on Jan. 10 in Montreal.

Art Ross’s charges then dropped the next seven, all but setting in stone the franchise’s first postseason DNQ.

Near the end of the 11-game losing streak, the Bruins purchased defenseman Lionel Hitchman, then a spare part on the Ottawa blue line.

Almost a century later, Hitchman’s No. 3 is among those revered retired numbers hanging in the Garden rafters.

“Owner Charles Adams believes he has secured the men with which to give Boston a worth-while team,” wrote Hallahan after the win at Montreal, with Hitchman on the blue line. “If those men do not measure up to expectations, he will keep up the hunt for players who will eventually, if not this year, make Boston a winner.”

Nearly a century later, the hunt continues.