This rivalry goes way, way back
All but lost to time and memory, Boston and Pittsburgh were NHL opponents for a handful of seasons decades before the Penguins came along in
1967 as one of the six teams that doubled the size of the Original Six NHL.
In 1925, prior to the start of the Bruins’ second season, the NHL opened a new franchise, the Pittsburgh Pirates, as part of a three-team American Division that included the Bruins and the New York Americans.
Across the border, the Canadian Division included two Montreal teams (Canadiens and Maroons), along with the Toronto St. Patricks and Ottawa Senators.
The Pirates operated five seasons in Pittsburgh, into the spring of 1930, and then packed up to play the 1930-31 season as the Philadelphia Quakers before eventually disbanding because of financial woes amid the Great Depression. The NHL in 1931-32 had eight teams, including five in the United States: Boston, Chicago, Detroit, and the Americans and Rangers in New York.
The Pirates played their first NHL game in Boston, edging the Bruins, 2-1, Thanksgiving night at Boston Arena (now Matthews Arena). The Pirates won their next one, 1-0, in Montreal 48 hours later in what turned out to be the final game for legendary Canadiens netminder Georges Vezina (see: trophy).
In physical distress, including high fever, Vezina that night left the game after the first period, and he perished some four months later due to tuberculosis. Ever cool when between the pipes, the aptly nicknamed Chicoutimi Cucumber was 39.
Amid the flap between the Bruins and Penguins in 1980, when the Bruins were incensed that the Penguins intended to change their uniform colors to black and gold, Penguins executive Paul Martha noted historical precedent in defending the choice: The Pirates had used black and gold in their uniforms. The Bruins in those formative NHL seasons wore brown-and-yellow uniforms.
The Bruins may have had a gripe, but the Penguins had history.
Child’s play for Sanderson
Derek Sanderson, the NHL’s Rookie of the Year when finally cracking the varsity at age 21 in 1967-68, was claimed by the Bruins while in middle school.
He recalled the other day that he signed his C-form, designating his pro playing rights to the Bruins, as a 12year-old.
“Actually, it was my father who signed the C-form, for 100 bucks, put his name next to the X . . . 100 bucks for my professional rights,” recalled Sanderson.
“My dad only made $26 in takehome pay, so to him that was a month’s pay — perfect! I don’t think my mother ever saw it, but, uh, yeah, 100 bucks.”
A bantam at the time, Sanderson that night played up a level in age with a midget team in a tournament in Paris, Ontario, just outside of Brantford.
“The first time I ever scored four goals,” he recalled, noting that his father, Harold, informed him that night he had signed the C-form with Boston. “He says, ‘By the way, you’ve got some bragging rights.’
I say, ‘What’s that?’ And he says, ‘Well, the Bruins just bought ya.’ ”
Loose pucks
Ex-Bruins defenseman Torey Krug,
in his third season with the Blues, recently suffered a lower-body injury and this past week was put on long-term injured reserve, meaning he’ll be out for a minimum 24 days/10 games. It could be a crucial stretch for the
Blues, who entered the weekend with a 1716-3 mark and south of the wild-card cut line in the West.
They’ve DNQ’d only once since
2010-11, and that was in
2017-18, the season before winning the franchise’s only Cup . . . The Devils, just handed a pair of defeats in Newark by the Bruins, were scuffling along at 2-7-1 in their 10 prior to Friday night’s game in Pittsburgh. Their needed lift could be on the way. Ex-Lightning forward Ondrej Palat, who signed for five years/ $30 million over the summer, looks about to draw back into the lineup after a two-month absence following groin surgery. The Devils have a handful of young, very talented forwards, but it’s a lineup that needs Palat’s grit and guile up front . . . Don McKenney grew up in Smiths Falls, Ontario. The quiet town of some 10,000, located roughly 40 miles southwest of Ottawa, also delivered Terry Carkner, a Rangers firstround pick in 1984, and Gary McAdam,
a Sabres third-rounder in 1975, to the NHL. But Smiths Falls’ biggest headliner looks as if it will be 25-year-old Brooke Henderson, who already counts 12 wins on the LPGA Tour, including the 2016 Women’s PGA Championship. The 5-foot-4-inch dynamo has a very smooth swing, of course . . . The Bruins will hit the road after the Winter Classic, with stops in Los Angeles (Thursday), San Jose (Saturday), and Anaheim (Sunday). The Ducks visited Boston
Oct. 20 (Bruins with a 2-1 shootout win), but they were without injured back liner Urho Vaakanainen, the onetime Bruins prospect flipped to the Ducks in the March deadline deal for Hampus Lindholm. Vaakanainen finally made it back at the end of November, but stood 0-0–0 in his 10 games as the weekend approached. The Bruins surrendered their first-round pick in the 2022 draft to the Ducks. They used that pick, No. 22, to select Nathan Gaucher,
a 6-3 center with the Quebec Remparts. He had 29 points in 24 games this season before joining Team Canada for the ongoing World Junior Championship
. . . Bruins prospect Fabian Lysell is back for a second tour with Team Sweden at the World Juniors and was a disappointing 0-0–0 for the Three Crowns, who carried their 3-0-0 mark into Saturday’s matchup with the Canadians. Gaucher carried a 1-2–3 line into the match against the Swedes. Lysell is fast and skilled but needs to increase his moxie quotient before he makes a serious bid for varsity employment with the Bruins. Keep in mind, he won’t turn 20 until Jan. 19 . . . The Rangers have been a bit better of late, and are in the thick of the wild-card mix, but ex-Boston College Eagle Chris Kreider remains in fighting-the-puck mode. He was blanked in his last three games entering weekend play and scored but three goals over his last 10 games. Kreider had a huge 2021-22 with 52 goals, including a league-high 26 on the power play. As of Friday morning, he had 16 goals, only four on the advantage. The Blueshirts ran red-hot in the playoffs last spring until hitting a wall in the Eastern Conference finals against the Lightning. Their margins are too thin to do serious damage if Kreider isn’t a 40-45-goal version of himself . . . All talk of the Sharks dealing Erik Karlsson has cooled. Meanwhile, the ex-Senators star, whom the Bruins will see next Saturday night, is on his way to the first 100-point season of his career (prior best: 82). He was 13-37–50 as of Friday morning. If the Sharks do find a partner, the slick 32-year-old has the right to say no to any deal. Any team with a legit shot at the Cup would want him, but there’s that sticky issue of his $11.5 million cap hit, on the books for another four years. A logical landing spot would be the Rangers, where general manager Chris Drury helped mentor Mike Grier, now in his first season as Sharks GM. A back line with Adam Fox and Karlsson is scary to ponder. Harder to ponder still: how the Sharks and Rangers could work out the money.