The Hartford homage at Sunday’s Bruins-Hurricanes game in North Carolina brought fond memories for two former Bruins, though they understood the bitter feelings of others.
The halls of red-heavy PNC Arena were decked in green graphics, and the Hurricanes wore the all-green uniforms of the Hartford Whalers, their 1980s predecessors, on a night promoted as a celebration of the franchise’s history. The 1997 move from Connecticut to Carolina still stings some up north.
“I’m glad they’re honoring them,” said Bob Beers, the Bruins radio analyst on 98.5 The Sports Hub. “But I can see the other side. Maybe do a game up there to honor them. . . . I think they’re trying to do the right thing. I think it’s fine. But I can see how people in Connecticut would be upset.”
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Seeing the Whalers logo brings a smile to face of Beers, who scored his first career goal against the franchise.
Down, 2-1, in an 1990 Adams Division semifinal, and down, 5-2, in the third period of Game 4, the Bruins scored four goals in the third to win, 6-5, in regulation. Beers, 22 and fresh out of the University of Maine, was playing in his second career game. He made it 5-4 when he took a pass from Craig Janney and beat Peter Sidorkiewicz in tight.
“My friends took a picture and sent it to me. It was way different back then, right?” Beers said. “They were taping the game, and they stopped the TV at the moment where I’m like . . . he said, raising his arms and mocking a scream, “I mean, emotional.”
NESN color man Andy Brickley reminisced about his teenage years, traveling from Melrose to watch the WHA’s New England Whalers (1972-79). “It was exciting,” he said. “It was accessible. The Bruins were a higher-priced ticket.” Brickley also scored his first goal as a Bruin against Hartford in 1988. He arrived with the Bruins in the waiver draft — New Jersey didn’t protect him — and wasn’t expected to play in the early going. Bobby Joyce got hurt, putting him into the lineup.
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“I have video of it,” Brickley said. “Nice cycle play out of the corner. I one-timed it past [Mike] Liut. Nice.”
Like Beers, he noticed his former Bruins teammate (and longtime Whaler/Hurricane) Glen Wesley writing on social media before the game that, “The Whalers jersey belongs in Hartford, not Carolina,” and calling for a Carolina-Boston or Carolina-New York Rangers game in Connecticut. Carolina owner Tom Dundon, without naming Wesley, tweeted afterward that he hoped “fans everywhere” can enjoy the retro night.
“Celebrate the history, that’s what I say,” Brickley said. “I hope it’s a spectacle.”
Follow Matt Porter on Twitter at @mattyports