It was 1970 and I was thirteen years old when the Bruins beat the expansion St. Louis Blues in the Stanley Cup Finals. The moment when Bobby Orr flew thru the air is perhaps the greatest moment in hockey history unless you’re a Montreal Canadian fan and you’re a Canadian hockey purist.
I loved the Bruins in part because their Triple AAA affiliate played in Oklahoma City. They played their games down at the old fairgrounds and quite a few very good players came thru OKC before heading to the parent team Bruins. This in part laid the groundwork for the Oklahoma City Blazers remarkable run in minor league hockey later on which in reality laid the groundwork for the current arena in downtown Oklahoma City which now houses our diva Russell Westbrook and his now underachieving mates who lead the league in payroll and listless first round exits.
I always wonder how an NHL team would have done in downtown OKC during the MAP days. OKC actually came down to the last city standing as they made every cut with the NHL trying to land an expansion team. It came down to Oklahoma City and Columbus…and as we know Columbus now has the NHL Bluejackets.
Then came Hurricane Katrina and the rest is history as to how the city removed the Sonics from Howard Schultz and Seattle after the two years of the New Orleans franchise playing in the then Ford Center.
In reality–the Bruins are my favorite pro franchise perhaps only followed by the Green Bay Packers and Roberto Clemente’s Pittsburgh Pirates on my fan pecking order.
The Thunder are falling fast in my heart and not just because of the three straight first round exits, but more to the point because of the bullshit manner in which they have allowed Westbrook to become the ultimate boorish diva pro athlete in all of pro sport. Antonio Brown now of the Oakland Raiders would be second on that list.
Note to Russell Westbrook…despite the eternal love glow you get from Little Nick Gallo rubbing against your cock — you aren’t in Bobby Orr’s league. Not even remotely close. Grow up, kid. Watching you during a presser is like witnessing a black version of Donald Trump.
Anyway, Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final is tonight and I think if Boston wins this game they win the series in five games. Huge game for the working class St. Louis Blues who have embraced the old song ‘Gloria’ as their song.
If the Blues were playing anybody else other than my beloved Bruins—I’d be rooting for them.