Boston Bruins
Haggerty: Tis The Season For A Boston Bruins Halloween List
It might be a wholly different Halloween than any of us have ever experienced before, but one of the best holidays on the calendar has finally arrived. And the Boston Bruins can still be involved.
There won’t be any hockey, of course, with the NHL on an extended offseason hiatus without a return date in place. It doesn’t take a hockey insider to know we aren’t likely to see NHL regular season action until some time in 2021, but that will be a story for another day.
Today it’s about arguing whether candy corn is any good, watching Hubie Halloween on Netflix and getting the kids dressed up for whatever passes as the safest, most responsible trick or treating in your neck of the woods. With Halloween upon us, here’s a look at what every member of the Boston Bruins is dressing up as this Halloween while at home for a change:
Patrice Bergeron – What else but Superman? Bergeron is ready to take over as the captain if the unsigned Zdeno Chara moves on from Boston, and he showed earlier this week he can do literally anything while showing off his flawless Elmo impersonation during the Bruins Halloween Zoom visit with local children’s hospitals earlier this week.
Even his Elmo impersonation is flawless.#NHLBruins | #HockeyHalloween pic.twitter.com/dlm5VGHZC4
— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) October 29, 2020
Zdeno Chara – The 43-year-old is going out for Halloween as 33-year-old Zdeno Chara, who was a Norris Trophy finalist and Stanley Cup champion at the top of his game. Chara is still a formidable shutdown defenseman and penalty killer, but there’s no question he wouldn’t be hanging out in free agency right now he was 10 years younger.
Brad Marchand – Every year it’s the same thing. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle. I’ll never forget he was wearing a TMNT hat on as a rookie on the flight to Europe for the premiere games with the Bruins. Needless to say, I don’t think it made it back from Europe once Claude Julien saw him wearing it on the team flight.
Carlo as Bebop
Pastrnak as Michelangelo
Krug as Leonardo
Marchand as Splinter
Liles as Raphael
Heinen as Donatello pic.twitter.com/Ky0ooZ6BTN— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) October 27, 2016
Tuukka Rask – Oscar the Grouch. Sometimes a costume just fits, and Rask looked like he was having fun playing Oscar for the kids this week. It’s a reminder that Tuukka is a pretty funny guy above everything else.
Sesame Street takes over Causeway Street.#NHLBruins | #HockeyHalloween pic.twitter.com/mKMzPRqc4I
— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) October 29, 2020
Charlie McAvoy – Any type of horse costume to signify the workhorse that the 22-year-old is going to be with the Bruins this upcoming season and beyond. With Torey Krug gone and Zdeno Chara’s future uncertain, McAvoy is going to play a ton of minutes in all situations for the foreseeable future in Boston.
David Pastrnak – Pasta doesn’t need a costume. He just needs to go into his closet and pull out any number of flamboyant suits that the Bruins right winger wears on a nightly basis. He’s already got a hat. All he’d need is a crazy-looking cane and he’d have a homemade Hater’s Ball Halloween costume.
Jake DeBrusk – Anything superhero-related for DeBrusk, who regularly drops MCU and Game of Thrones references when chatting with the media. I’ll never forget a couple of years ago during the Stanley Cup Final when he likened Patrice Bergeron to Jon Snow.
David Krejci – Krejci is going out dressed as a Bruins beat writer after he was left nonplussed during the Toronto bubble when the media didn’t ask him questions during his dual zoom media sessions with other Bruins players. Now he’ll get as many questions as he wants because he’ll be asking them. Honestly, I would love to hear what Krejci would ask because he can be brutally honest at times. That’s a great quality.
File under: You can’t make this up. David Krejci said part of reason he was upset after Game 5 was because the media wasn’t asking him questions during dual zoom availabilities from the bubble w/his teammates: “Every time I was there none of the reporters asked me any questions.”
— Joe Haggerty (@HackswithHaggs) September 4, 2020
Ondrej Kase – We’ll have Kase dress up as a giant mask after he spent nearly a month in quarantine while missing all of Bruins Return to Play training camp after being spotted out and about in Boston while not wearing a mask during a global COVID-19 pandemic. After all of that, Kase didn’t have a single goal during the B’s playoff run in the bubble. He’s got some work to do.
Charlie Coyle – Coyle will go out as a male model decked out head and toe in Charlie Coyle gear from 3A Gear. Love the logo and the gear they donated to raise money for local food pantries back in April and May.
Craig Smith – Smith will go out as a giant “Hi, my name is Craig” sticker as a way to introduce him to Bruins fans. They are going to love him as a solid, two-way winger capable of secondary offense and 5-on-5 scoring in a third line role. He might end up being one of the best signings of the offseason around the NHL.
Matt Grzelcyk – After signing a four-year, $14.75 million earlier this month, Gryz will be going out for Halloween as a giant dollar bill. He and his family are set for life now and that’s a pretty amazing feel-good story for a kid that grew up with his dad in the TD Garden bull gang. He might be on the hook for one or two team dinners this coming year.
Brandon Carlo – Carlo was sneaky good as the Cookie Monster while hopping on the zoom call with the hospital kids this week, and even brought props as he had cookies in the car with him while driving cross-country from Colorado back to Boston. Let’s just hope he doesn’t hit the cookies too hard on that long ride. Could be tempting.
Brandon Carlo as Cookie Monster 🍪🍪🍪 pic.twitter.com/nZr5BYz5Nf
— NBC Sports Boston (@NBCSBoston) October 29, 2020
Anders Bjork – The Bruins winger said during the Halloween zoom call with the kids that one of his favorite costumers as a kid was Darth Vader. That works for us. A little Vader sandpaper in Bjork’s game wouldn’t be a bad thing at all.
Chris Wagner – A nice all-white wedding tux for the newly engaged Wagner. There’s really nothing cooler than looking like Ricardo Montalban from Fantasy Island, is there? Do people even get that reference anymore?
Jaroslav Halak – A stop sign? Sure, why not? A stop sign.
@kristyfilippell @kimashton @CanadiensMTL @WilliamdeVry1 @AshleyGloria Throwing in my old Halak Stop sign 4 Habs Win! pic.twitter.com/I1GYcPLjtQ
— Panagiota Petrakos (@PamPetrakos) March 13, 2015
Sean Kuraly – An anchor. Because Kuraly is the piece that holds everything in place on the Bruins fourth line when he’s playing there. Sure, the Bruins have tried him in other place because there’s some upside to his game. But he’s an underrated, important piece on Boston’s fourth line.
Nick Ritchie – Maybe a Milan Lucic costume so he could get the hint a little more about the way Bruins management and Bruins fans want him to play? Ritchie has a little skill and he’s got the size, and he showed in the playoffs that he’s not afraid to cross over that line. He just needs to play with a little mean and attitude to his game at all size. Play to your size, Nick, and Bruins fans will love you. We guarantee it.
Trent Frederic – A boxer costume complete with the Black and Gold trunks and gloves. Frederic was among the leaders in fights and penalty minutes in the AHL last season and could be the next homegrown player bringing toughness and a little intimidation to the B’s forward ranks. He should get his NHL shot this season.
Jack Studnicka – An NHL Bruins jersey with his name on the back (great hockey name, by the way). As in, the 21-year-old Studnicka is ready for the NHL show as a top-9 forward after flashing in the bubble playoffs in Toronto when given a chance over the summer.
Karson Kuhlman – A construction worker. Kuhlman doesn’t do it with fanfare, and he may have difficulty ever securing a full-time NHL role with the Bruins. But Bruce Cassidy loves this guy because he knows he’s going to get a smart player that will give him maximum effort, and once in a while he even pops up with some offense too. That dynamic isn’t going to change for the foreseeable future with the Bruins.
Par Lindholm – A big band-aid. With Joakim Nordstrom now gone, Lindholm is the guy left that most likely is going to need to block shots, sacrifice his body and do whatever it takes to win hockey games while killing penalties and playing in a fourth line role. That’s a tall task, but Lindholm has that grit in his game.
Connor Clifton – A Brad Marchand pest costume. Clifton is at his most effective when he’s moving the puck, playing solid two-way hockey and playing the pest role that Marchand really can’t afford to do on a regular basis anymore. Clifton has an ability to aggravate opponents and really get under the skin of the other team’s best players. He needs to do that to full effectiveness when he’s on the ice next season.
Kevan Miller – A giant X-ray skeleton. Given all of the scans, MRIs and X-rays that Miller has had over the last two years while recovering from fractured kneecaps, this will hopefully be the last time we ever hear anything about it. Here’s hoping the rugged Miller has good health next season after missing the last 18 months. The Bruins will need his toughness and physicality, particularly if Zdeno Chara doesn’t return.
John Moore – Any one of the other 30 jerseys around the NHL. I like John Moore personally quite a bit and he’s had some good moments with the Bruins. But it hasn’t worked out on the whole here after a couple of seasons and it feels like he’s now caught in a youth movement on the back end. A fresh start in another NHL spot would be best for him and would give the B’s some much-needed breathing room under the cap. Will it happen?
Jeremy Lauzon – The only repeat costume on the list, a Darth Vader costume. Much like Darth Quaider before him, Bruins fans would like to see plenty of mean and physicality from the 6-foot-3, 200-pound shutdown guy when he’s on the ice.