Krug Tugs At Boston Bruins’ Heartstrings With A Sweet Goodbye

It’s going to be awfully difficult to get proper closure on defenseman Torey Krug leaving the Boston Bruins when he’s so damn classy and heartfelt about his free agent departure.

Krug made it clear over his last season in Boston that he didn’t really want to leave his second home, and then sent out a first class tweet last month saying goodbye shortly after signing his seven year contract with the St. Louis Blues. Now Krug is again tugging on the Boston Bruins heartstrings with a heartfelt farewell to his special friend Liam Fitzgerald, otherwise known as “The Fist Bump Kid.”

Little Liam became close to all the Bruins players while becoming something of a social media sensation with his inspiring story and cute fist bumps, but he struck up an especially tight bond with Krug and ex-Bruins defenseman Adam McQuaid.

Fitzgerald posted an emotional goodbye tweet to Krug back in October that Krug quickly responded to him on twitter, and in most instances that might have been where both player and fan gained some final closure.

Now that I’m done crying, I can post to say that I’m going to miss you, @ToreyKrug, on the @NHLBruins! I have loved getting to know you over the years and will be watching you as a @StLouisBlues player! Boston won’t be the same. #loveyouman pic.twitter.com/YSi3fVeBfU

— Liam Fitzgerald (@fistbumpkid) October 19, 2020

But the thoughtful puck-moving defenseman went one step further sending his buddy Liam a personalized letter full of his favorite Boston Bruins memories along with a “gift” that’s in the mail to commemorate Fitzgerald being cancer-free for the last seven plus years. Here’s the text of the letter below:

“Dear Liam,

I saw the tweet you posted after I signed with the Blues and I wanted you to know that it got me thinking about all the great times we’ve had together in Boston.

I remember the day you first went viral on social media. You were sitting on the bench giving all of us a fist bump and then Gregory Campbell fist bumped you so hard that he hurt your hand. I didn’t know you very well back then, but that was when I first started to get to know you.

Do you remember when my defense partner was Adam McQuaid? Well, one time after a game, Adam was going to go visit you and asked me to come along to meet his little buddy. After that day, I knew you would be one of the most special friends I would ever make in Boston. I remember how Adam told me that you looked up to us, but before the night was over, Adam and I looked up to you.

Do you remember that time we went bowling at Red Sox pitcher Clay Buchholz’s charity event? After we bowled, we hung out and checked out a concert together. My brother was there, and he was more excited about getting a picture with the Fist Bump Kid than actually watching the show.

Do you remember at TD Garden how I would come out to the ice all intense all the time and ready for the game? As I walked by, you would always yell “I LOVE YOU, TOREY!” No matter how much I was focused on the big game, that always made me stop and smile.

I’m going to miss stuff like that in St. Louis.

To thank you for always being a good friend, and to celebrate the fact that you’ve been cancer free for more than seven years now, I’m sending you a gift in the mail. Keep an eye out for it because it should be arriving soon!

Anyway, I’m packing up and I’ll be moving to the Midwest soon. I know Boston is a long way from St. Louis, but I want you to know that I’m not going to forget you just because I play for the Blues now. We may be further apart, but I’ll always cherish the friendship we have.

I know you’ll be cheering for me back there in Boston.

So before I go, I just wanted to say: I LOVE YOU, DUDE!”

While it’s a farewell from Krug to Liam as an ex-Boston Bruins player to a B’s super-fan, it’s clear that Fitzgerald will still be keeping tabs on his favorite defenseman down in St. Louis. The whole thing also reinforces both that Liam is a special young man, and that the Bruins lost a truly special player and human being in Krug that isn’t going to easily replaced on or off the ice.