Emotional Swayman Makes Winning Tribute To Former Coach

It was an emotional postgame for the entire Boston Bruins hockey club after the team clinched an NHL-record 63^rd win this season on Sunday night in Philadelphia.

There was David Pastrnak’s hat trick, of course, that pushed him to 60 goals for the regular season, Tyler Bertuzzi finished with three assists in his best game as a member of the Boston Bruins and the Boston Bruins found a way to win even with AHL bodies Oskar Steen, Connor Carrick and Vinni Lettieri in the lineup for the 5-3 win over the Flyers at the Wells Fargo Center.

But Jeremy Swayman was another spectacular performer for the Boston Bruins with 34 saves in the victory with P-Bruins netminder Brandon Bussi acting as his backup goalie with Linus Ullmark back in Boston. He was at his best in the second period making 13 saves when it was still a close game and he was shutting the door with stops like this one on forward Scott Laughton on a partial breakaway for the Flyers.

It improved Swayman to 23-6-4 on the season and it also had the young Bruins goalie emotional after the victory explaining that it was the second anniversary of the passing of his beloved University of Maine coach Red Gendron.  The way things played out for Swayman on Sunday night; it was almost like it was meant to be for him to have an opportunity to once again honor the college hockey coach that meant so much to him.

“Tonight was a really special one,” said Swayman to TNT following the victory in Philadelphia. “Two years today my all-time mentor Red Gendron passed away. I was actually in Philly when it happened. I think it was pretty scripted today the way it all worked out. So this was pretty special for that. I wouldn’t be here without Red, so it was just a very special night.”

Two years ago today, Jeremy Swayman’s mentor, Red Gendron, died.

Swayman was in Philadelphia at the time of his passing.

Today was for Red ❤️ pic.twitter.com/e4jk70OXOu

— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) April 10, 2023

Jeremy Swayman was very effusive in the praise about Gendron’s influence on him a couple of years ago when he first was called up to the Boston Bruins at the end of 2020-21 regular season, and his emotional tribute on Sunday night was another tremendous way to honor a hockey mentor that meant so much to the B’s goaltender.