Boston Fleet

Megan Keller Adds PWHL Pop To Bruins Fan Fest

Published

2 weeks ago

August 26, 2024

Christopher Hurley

Photo courtesy of PWHL Boston

LOWELL – Megan Keller was packing them in once again, Saturday at Tsongas Center.

The PWHL Boston defenseman, along with general manager Danielle Marmer, were special guests of the Boston Bruins, during Day 2 of its Fan Fest Tour. Presented by Wegmans, the three-day event was part of the Bruins 100 Days of Hockey campaign. It featured a day full of kid-friendly activities, photo opportunities and giveaways for hockey fans of all ages.

A standout defenseman in the Professional Women’s Hockey League ranks, Keller was a total pro meeting hundreds of fans during the four-hour event.

“It’s been awesome,” said Keller, whose autograph line rivaled that of Bruins legend Rick Middleton at one point. “I didn’t know what to expect, but it’s cool to see a lot of Boston Bruins and PWHL jerseys. We’re at our home rink at Tsongas, so it’s awesome to be meeting our fans outside our venue and putting smiles on people’s faces.”

An assistant captain, Keller was a key cog in Boston’s amazing run to the Walter Cup Finals. The team caught its second wind following the league’s International Break. They won four of its last five, earning points in all six games to clinch a playoff berth in the final day of the regular season.

Goaltender Aerin Frankel led the charge. The Northeastern University netminder stood on her head throughout the postseason, earning her the nickname the Green Monster. With the help of team captain Hilary Knight, assistant captains Jamie Lee Rattray and Keller, Boston bumped off Montreal in a thrilling three-game sweep, paving the way to the finals. Playoff heroines such as Susanna Tapani, Alina Müller, Taylor Wenczkowski, Hannah Brandt and Amanda Pelkey also emerged in the finals, becoming household names to the ever-growing fanbase.

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But in the end, Boston simply ran out of gas, losing the fifth and deciding game to Minnesota, 3-0.

Four months later, Marmer still feels the sting.

“I still think about it,” said Marmer. “It’s so hard to forget how close we came, and all the games that led up to it. We were outside looking in at the playoffs. A lot of things went right for us to be playing on May 29. I felt like we didn’t do enough to even be playing in that game, let alone win. Going into next year, we have to be prepared to play at a more consistent rate, and not just hope for things to go our way.”

Boston’s PWHL team drew 59,615 fans to Tsongas Center this season, an average of 3,974 per game. They surpassed the 4,000 mark in 11 of their 15 home dates, with the regular season finale drawing 5,964. Game 5 of the Walter Cup Finals drew their biggest audience to date at 6,309, a standing-room-only sellout.

“It was pretty surreal,” said Keller. “It’s something I look back on and get chills just thinking about. It was incredible. To see not only how far we’ve come as a team and an organization, but professional women’s hockey as a whole. It’s special to be part of. I’ll remember it forever.”

Tsongas Center has been an ideal venue for the team during its inaugural campaign. And the way things are shaping up, it should bode well for the 2024-25 season.

“We’ve watched the attendance grow as we got into the playoffs,” said Marmer. “We maybe oversold our last game, but in the playoffs this place was buzzing. We’ve seen an increase in the season tickets sales compared to where we were last year. So I have no doubt that we’re going to pack Tsongas Center again, and really make it a home-ice advantage.”

“We have to finish the job,” said Keller. “We had a great first season. I think everybody is just super excited and ready for it to be November.”