WESTFIELD – The Boston Bruins 2010-11 Stanley Cup championship celebration is long over. Any remaining dots of confetti have since blown far away from the streets of Boston. The cheers in the Hub are now relegated to this season’s pro hockey team.
A short time ago, local residents celebrated Beantown’s hockey championship with their own ceremony at Stanley Park in Westfield – the Whip City won a friendly wager for a bench with Vancouver’s park of the same name – but one more event remains.
On Sunday, January 8, former Boston Bruins stars, known as the Black and Gold Legends, will collide with the Westfield Fire Department’s Local Union 1111 in a charity ice hockey game at Amelia Park Arena.
The event, scheduled to begin at 5 p.m., will allow local Bruins fans another chance to wear their black and gold, while at the same time, support the WFD’s Local 1111, who in turn help sponsor Westfield Youth Hockey, Little League, and various other sports teams throughout the city through their “Save A Life” program.
Donations are being sought, and a children’s ice hockey clinic one, which starts one hour prior to the game will be available for a nominal fee. Applications for the clinic will be available at Amelia Park beginning next week.
“It is a good way for people to give back to the community,” said Westfield firefighter/EMTI Ray Neilsen, who is coordinating the event. Neilsen is the SAFE program co-ordinator and a member of the department’s local union. “The place will be packed and rocking.”
Westfield firefighters, emergency personnel, and others will play against the Black and Gold Legends, who have featured former Bruins such as Lyndon Byers, Wayne Cashman, and John McKenzie.
There are initial plans to have Westfield Youth Hockey league players accompany each Black and Gold Legend player out onto the ice during pre-game introductions, according to Neilsen. A rousing performance of the national anthem is planned. Local dignitaries are expected to attend, and one official may even drop the puck.
The will be raffles for autographed memorabilia, and maybe, just maybe, some of that firehouse chili that the Westfield Fire Department is known for.
More details will be forthcoming as the event approaches.
