The area surrounding the TD Banknorth Garden is, well, rocking. I don’t remember a Bruins game with this much anticipation. I didn’t attend last year’s Game 6 here, which I heard was “nuts.”
But three hours before the game the crowds had already surrounded the south side of the Garden, on Causeway Street and the perpendicular side streets. I expect the crowd wants this game and series as if world peace was t stake.
*****
On a funny note, I saw a guy, probably in his mid-50s wearing a white Boston Bruins sweater with the No. 43 and name “Iafrate.” Of course, it was a replica of the sweater worn by former Bruins defenseman Al Iafrate.
It was funny, because I immediately thought about former Eagle-Tribune columnist Joe Murphy, who primarily covered and wrote about baseball and basketball the last two decades of a 55-year career at the E-T. Joe would throw his jabs in every so often at the Bruins and president Harry Sinden. Well, one of his whipping boys was Iafrate, whom he apparently felt didn’t have the heart come time to drop the gloves. Joe started calling him Al “I’m afrady.”
Still very funny.
****
Remarkably, at least from what I heard a year ago when the Bruins-Habs playoff games were played here in Boston, it was hard to find any Canadiens fans.
Of the 3,000 people (estimated) that I saw outside the Garden wearing team sweaters, I only saw two guys wearing Canadiens sweaters.
