Boston Bruins Centennial Celebration/Season Ticket Holder Event

[OldScool]

Just some random thoughts on last nights event:

The Good:
-Food was pretty decent and the music wasnt bad.
-Season Ticket Holder scarf and tshirts were nice touches.
-Parking was a reasonable $10.
-Players were all gracious and very nice.

The Bad:
-Bruins struggle so bad in the logistics of these events. Instead of having popular players in the hallways where lines wrap around easily they put them in upper loge so lines wrap around seat rows.
- Event was 2.5 hours - do players really need a 15 minute break from taking pictures? Come on.
- No autographs for kids is a complete joke. Get 5 or 6 players and put them up in the concourse and have them sign things for the kids. A picture is cool but kids love autographs.
-Stagger times or do multiple dates so its less crowded among STH.
-Didnt see the Bruins ownership there at all - you would think the HOF owner would be there to mingle with their most loyal customers. Guess not.

Overall - decent event at best if you enjoy waiting in line for 30 minutes+ for a 15 second photo with players. Some thought and more planning could make the event much better for STH and players alike.

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[Kate08]

I skipped it, because I've learned that these events are usually more hassle than they're worth.

Glad to hear there were some positives.

 

[Fenway]

I skipped it, because I've learned that these events are usually more hassle than they're worth.

Glad to hear there were some positives.

The Bruins are clueless on handling these kind of events.

I have observed what the Blackhawks do every summer with a fan convention. I have no doubt a similar event would be a huge success in Boston but the Bruins don't want to be bothered. I actually had one Bruins front office person tell me 'We don't need to promote the brand.'

 

[Kate08]

The Bruins are clueless on handling these kind of events.

I have observed what the Blackhawks do every summer with a fan convention. I have no doubt a similar event would be a huge success in Boston but the Bruins don't want to be bothered. I actually had one Bruins front office person tell me 'We don't need to promote the brand.'

Ha! But the Blackhawks do? What a total load of shit.

 

[OldScool]

The Bruins are clueless on handling these kind of events.

I have observed what the Blackhawks do every summer with a fan convention. I have no doubt a similar event would be a huge success in Boston but the Bruins don't want to be bothered. I actually had one Bruins front office person tell me 'We don't need to promote the brand.'

Couldnt agree more. Difference is the Blackhawks have a great owner in Rocky Wirtz who actually cares and is from the Chicago area....funny I found this on his Wikipedia page "Almost immediately after becoming the new owner, Wirtz began altering some longstanding policies implemented by his father, which many fans saw as anachronistic. According to a source within the Hawks organization, Wirtz "believes in spending money to make money," in marked contrast to his father's frugal management style"....sounds a bit like the Jacobs Family. Jeremy Jacobs isnt from this area and owns the team as a pure business and investment. I think teams with a local owner who deeply care about the franchise are better owners for the fans. Owners like Robert Kraft.

 

[Fenway]

Couldnt agree more. Difference is the Blackhawks have a great owner in Rocky Wirtz who actually cares and is from the Chicago area....funny I found this on his Wikipedia page "Almost immediately after becoming the new owner, Wirtz began altering some longstanding policies implemented by his father, which many fans saw as anachronistic. According to a source within the Hawks organization, Wirtz "believes in spending money to make money," in marked contrast to his father's frugal management style"....sounds a bit like the Jacobs Family. Jeremy Jacobs isnt from this area and owns the team as a pure business and investment. I think teams with a local owner who deeply care about the franchise are better owners for the fans. Owners like Robert Kraft.

10 years ago the Blackhawks in Chicago were as irrelevant as the Patriots were in Boston 25 years ago.

The Bruins have never sunken to that level because with the hardcores the team is in our DNA.

It was telling when Cumberland Farms/Gulf pulled their sponsorship of the team which had gone back 30 years.

The Bruins shrugged it off and now have this Chinese company as a major sponsor.

 

[DKH]

I thought it was very good overall

Lots of food and if you wanted to get a lot of pictures you had plenty of time

Beaverjc was bang on- they could have grabbed 3-5 players at a bunch of tables especially with the number of alumni and given autographs

My biggest beef is why the bleep is Brad Park not part of the Bruins family?

I am 99% sure and it's BS

One of the handful of greatest defenseman who ever played until his knees went and even then he was an All Star

Garbage and petty

 

[DKH]

10 years ago the Blackhawks in Chicago were as irrelevant as the Patriots were in Boston 25 years ago.

The Bruins have never sunken to that level because with the hardcores the team is in our DNA.

It was telling when Cumberland Farms/Gulf pulled their sponsorship of the team which had gone back 30 years.

The Bruins shrugged it off and now have this Chinese company as a major sponsor.

Cumberland Farms is going on the tank - I believe that is why they left

Whoever is calling shots needs to go

 

[talkinaway]

I thought it was great - miles of improvement from 2016-7, which was basically the same event but with the Centennial-themed events replacing the "B Thankful" Thanksgiving theme. I think this event was longer than "B Thankful", and players seemed to be assigned to the same station for the whole night. Much better than standing in line for Chara for 30 minutes, being told there's a break, and then getting Dominic Moore.

Overall, it was way better and more organized than last year's Thanksgiving-themed event - smart to use the whole loge and concourse instead of just the "ice" like they did last year. IIRC, they only had maybe 5-6 photo booths available last year...so 12 players would be there, and the rest would be doing stupid stuff like handing out stuffing. And there were huge gaps where everyone had to come on stage to do a pie eating contest...maybe that's fun for the kiddies, but it's a waste of time for me. They did the same thing in 2015-6, with the WC jersey reveal in Seaport - half the players in booths, and half doing stuff like cornhole and serving nachos. This time, the "fan interaction" players were basically the low men on the totem pole (Swzarz, Postma, Cehlarik maybe?, and two others), and they played ball hockey with the kids, which I thought was a genius idea.

Also, just the simple act of having the signs there was helpful - I got there early, and made a bee-line for Bergeron. Also, stick tap to the players, the staff who did the photos, and the Garden staff - they were all very gracious. Let's just hope nobody gets sick after shaking 1000 hands - I noticed the Purell available, and hope every Bruin bathed in it last night.

I also have to laud them for the parking, the freebies, and the food...although I didn't grab much while I was there, since I was trying to max out my photo opportunities. I'd love autographs, BUT...there are all sorts of issues with that. I think some players have an "exclusive contract" with YSMS - I don't know what it entails, but it may mean no public personal autographs. In other words, maybe they can sign them for the Bruins org to give out, but not at fan events like this.) Plus, it's time consuming. I don't think they can have every STH get an item autographed every year - let's say there are 9000 STH tickets. If there are 10 players who do the heavy lifting in terms of signing, that's 900 autographs per player. Even at 3 autographs per minute (it takes longer to do it in person rather than assembly-line style like they do in the basement of the Garden), that's 300 minutes, or 5 hours of time per player. If you had to do it, you could do it by years as a STH: First 2 years, nothing. Then, year 3, you get an autograph every other year.

But overall, it was a well-organized event. A big improvement...unlike the way they've actually made the State of the Bruins WORSE by moving it to mid-season, eliminating the players, and doing it before a matinee. (Then again, maybe people like it on a Satuday, and preseason Saturdays don't work for the players anyway...but doing it before a matinee just feels like an excuse not to serve that good Delaware North food.)

 

[Bruinaura]

I don't live in Boston, and I definitely don't have the money to be a season ticket holder, but if I did I'd want to go to this event at least once. I've never met a player so I think that would be cool. Even if it was just Riley Nash

I'd love a Bergeron autograph but can't justify spending $80 or whatever it is to send in and get something signed from YSMS.