Bruins Watch: Bruins’ drone video highlights legends through tour of TD Garden The video features Bruins legends like Bobby Orr, Johnny Bucyk, Willie O’Ree, Phil Esposito, Terry O’Reilly, Ray Bourque, and others. Bobby Orr is featured at the start of the drone video. Courtesy of Boston Bruins
Hours ahead of puck drop for the Bruins’ Centennial Game against the Canadiens, Boston paid tribute to the legends and memories forged through 100 years of history with an impressive drone video.
The video — titled “Soaring Through History” — features drone cameras making their way throughout TD Garden, starting at the main entrance on Causeway Street and weaving through the Heritage Hall, executive suites and along the ice of Boston’s longtime barn.
Several Bruins legends featured in the video as a testament to the Original Six franchise’s storied history — including Bobby Orr, Johnny Bucyk, Willie O’Ree, Phil Esposito, Terry O’Reilly, Ray Bourque, Cam Neely, Zdeno Chara, Patrice Bergeron, and Brad Marchand.
Advertisement:
You can watch the whole video below:
Soaring through a century of history. pic.twitter.com/bxXGDhK94g — Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) December 1, 2024
The video was the culmination of several days of filming, with the project spearheaded by the Bruins’ digital content team and captured by Jay Christensen — the creative director and drone pilot of JayByrd Films.
The Boston Globe’s Jim McBride was on site for Saturday’s final day of filming as several Bruins legends stood at their respective marks across TD Garden — with McBride documenting the entire filming process.
Sunday’s video is far from Christensen’s first rodeo when it comes to sports-centric drone films. He also collaborated with the Celtics during a drone video that covered Boston’s banner-raising ceremony in October.
Advertisement:
“This is a first of its kind from a historical perspective,” Christensen told McBride of Sunday’s video.
The video opens with Orr gazing at the bronze statue of himself affixed in front of TD Garden — with Dan Kelly’s call of his Cup-clinching goal on Mother’s Day 1970 echoing on the video.
As the drone moves through TD Garden, several other memorable radio and TV calls serve as the soundtrack for 100 years of Bruins history.
The drone enters TD Garden and moves through the team’s Heritage Hall — where Bucyk and O’Ree glance over the several artifacts that they’ve submitted into hockey history.
As the video shifts to the ice, Terry O’Reilly — with 2,095 penalty minutes on his ledger — is featured in the sin bin.
“I do have a gripe,” O’Reilly joked in his conversation with McBride. “Orr was my teammate and he gets a statue out front, and I get the penalty box. Do you think that’s fair?”
Both Bourque and Esposito are seen admiring a photo from Dec. 3, 1987 — when Bourque gave up his own No. 7 sweater so that Esposito could have it to himself during his jersey retirement ceremony.
Advertisement:
Neely is spotted watching over the Garden ice from the team’s executives suite, while the voices of Fred Cusick and Derek Sanderson punctuate footage over the Garden broadcast booths — with Judd Sirott, Andy Brickley, Ryan Johnston, and Bob Beers featured as the current voices of the team.
Along with additional cameos from Rick Middleton and anthem singer Todd Angilly, the clip ends with current captain Brad Marchand skating on the Garden ice and finding twine with a pair of sharp slap shots as the jumbotron features Patrice Bergeron and Zdeno Chara admiring the hardware they helped win with Bosotn in 2011.
Conor Ryan Sports Writer Conor Ryan is a staff writer covering the Bruins, Celtics, Patriots, and Red Sox for Boston.com, a role he has held since 2023.