On the same day that the New England Patriots honored the Lewiston High School boys soccer team, the Boston Bruins hosted some members of the Blue Devils girls hockey team Sunday evening as part Hockey is for Everyone night at TD Garden.
Captains Fiona Landry, Taylor Melvin and Avaya Desjardins and sophomore Crew Langley, along with head coach Scott Laberge and assistant coach Scott Cloutier traveled to Boston for the game against the Columbus Blue Jackets.
The invite came during the middle of last week with the help of Lewiston athletic director Jason Fuller.
“Jason was trying to get something here; logistics just didn’t work out apparently — I don’t know all the details,” Laberge said. “This opportunity came up where they were having the Lewiston Police Department at the game, and they were doing this Hockey is for Everyone Night, we knew they needed a girl — I think they tied it all together.”
The Bruins were also honoring some of the first responders of the Oct. 25 mass shooting in Lewiston that took the lives of 18 people and injured 13 more.
Fuller met with the three captains last week and told them that one of them would go to the game and skate on the ice during the pregame announcements. He put their names in a hat and Landry’s name was picked. However, Fuller and Laberge made some calls to get more tickets to allow all three captains, Langley, and the coaches to attend the game.
Lewiston represented the women’s hockey community. The Bruins also honored LGBTQIA+, sled hockey, deaf, blind and special hockey communities during the Hockey is for Everyone festivities. Each community had a representative lined up with one of the Bruins starters during the national anthem.
Landry, a senior, took the ice in her full Lewiston High School uniform — helmet, gloves, socks and hockey pants shell — and took her spot on Boston’s blue line next to forward Jake DeBrusk for the anthem. She also brought her phone onto the ice and snapped a selfie with DeBrusk.
“When I got on the ice, I was very nervous,” Landry said. “Once the crowd started cheering, I was like, ‘This isn’t bad.’ Then, I took a picture with DeBrusk. I took my helmet off for the anthem, but I don’t know if I was supposed to because none of the other kid players had. That was confusing, but it was really fun.”
Desjardins, a junior, was happy that her teammate was able to represent Lewiston on the Garden ice.
“It was cool. We were all cheering for her, and we screamed when we saw her go on,” Desjardins said. “We all wished we could do it, but I was happy she got the chance to do it.”
Laberge said the roar for Landry popped a little more than others because there was another Lewiston area group at the game, the Maine Gladiators youth hockey organization.
“It’s one of those things that gives you chills,” Laberge said. “They are introducing these folks as they are coming out, and they are all getting nice ovations, but when they introduced (Fiona) and from Lewiston, the place just erupted. Part of it, there was a big contingent of Gladiators down there. The Bruins had given them a bunch of (tickets), so there was a bunch of Mainers that helped.”
After the pregame ceremonies, Landry joined her teammates in the TD Bank suite at center ice to watch the Bruins make a third-period comeback behind Brad Marchand’s natural hat trick and earn a 3-1 victory over the Blue Jackets.
“It was a perfect view; it was very nice,” Desjardins said of the suite.
The TD Bank suite has a host, and Sunday’s was 2014 Lewiston graduate Chris Brown.
POSTGAME SURPRISE
The original plan was to take part in the pregame festivities, watch the game and then go home.
But the Blue Devils were invited to the locker room area for a meet and greet with Jeremy Swayman — the former University of Maine goalie who started and made 24 saves in the victory against the Blue Jackets — and defenseman Charlie McAvoy.
“It was really cool. I never have met any of the players before,” Desjardins said.
Melvin, who is a senior, got the players to record a happy birthday message for her sister Haley.
“It made her really happy,” Melvin said. “It was one of the best gifts she got.”
Laberge said he was impressed with how the Bruins players interacted with the group.
“Swayman was awesome; he stayed in the room for quite a while,” Laberge said. “He talked to Scott and I specifically about how things were going up here, with everything going on. You could tell it’s in his mind. It’s pretty cool with the ties he has with the state. McAvoy was really good, too. McAvoy was a little more business-like. He signed everything for everybody.”
The Lewiston players received a gold-colored chain with a puck that has the Bruins logo attached to it. The Blue Devils plan to use it this season for their player of the game award.
Landry, who was the player of the game after scoring two goals last week in a 6-2 win over Mt. Ararat/Lisbon/Morse/Medomak, will be the first one to pass the chain to one of her teammates.
“After we play Brunswick on Wednesday, I am going to pick a player who I thought played really well,” Landry said. “Then they will be the player of the game, and they will pick the player of the game, the next game.”
Everything that happened after the game is what Melvin said she will remember the most.
“Getting to meet the players, for sure,” Melvin said.
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