Allow me to go off on a tangent tonight and then get into the topic of this post. Tonight, Boston Garden hockey history officially came to a close as the Boston Bruins played their final game in the building, a 3-0 exhibition win over arch rival Montreal. However, the game took a backseat to the hourlong postgame festivities. After the game ended, longtime Bruins' announcers Fred Cusick and Bob Wilson took turns announcing the Bruins' stars of yesteryear who had made their final trip to the building to be honored and take a final skate on Garden ice. With all the memorable moments that have occurred in the Garden, it's hard to imagine one more being added to the list, but on this night there was one. Among the stars who were introduced - Hall of Famers, Stanley Cup champs, trophy winners - one appearance stood out above and beyond all of the others. A player whose entire NHL career lasted only 75 games, who never won a Cup or was selected to the Hall of Fame. Young Normand Leveille was a Bruin for only two seasons, from 1981 through 1983. He tallied 17 goals and 25 assists in those 75 games and was hailed as a future great, possibly destined to take his place someday as one of the best players ever to play for Boston. That is, until a sudden brain aneurysm (if I remember correctly) that he suffered during a game left him partially paralyzed early in the 1982-83 season. He never played hockey again. Among all the ovations received by all the heroes tonight - and there were many, including Number 4 himself - none were bigger than the moment the crowd's shock turned to vociferous cheers as Leveille was announced, was helped out onto the ice with cane in hand and, aided by Bruins' greats past and present, took a final skate around the Garden ice and raised his arm triumphantly in acknowledgement of the crowd's appreciation. I don't think anyone could have expected this, and as the camera panned the crowd, it was clear that there was not a dry eye in the place. There have been many great moments in Garden hockey history, and this was yet another - possibly one of the greatest. Which leads me to the relevance to college hockey... Friday, the Garden will be closed for a final time, as the brand new FleetCenter officially opens Saturday night and Boston ushers in a new era of history in this hockey hotbed. What are your favorite college hockey moments in Garden history? I'm a little surprised we haven't covered this yet, but this seems like a good time. The Garden has hosted numerous college hockey events over the years, including almost all of the Beanpots, NCAA championships, ECAC and Hockey East championships, and so on. I'm interested in hearing your favorite moments, and I think a lot of other people would be too. For this, I ask that you restrict your selections to events you were actually present at. That means I cannot include events like the famous Blizzard of '78 Beanpot when 11,000 people were stranded in the Garden overnight after the first night of the tournament and the championship had to be postponed a month. I never went to a college game at the Garden until the 1987 Beanpot, but since then, I have been at approximately 60-70 collegiate games there, so I have a lot to choose from. I suspect I have a few moments that few, if anyone else, will choose, so I'll wait a day or two before posting my list. I also need time to think back over the games I was at and come up with a good list. I have a few candidates, but I don't want to leave anything out. A suggestion: while most choices may involve great performances by your favorite team(s), think about memorable moments that involved other teams or players. Come up with a list of 1, 3, 5, whatever and give us a few comments about why those events were memorable to you. College hockey and the Boston Garden have gone hand in hand for over 40 years. I think it's fitting that as they prepare to close the old barn for one final time Friday night, we rehash some of the moments that stand out in our minds relating to the college game. Please post your thoughts to HOCKEY-L; you could send them to me, but then you'd be depriving others of the chance to reminisce and enjoy the memories of Garden college hockey - as well as depriving those who weren't fortunate enough to be there of gaining an appreciation of the Garden's stature in the history of the game we love and support. --- --- Mike Machnik [log in to unmask] *HMM* 11/13/93 >> Co-owner of the College Hockey Lists at University of Maine System << ***** Unofficial Merrimack Hockey home page under construction at: ***** ***** http://www.tiac.net/users/machnik/MChockey/MChockey.html ***** HOCKEY-L is for discussion of college ice hockey; send information to [log in to unmask], The College Hockey Information List.