The Boston Bruins weren’t on the ice today. They were busy making an impact on the fairways. Yesterday was the 12th Annual Boston Bruins Foundation Golf Tournament. While it was a great bonding day for the players as they get ready for the 2015-16 season, it was also another opportunity for the players to put their star power to work. The Boston Bruins squad (along with distinguished alumni Ray Bourque and Rick Middleton) helped raise over $300,000 for the Boston Bruins foundation.
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“This is great for the community, great for everybody,” Bruins captain Zdeno Chara said of the tournament. “We all enjoy participating in events like this, where it’s kind of a last chance to relax before training camp starts and it’s a part of bonding I would say – interacting with the fans and people participating in this golf tournament. I think it’s just a great event.”
“I’m sure the guys are anxious to get back on the ice,” said Boston Bruins Foundation Executive Director Bob Sweeney. “It’s been a long offseason and this is kind of the kickoff to the hockey season — and I appreciate all of the guys and the alumni donating their time and helping us raise a lot of money for the Foundation.”
Once again, Bruins alternate captain Patrice Bergeron shows us that he’s pretty close to amazing in everything he does. Bergeron is ready for the challenges as the Bruins roar into the season. The B’s training camp starts up on Thursday.
Patrice Bergeron does his part & sinks a 25-foot putt at the golf tournament. Watch BRUINS :30 pres. by @Samsonitehttps://t.co/06KL9LlfeY
— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) September 14, 2015
“I’m looking forward to it,” said Bergeron. “This year is definitely different, having a lot of new faces and new guys coming in so you know camp’s going to be a great chance for us to get to know each other and find a way to have some good chemistry right away and be a good hockey team.”
While the Bruins players did their part to raise awareness and funds for charity, the Bruins ownership took their philanthropic work one giant step further. Yesterday, Boston Bruins owner Jeremy Jacobs made an incredible donation. Jacobs, his wife, Margaret, and their family donated $30 million dollars to The University at Buffalo School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences.
Puck Prose
The gift was so monumental in scope the University has chosen to name the new school after the Jacobs family. (The first time the university has done this since its founding in 1846.) Jeremy Jacobs was both surprised and humbled by the university’s announcement.
“It’s a great honor for us to be able to have a school named after us, quite honestly,” Jacobs said. “I think anybody would be very, very proud, especially coming from Buffalo and starting here. But more important than anything else is what the president here has done and what has happened here.
“ is the largest industry in our country and in our world today, and it puts an opportunity in front of the Buffalo community to really grow here. This whole community has progressed, but when you put the medical school here, it just makes it happen faster. If you look around today, whether it’s Cleveland or Pittsburgh, they’re ahead of us time-wise, but not facility-wise. This is unmatched.
“I can tell you that it’s an experience we can all be proud of. It’s an opportunity for this community to really grow and prosper. From an industry , it’s huge; from an academic environment, it’s unprecedented. It’s going to be tremendous. So I truly think that we’ve got ourselves a real opportunity, and just hanging my name on it is a real plus for me and my family.”
Jeremy Jacobs has been on the receiving end of a lot of jibes from Bruins fans over the years. We’ve called him the ‘Montgomery Burns of the NHL’. But he’s done quite a lot of good for the league over the years (lockouts not withstanding). He paid for the renovations to the TD Garden, rather than sticking it to the city of the Boston or the fans. While he is still a polarizing person to many Bruins fans, an imposing donation like this should certainly soften that impression.