Going into Thursday night's game, not only was it going to be the Boston Bruins' last game in Toronto for the season, but it was the last time that Jack Edwards was going to broadcasting a Bruins game as a provisional (at the time) Game 7 would only be aired on ABC and ESPN+.
Much to Boston fans dismay, the Bruins found themselves on the wrong end of the scoreboard again on Thursday night as they fell 2-1 to the Toronto Maple Leafs.
While with the media after the game when discussing the game afterwards, head coach Jim Montgomery called out one of his superstars in David Pastrnak, Montgomery does need to be lauded for his immediate shoutout of Edwards in his postgame interview with the retiring broadcaster and his counterpart Andy Brickley.
Montgomery didn't take any questions to start the interview, instead using the time to give Edwards a shoutout congratulating him on his career and wishing him luck in retirement. The statement brought Edwards so close to tears that he was unable to get a question out in the entire interview with him turning away from the camera for most of it.
The well-wishes come as a classy move coming from a coach who faces being put on the hot seat after taking a series to Game 7 after being up 3-1 earlier in the series for the second consecutive season.
Without Edwards broadcasting following Thursday night's game, it's time for NESN to start figuring out who could take his place - whether it is someone on a permanent basis or it is someone who fills in for a year and then they look for someone more full-time after that. Either way, it can be agreed by all that - whether you liked Edwards or not - it is going to be some big shoes to fill when the time comes.
Much like the departure of Don Orsillo from Red Sox broadcasts, this will be a tough pill to swallow for all fans. Hopefully, the next one they have to take will be an easy transition.