Pierre McGuire has certainly seen and heard his fair share of great crowds over the years. He’s been part of NBC’s Stanley Cup playoff broadcasts since the network acquired the NHL’s TV rights in 2006. He was with TSN in Canada before that, and he won a Stanley Cup as an assistant coach with the Penguins in 1992.
And according to McGuire, the crowd he heard at TD Garden last Saturday for Game 1 of the Bruins’ second-round series against the Islanders was about as loud as any he’s heard in all that time.
“I thought Game 1 Saturday in Boston was probably as loud as any crowd I’ve experienced since I coached in the Stanley Cup Final in ’92 in Chicago Stadium,” McGuire said on Ordway, Merloni & Fauria Friday. “I’m not kidding you. I just thought there was such an outpouring of support for the Bruins and their players and the city of Boston. I was blown away.”
McGuire said the crowd for Game 3 in New York was great as well, but that the Game 1 crowd really stood out to him.
Game 1 was the Bruins’ first home game with full capacity in nearly 15 months, and the fans didn’t disappoint in what really was a special night for them, the team and the city, with David Pastrnak’s hat trick highlighting a 5-2 win.
The Bruins currently lead the best-of-seven series two games to one and will return to TD Garden for Game 5 Monday night. If they win Game 4 at Nassau Coliseum on Saturday, they would have a chance to close out the series on Monday.
Listen to OMF's full interview with McGuire, including a breakdown of Bruins-Islanders, here: