In Brookline, a pizza shop said it will give away pies emblazoned with the letter B during the game. And at just about every sports bar in the city, at least a few fans were glued to lead-up coverage.
“It’s been a long time coming,’’ said Ben Pimental, 26, from Raynham, who was heading to the TD Garden to buy his mother, a recent Bruins convert, a shirt for the big game. “We’ve been the forgotten ones. But now we’re front and center, and everyone’s watching.’’
Field trips and city tours were chock-a- block with Bruins garb, and the names Marchand, Thomas, and Peverley peppered sidewalk conversations. Strangers with spokes on their chest high-fived each other. In the trial of former House speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi, one female juror wore a gold Bruins hoodie to court.
For perhaps the first time since the 1970s, when the Bruins captured the city’s imagination by twice winning the Stanley Cup, the team was the toast of the town.
“It’s our moment,’’ said Joshua Mades-Alabiso, 19, from Melrose, wearing a gold Bruins jersey to show his team spirit. “Everyone has suddenly switched their Red Sox hat for a Bruins hat.’’
In recent years, as the city reveled in a sports renaissance, Bruins fans endured disappointment after disappointment, left with only their nostalgia for the great teams of old.
But this spring, the Bruins have reclaimed their former glory, to the delight of fans who have waited their entire lives for a Stanley Cup, now so close they can taste it.
“It would feel the same as when the Red Sox won in ’04,’’ said Paul Caulfield, a lifelong fan from Cambridge born in 1972, the last time the Bruins won the National Hockey League’s Stanley Cup. “I’d shed a tear.’’
In anticipation of Game 7, Caulfield bought two Terry O’Reilly patches at North Station, one for his car and one for his bedroom. O’Reilly, a former Bruins captain who played in the ’70s and ’80s, was his favorite player growing up, and now younger fans are coming of age with this team, he said.
“They are creating a whole new generation of fans,’’ he said. “Look at all the kids wearing Bruins shirts today.’’
