In celebration of the Bruins’ first Stanley Cup win in 39 years, fans took to the streets of Boston on Saturday, cheering the much-vaunted puck stars as they made their way on the back of duck boats from TD Garden to just outside the library in Copley Squre.
Police said they expected close to a million people to turn out to the 11 a.m. parade. With warm and sunny conditions – temperatures were about 82 degrees – crowds at Copley Square stretched all the way back down Boylston Street to Hynes Convention Center.
Fans swarmed in from across the region. Jerry Cristoforo, 35, came from Fitchburg to join the revelry at 8:30 a.m., following the team from the opening rally to Government Center, ending at Copley. He said he was hoping to buy a Tim Thomas jersey to get it signed by the goalie himself.
“I cried when they won. My wife took pictures,” Cristoforo said.
Alex Westlund, a 22-year-old resident of Newton, said he had been a fan of the Bruins his whole life, through their ups and – more frequently – downs.
“They really have made this spring unbelievable for me,” Westlund said.
A Boston police sargent at the rally, who asked to remain unnamed, said that parade-goers were overwhelmingly orderly. A couple of people were reported for public intoxication, but there was little sign of public drinking, he said.
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