Petan soaks in Garden’s glory before sniping first NHL goal

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This article was published 08/10/2015 (3651 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

BOSTON — There are the Boston Bruins Stanley Cup banners, six of them in all, and a ton of Celtics history hangs from the rafters of TD Garden.

There are 10 Bruins numbers hanging, too, honouring legends such as Phil Esposito, Ray Bourque, Cam Neely, Eddie Shore and, of course, Bobby Orr.

Nic Petan, who scored his first NHL goal in Winnipeg’s 6-2 win Thursday night, felt he owed himself a moment to soak all that in earlier in the day. After all, a guy suits up for this first NHL game only once.

“There’s tons of banners,” said Petan. “I took a look. It’s pretty yellow out there.”

Petan, along with Nikolaj Ehlers, made their big-league debuts Thursday and by the time the puck dropped, all those yellow seats had been filled by Bruins fans and friends and/or family to help celebrate the moment for the newest Jets.

Petan’s parents came from B.C., and his brother from Michigan. And Ehlers had a Danish friend and his son drive down from Halifax, where he starred in junior for the QMJHL’s Mooseheads.

“It kind of feels surreal,” said Petan. “I was thinking about it last night before bed… you’re in this situation and it’s just pretty cool. You’re getting all these texts from your friends and it’s a surreal feeling. I want to take advantage of this opportunity.

“Most people are just telling me to enjoy it. You only get to play in your first NHL game once, so enjoy it, have fun, try not to be too nervous and enjoy the moment.”

“This is pretty cool. I’m excited,” said Ehlers pre-game. “It was definitely a proud moment for me when I heard earlier in the week that I was on the team. But tonight is going to be a moment I’m never going to forget.”

Jets coach Paul Maurice delivered the same chat to his first-timers as he has in years past: cherish the moment and don’t forget who helped get you to the NHL.

“They get the speech,” he said. “At the end of the day it boils down to you only get one of them (first game). They’ve worked hard. And, as you all know, no player gets here alone — families, brothers, sisters, support, billets. All the people that go into getting you to the National Hockey League, it’s too many to call. So the best thing you can do is enjoy all of it, take it all in, try to remember the game, if they can, when it’s over because it’s the only one they get.”

BUFF DADDY: Jets defenceman Dustin Byfuglien is a proud papa again after his better half gave birth to a son, Kai.

“It was exciting and I’m glad to be back with the boys,” said Byfuglien. “Everything is good. The baby was normal… he wasn’t too big.”

Speaking of… it’s easy to see why Byfuglien’s name has been linked so often over the past few months in trade rumours to the Bruins when you look at Boston’s D corps. Captain Zdeno Chara did not play Thursday — he is expected back soon — and Dennis Seidenberg is likely out for at least another month after back surgery. Couple that with the draft-day trade of Dougie Hamilton to Calgary and the Bruins are thin on the back end.

SPOTTED: By Comcast SportsNet’s Joe Haggerty Thursday morning before the Bruins’ game-day skate: fans outside the TD Garden in Matt Beleskey’s No. 39 jersey. Beleskey, the former Anaheim Duck, was making his Bruins debut after signing a five-year deal as a free agent this summer.

“I’ve been waiting a while to get this one going,” Belesky told a large throng of media. “It’s time to start the season. It’s business time and I think this group in here is ready. I’m sure there are going to be butterflies tonight, but that will be good.

“Obviously I’ve been out on (the Garden ice), but it was always on the other side. So it will be nice to come out tonight, and hear the Black and Gold make some noise.”

ed.tait@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @WFPEdTait