EDMONTON – Wednesday night’s National Hockey League game between the Boston Bruins and the Buffalo Sabres proved an emotional event for the hometown Boston crowd.
Since the Celtics home game on Tuesday was called off, it was the first major athletic event in the wake of Monday’s deadly bombings at the Boston Marathon.
Rene Rancourt took centre ice prior to the game to sing the national anthem. However, just a few phrases in, the crowd took over; strongly belting out the anthem and filling the TD Garden arena with song.
Rancourt let the microphone fall to his side and led the Boston crowd in a very emotional rendition of the anthem.
The video, which was filmed by a number of people in attendance, has been shared online. By noon Thursday, it had more than half a million views on YouTube.
After the anthem ended, the crowd started chanting “USA, USA.”
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“You can definitely tell that more and more people are more united… more focused on what happened,” said Boston fan and t-shirt vendor Dougie Fresh, outside the arena.
“There’s nothing like sporting events that does that. There’s nothing better than everyone gathering for one cause. It doesn’t even matter what team you’re rooting for tonight, we’re all together as one country, that’s it.”
“The community is sticking together,” said Dillan Vassalli. “It’s a way for us to all get together and be Boston proud. So, good to be here and support our teams and support Boston.”
“It’s about the brotherhood,” explained Andy, a Bruins fan. “It’s about Boston – just how we are.”
“We have a whole faith in Boston, and we have faith in the Bruins, and we have faith in everyone who lives in Boston,” added another fan.
Following the game, players from both teams gathered at centre ice and saluted the crowd.
(Photo Courtesy: Sarah Connors)
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