Local products Chris Wagner, Charlie Coyle reflect on Bruins’ last Stanley Cup title ahead of postseason debuts with Boston

The date was June 15, 2011 — and both Charlie Coyle and Chris Wagner were already settled back in at their respective hometowns of Weymouth and Walpole.

A few months removed from their freshman campaigns at Boston University and Colgate, both Coyle and Wagner were already well on their way to a future in the NHL — picked by both the San Jose Sharks (Coyle, 28th overall) and Anaheim Ducks (Wagner, 122nd overall) in the 2010 Draft.

But make no mistake, all new allegiances were moot that warm summer evening — especially when Zdeno Chara hoisted Lord Stanley’s Cup over his head at Rogers Arena.

Potentially playing in Boston was a pipe dream still close to a decade away from coming to fruition for both skaters, but looking back on that night — both Wagner and Coyle couldn’t have cared less.

“I remember watching it with my buddies,” Coyle said of Game 7 against Vancouver. “I just remember driving through town. I think I went to my other buddies after that. Just a big buzz around town. Honking horns, it was pretty cool.”

The 2010-11 Bruins were not the first local team to take home a championship since the turn of the millennium. But for a title-starved hockey contingent spread across Boston and all of New England, the B’s remarkable run – highlighted by three pulse-pounding Game 7 victories over the Canadiens, Lightning and Canucks — made the tribulations of a 39-year Cup drought dissipate in short order.

“I remember Game 7 of the first round, I don’t remember much of the second, but I watched a lot of the Tampa series,” Wagner told BostonSportsJournal. “That went to a Game 7 too and then the whole Vancouver series, I would get together with 10 of my buddies. I went to the parade and all that too.”

Wagner obviously wasn’t around for “Too Many Men” in 1979, nor did he see Boston’s shortcomings against the Oilers in 1988 or 1990. Like many others that constituted the next generation of Bruins’ fans, any postseason woes for Wagner brought upon by Scott Walker and Simon Gagne were negated by the hefty highlight reel compiled in the spring and summer of 2011.



“I remember in Game 7 (actually, Game 5)  against Montreal, Tim Thomas made a save on, I think Brian Gionta, I think on a 2-on-1 in overtime,” Wagner recalled when asked of his favorite memories from the ‘11 Cup run. “I was like, well, that could have been it. Then getting beat up in Vancouver those first two games. Nathan Horton getting his clock cleaned with a dirty hit. That was tough to watch.

“But stuff like that and you can see how they rallied around it. Like how Bergy played in Game 7 in Vancouver. You know — typical. Didn’t know him at the time, but not surprised at all. Stuff like that you remember.”

Fast forward to the present, and both Wagner and Coyle will now get their own shot at helping their hometown team to compete for a title — as the forwards will make their postseason debuts as Bruins during Thursday’s Game 1 matchup against the Maple Leafs at TD Garden.

While the usual suspects like Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand, David Krejci and Tuukka Rask might draw most of the focus when it comes to potential X-factors in Boston’s first-round matchup, Bruce Cassidy and his staff will be counting on both Wagner and Coyle to solidify a bottom-six corps that will be tested against an explosive Leafs offense.

Expected to slot back down in his usual spot on the fourth line to open the series, Wagner and the 247 hits he’s landed this year will come in handy when it comes to wearing down Toronto as part of what should be a blistering forechecking effort from Boston.

The anchor on Boston’s third line, Coyle’s baseline stats (two goals, six points over 21 games with the Bruins) may not jump off the page. But the addition of the 6-foot-3 center has given Cassidy a reliable, two-way pivot that can log extra minutes when needed (15:59 ATOI) while holding his own against tougher matchups — as just 47.1 percent of Coyle’s zone starts have come in the offensive zone.

“Wins, for the most part,” Cassidy said Monday when asked of what else Coyle brings to this club away from scoring. “I think when he first got here, we won a lot of hockey games and it allowed us to distribute minutes better. ...We’re still comfortable with him starting in our end, whoever he matches up against, we’re not going to lose. If we ice the puck and they throw out Tavares, Matthews, whoever. We’re comfortable with Charlie being out there to defend them.”

While neither forward has been able to capture a Cup during their time up in the NHL so far, both are not strangers to playoff hockey. Wagner scored three goals in 21 postseason matchups with the Ducks, while Coyle has added 15 points and 22 takeaways over 44 playoff games in Minnesota. 

Every championship-level roster is composed differently, but Wagner was quick to note that this 2018-19 Bruins club features a couple of similarities with the team that won it all back in 2011.

“Leadership. I don’t think it’s even a question, really,” Wagner said. “There’s still some guys here. Marchy was younger then, but he’s stepped up in that role. Stuff is going to go sideways and you can’t predict anything, so when that happens, those guys take over the bench of the locker room and try change the mindset of going out, embracing it and getting back out there.”

Wagner and Coyle might have already shaken off the nerves that came with their respective season debuts at TD Garden, but Thursday’s playoff opener promises to bring plenty of new challenges — and heaps of excitement along the way.

“With every sport here, the whole city gets involved,” Wagner said. “Just that part of it makes that special, especially in the postseason, because so many people are involved and engaged in every little thing. So there’s pressure, but it’s more of an opportunity to show what you got and make people proud.”