Chris Wagner has no regrets putting his body on the line to help Bruins advance to Stanley Cup Final taken at TD Garden (2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs)

(Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs

Chris Wagner has no regrets putting his body on the line to help Bruins advance to Stanley Cup Final

By Conor Ryan

May 26, 2019 • 10:01 pm

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For the first time in a long time, Chris Wagner feels at home.

A five-year NHL vet with stops in Anaheim, New York and Colorado, Wagner has gone from standard, hard-nosed contributor on a checking line to “The Mayor of Walpole,” Boston’s latest recipient of the Seventh Player Award — handed out annually to the Bruins player that exceeded expectations over the course of an 82-game campaign.

Wagner’s local ties and willingness to dole out heavy checks made him a fan favorite in short order — while his 12 goals ranked sixth overall on a deep Bruins club that received a combined 33 goals from its crop of fourth-line skaters during the regular season.

“It’s funny that it actually stuck and got rolling,” Wagner said of his new moniker. “But the support, locally, it’s something that you kind of dream of; playing here. Not having them turn on you either, because I’ve seen that before too. It’s another special part of playing at home, when you have that support. You have the random people, sometimes it can be a challenge, but it’s more fun than anything.”

It’s shaping up to be a storybook ending for Wagner in his debut season in Boston — save for one unfortunate caveat. The Bruins only need four wins to hoist the Stanley Cup, but Wagner may not see the ice for any of those bouts.



The 27-year-old winger played a key role in Boston’s sweep of the Carolina Hurricanes in the Eastern Conference Final,  tallying a pair of goals and dishing out 14 hits over the course of the series. Impressive totals — especially given the fact that Wagner was forced to watch Boston clinch Game 4 at PNC Arena while back home in Massachusetts.

Two days earlier, Wagner attempted to snuff out one of the ‘Canes’ last gasps in search of an equalizer, as Carolina defenseman Justin Faulk wound up for a shot from the blue in the closing minutes of Game 3 — with Boston clinging to a slim, one-goal lead.

“I went down,” Wagner recalled. “I actually thought he was going to take a one-timer at first. Slap shot, went to block it — and blocked it.”

Wagner extinguished one of Carolina’s final quality attempts on the evening, but he paid the price. It didn’t take long for the B’s skater to react after his arm bore the brunt of Faulk’s howitzer. Dropping to the ice in obvious pain, Wagner had to endure a couple minutes of agony on Boston’s bench alongside head athletic trainer Don DelNegro before a stoppage in play eventually allowed him to exit the game and head to the room for treatment.




“That wasn’t pleasant,” Wagner said. “The whole two minutes, I don’t even know how long it was. The wait to get off, that’s a tough set-up. … You’re just a sitting duck.”


Postgame, the rush of excitement from the B’s players was quickly offset by the sight of Wagner — arm already bundled in a sling, and heading to the X-ray room. He was sent back to Boston the following morning — and has yet to return to the ice since then. 


He remained mum on the subject of his rehab status and prognosis for the rest of the Cup Final during Sunday's Media Day, but the optics certainly don’t look good for Wagner — especially with Game 1 set to get underway Monday night at TD Garden.


“I don’t know if I’m allowed (to say),” Wagner said when asked of his current off-ice activities. “I wanted to come up here and be like Bill Belichick.
We’re on to Cincinnati.
Right now, I’m just kind of hanging out.”


One of just four Bruins players to play at least 75 games during the regular season, it stands as a cruel twist of fate that now — on hockey’s biggest stage — a local product like Wagner may not be afforded a chance to take to the ice at TD Garden.


“It’s been really tough,” Wagner said. “But you just want to stay supportive. We’ve gotten this far. It’s not about me, it’s about the team. We’ve had that attitude with whoever’s gone in or out of the lineup. We keep saying, next man up.”


It’d be easy for Wagner to second guess that split-second decision to drop to the ice and absorb Faulk’s blast — especially upon knowing the end result.


Maybe the slap shot would get tipped wide at the last second. Tuukka Rask likely would have stopped the feed anyway.


But Wagner isn’t dwelling on the past. And he certainly isn’t regretting the role he played — however painful it might be — in getting his hometown club to the Stanley Cup Final.


“It’s Sunday, so I told my mom that I’m going to drop a Bible quote,” Wagner said when asked if I had second thoughts about blocking the shot. “Jesus said that there’s no greater love than laying down your life for your friend. We’re all friends and we all love each other. Why would I not do that?”


This season has felt like home for Wagner — but not just in terms of the tangible, familiar surroundings around him. He might have been over 700 miles away from Raleigh on the night that the Bruins punched their ticket to the Cup Final, but Wagner wasn’t far from his teammates’ thoughts in the minutes following their Game 4 victory.


As the Bruins celebrated in a cramped locker room at PNC Arena, Wagner was included in the revelry by way of a FaceTime call from
Zdeno Chara.


A fitting gesture for the “Mayor of Walpole” — who’s made himself quite at home on this tight-knit Bruins roster.




“It meant a lot,” Wagner said of getting included on the team’s celebration. “Honestly, at this point, I wouldn’t expect anything less. Which is funny, 10 years ago, if I was getting a FaceTime from Zdeno Chara, I’d probably be like what the heck? It was pretty cool. You almost feel like you’re in the locker room. For them to think of me like that in that moment, it means a lot to me.”

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