Charlie Coyle knew one thing for certain on the afternoon of February 20, 2019.
He wasn’t going to step aboard the Minnesota Wild’s chartered plane to New York. His new destination, however, was still up in the air.
Paul Fenton, then GM of the Wild, relayed the news to Coyle as he made his way to the airport just a few miles out from Minneapolis-St. Paul. The trade whispers that the Weymouth native had heard for months were finally confirmed — as Coyle’s equipment was taken off the team plane. Still, while Coyle was on the move, Fenton could not divulge more details until the club dotted the T’s and crossed the I’s.
Coyle paced around his home in Minnesota while waiting for the other shoe to drop. A valuable mid-season coup for any team looking to put itself over the top, perhaps Coyle was going to join a bonafide Cup contender? Maybe a return to the East Coast, where he could be closer to friends and family?
Hell, perhaps he’d get the best of both worlds in the Bruins — joining a loaded roster while relishing the perks that come with donning the spoked B as a local product.
Later that evening, Coyle got the news. He was indeed heading home.
The text messages started flooding in. It was the deluge that Coyle expected — receiving well wishes and from a sizable South Shore contingent, pals, former teammates, and many others.
One of the first ones to reach out to him was his former teammate Chris Wagner — well, former as of that February morning.
“(Wagner) texts me — he's like, 'Hey, you’re coming? You're coming?’ Coyle recalled.
“I said, ‘Yeah, I can't believe it all.’
“And he’s like — ‘Oh man, I'm pumped!’"
Given that Wagner and the Bruins were just a few hours away from puck drop against the Golden Knights in Vegas, Coyle wanted to keep things brief. Wagner, happy to add another Mass. native to the B's locker room, did not oblige.
"I was like — 'Alright, well I know you're playing tonight — go get your nap,'" Coyle said. "And he's like - 'No, no — I can't nap now. I'm fired up!' I remember those texts. So right there, that made me feel like, 'Alright this is going to be awesome.'"
Rather than meet his new club at the final stop of their road trip in St. Louis, Coyle hopped on a plane the following day to Vegas to get an early start towards ingratiating himself with a new crew of players.
Even as an outsider, Coyle had heard plenty of the culture permeating from his hometown team's locker room and what it meant to put on a black and gold sweater. Most of it was relayed from Wagner, who first met Coyle over a decade ago as teammates on the South Shore Kings — a junior hockey club based out of Foxboro.
A memorable 2009-10 campaign started a long-lasting friendship for a pair of forwards looking to raise their stock as tangible NHL prospects. But for all the daydreaming and chatter expended at the Foxboro Sports Center of a future life spent as a pro hockey player — Coyle remained realistic.
Both him and Wagner had all the tools, skills and moxie to carve out careers for themselves in the top hockey league in the world. But to imagine a scenario in which they found themselves playing together up in the NHL ranks — potentially for the hometown Bruins?
Well, such daydreaming can only go so far before reality jolts you awake.
“I remember talking to (Wagner) before when he first signed here and I asked him how it's like (to play for Boston)," Coyle said. "He’s like, ‘It's awesome,’ you know, he just loves it.' In the back of my mind ... I was still in Minnesota, but ... I was still like, ‘Huh, must be pretty cool to play there, wonder what it's like?’
"Just hoping one day it could happen. But you just never know.”
______________________
______________________
______________________
______________________