Sudbury author Mike Commito is back with a new book and this time he has set his sights on the Boston Bruins.
This is the fifth in Commito’s Hockey 365 series, alongside Hockey 365, Hockey 365: The Second period, Leafs 365 and Habs 365.
“The Boston Bruins are America’s oldest NHL team, so there’s no shortage of history with this storied franchise,” the book description reads. “With ‘Bruins 365’, you can relive memorable moments from more than a century of Bruins hockey with one short story for every day of the year. From the team’s origins in 1924 to Bobby Orr’s gravity-defying championship clinching goal in 1970 to some of the milestones from the record-breaking 2022–23 season, Bruins 365 has something for every Boston fan.”
Commito told Sudbury.com that even though he is a committed Toronto Maple Leafs fan, Bruins 365 was his favourite book to write in the series.
“Despite being a Leafs fan and having endured playoff defeats to the Bruins in 2013, 2018, 2019, and 2024, this was one of my favourite books to write,” he said. “Sure, retelling some of those stories and writing my way through past Leafs trauma was difficult at times, I felt this was the book in which I learned the most about the franchise and walked away having a better appreciation for its history, its players, and its legion of loyal fans. Hopefully Bruins fans agree and reminds them why they cheer for the black and gold.”
With some 365 stories to choose from, what was his favourite?
“I think my favourite story in the book was about Boston's improbable comeback against Toronto in the 2013 Stanley Cup Playoffs,” Commito said. “More than a decade later, it's still brought up a lot, so while it's not a story many have forgotten, it was my favourite story to write because I shared how I navigated the loss that night as a Leafs fan. It's a game that has the "where were you when this happened" lore to it, so I think a lot of Bruins and Leafs have similar stories of experiencing the highs and lows of that wild game.”
The book also offers fans insights into players they might know by name only, he said.
“For me, I think these books help connect fans with previous generations of players they might not have grown up watching, so I think there is a lot that fans will learn from across the different eras of Bruins history,” he said. “I like being able to share obscure stories like how Eddie Shore once had to conscript a team of horses to pull a car out of a ditch as he was hellbent on making it to a game in a snowstorm or how Eddie Shack, a local Sudbury hockey legend, once had a stick-swinging duel with Flyers defenceman Larry Zeidel, not an advisable activity in the era of helmetless noggins.”
Bruins 365 is available from Dundurn Press or wherever books are sold.