Wagner Joins Fellow Mass. Natives for Patriots' Day Chat

BostonBruins.com - There isn't much that's more Boston than Patriots' Day.

The third Monday in April is usually reserved for the Boston Marathon, a morning Red Sox game, plenty of civic pride - and, some years, even a Bruins playoff contest.

But this year's holiday was different than any in its history.

With the COVID-19 pandemic putting the city, country, and world on pause, there is no marathon to run, no games to watch, and no bars to attend.

Nevertheless, with some help from the National Hockey League, Boston was still in the spotlight on Monday afternoon, as Bruins winger Chris Wagner (Walpole) and fellow Massachusetts natives and NHLers Kevin Hayes (Dorchester, Philadelphia Flyers), Chris Kreider (Boxford, New York Rangers), and Keith Yandle (Milton, Florida Panthers) came together for quite the Zoom video chat.

In addition to getting a chance to catch up, the quartet also talked all things Boston hockey - including shoutouts to North Shore landmarks HockeyTown and Kowloon - and ran through some Boston-themed trivia. Here are some of the highlights:

The call began with Wagner, Hayes, and Kreider - all born in the early 1990s - talking about what it was like to be a sports fan growing up in Boston.

"Baseball was really big when all of us were growing up. Obviously, the Patriots got pretty good when No. 11 [Drew Bledsoe] got hurt and No. 12 [Tom Brady] came in. Except now he's gone - I don't know why you're wearing that [TB12] hat, Kev. I'm here for the rebuild," Wagner, who is neighbors with Hayes in the Boston Seaport, said with a smile.

"I used to go to Red Sox games the most. Kevin and I probably went to 10-20 together. Today would have been the 11 o'clock Marathon game…it's crazy the run Boston sports have had. I've watched pretty much all of those championships. And our parents really didn't see many, so it's pretty cool for us to grow up in a city with such great sports."

At this point of the call, Yandle arrived to take over as a surprise host. And things kind of went off the rails.

"Kreids, you look like you're trying out for a 'Prison Break' episode," Yandle cracked upon his entrance.

Yandle went on to ask the guys what Boston hockey means to them.

"Playing in the city is a whole other animal," said Wagner. "The fans expect you to play hard, compete every shift…it's awesome. Not just the guys from here, but the people from around the city, they respect the game. I feel like they definitely know the game…except when they're yelling shoot from the 300s."

The next question was which Bruins they looked up to as kids.

Wagner: "I remember watching - cause he's kind of my boss, Cam Neely - he was the first guy I remember watching."

Yandle: - "I think you already got your extension. You're fine."

Wagner: "I was looking for another one…he was scary, he's a scary dude still. Massive, played hard, physical, scored. He's the first guy I remember."

Yandle: - "Kind of a guy you play like, too. Play hard, get in on the forecheck."

Wagner: "Minus the scoring thing."

Kreider: "A lot of Bruins, Joe Thornton, Bill Guerin, a lot of Ray Bourque, too. Obviously, it was hard when he got traded to the Avalanche. But I remember watching that real closely and rooting for him to win the Cup.

"Obviously, [the Bruins] weren't as good back then as they are now. My friends kind of remind me of that whenever they're in the playoffs and they pull up the group chat and talk about how well the Bruins are doing."

Hayes: "I obviously loved Jumbo [Joe]. He was my favorite player growing up and I always love playing the sharks now too because you get to play against him. He was one of the best to ever play. It kind of comes full circle every time we play the Sharks."

On if dreaming of playing for the Bruins or playing college hockey was more prevalent in Boston.

Hayes: "I think every kid that plays street hockey wants to play for the Bruins, which is obviously a dream. But once you get a little bit older, I think the more realistic dream is to play college. I knew when I was starting to get better in hockey, my only dream was to play in a Beanpot…in Boston, it's huge. It's awesome. The same four teams every year.

"And when we're all younger, the first two Mondays in February, everyone comes into practice and goes to their games on the weekend and talks about the Beanpot…people talk about playing for the Bruins, but it's a pipe dream a little bit. Wags is doing it, Charlie Coyle is doing it, [Matt Grzelcyk]. It's definitely a long shot."

Wagner: "I was dying to go to any four of [the Beanpot schools]. Barely got recruited, [ended up at Colgate] so I skipped that dream and went on to the next one, playing for the Bruins. I never thought playing in the NHL was realistic until I was probably 20, after I got drafted.

"But I always wanted to go to one of the four major schools because you grew up going to the Beanpot every single year with your dads. I barely talked to any of those schools in my recruiting process.

"As a kid you see the Beanpot and you think that's way more realistic, the Bruins are on the next level."

The call ended with some Boston-themed trivia, with the players asked to name the year in which the Boston Marathon debuted.

The Marathon was first run in 1897. And it was Wagner who came the closest with his guess of 1898. Kreider wasn't far off either (1907), though Hayes came in a ways off (1935).