Frederic Brunet, a Gatineau native, will face his boyhood Canadiens for the first time in the NHL tonight, wearing a Bruins sweater.
Montreal was his team growing up, and the Bell Centre was where he watched games with his family. Now the 23-year-old defenseman is in the lineup at TD Garden against them.
Brunet opened up in the Bruins' pregame rundown. He said he's been to a bunch of games at the Bell Centre with his parents and family, and that the best memory he has there is being drafted by Boston.
That draft day came in 2022, when the Bruins took him in the fifth round, 132nd overall. He's been learning the NHL on the fly since, and Patrice Bergeron's vote of confidence in Brunet showed how quickly the people around this team noticed.
Then came the line fans will repeat all night: "I'm with the Bruins now, so the only thing I want to do is beat them." Belle Fraser also quoted him saying it's crazy how fast things turn around.
Fraser added that Brunet led the stretch at morning skate, a small honor on a day that was never going to be ordinary for him.
He'll play on the third pair with Mason Lohrei, while Jonathan Aspirot and Connor Clifton make up the other pair.
What Brunet's homecoming means for the Bruins blue line
Nobody is handing him a sentimental shift. Brunet has five points in 12 games this season, and he's a +5, with one of those points coming on the power play. He's earned this spot, and Marco Sturm isn't using it as a gift.
Nearly all of his NHL career has come this season, so a night against Montreal in front of his family is a new kind of test. Third-pair minutes are quiet minutes until a mistake makes them loud, and he knows the Canadiens' forwards will hunt for one.
The stakes are real for everyone else, too. The Bruins are 13-4-1, they've won four straight, and they sit first in the Atlantic. The Canadiens, under Martin St-Louis, could take that top spot with a win tonight.
For Brunet, there's one small chance to give his family a Bell Centre memory that tops draft day, and it comes at TD Garden tonight.
This article was written with the help of artificial intelligence, based on public reports and official sources.
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