ELA Comprehension

The Bruins I.C.E. School

Ray Bourque

Raymond Bourque was born on December 28, 1960. He is a Canadian citizen. He started playing hockey in Canada but made his American debut in the National Hockey League (NHL) in 1979, when he was drafted by the Boston Bruins. Ray Bourque was a hockey star right away! He scored a goal in his very first NHL game and went on to score sixty-five points in his first season.

In 1985, Bourque was named co-captain of the Boston Bruins. He wore a letter “C” for “captain” on his jersey for all away games. In 1988, his co-captain retired and he became the only captain of the team. He was the team captain for a very long time.

Ray Bourque played on the Boston Bruins for twenty-one seasons from 1979 to 2000. He is famous for being a good defenseman while also being good at offence. He won lots of awards because he was so talented.

While Bourque played for the Bruins, the team set an NHL record for most consecutive play-off games played. During that play-off streak, Bourque lead the team to the Stanley Cup finals in 1988 and 1990 but they lost both series.

Ray Bourque was popular with the Boston fans because he loved being a Bruin! At times, he gave up the chance to make more money on other teams in order to stay in Boston. In 2004, Ray Bourque was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Today, Ray Bourque still lives in Boston with his wife and three children, a daughter and two sons. Believe it or not, both his sons are hockey players. Ray Bourque continues to be part of a great hockey family!

Think about it… Why do you think Ray Bourque’s children play hockey? Why could you say that he has more than one hockey family?

ELA Comprehension

Glossary

Citizen: A member of a state or country.

Debut: First appearance.

Retired: To stop working or playing.

Defenseman: A player who’s job it is to make sure that the other team doesn’t score points.

Offence: To try to score points in a game.

Consecutive: In a row.

Streak: A short stretch of time.

Series: Several games played in a row to determine an overall winner.

Popular: Well liked, famous.

Inducted: To make a member of a special club or group.

ELA Comprehension

The Bruins I.C.E. School

Johnny Boychuk

Meet Johnny Boychuck, number 55. He is a Boston Bruins hockey player. His nickname is “Boych”.

Johnny plays defense.

There are other things that Johnny loves to do. He loves golf and Xbox. He likes to play guitar, but he is

not a good skier. He also likes certain animals. His favorite animal is a dog.

Johnny would like to play baseball if he didn’t play hockey. It’s a good thing he plays hockey though, he is

very good at it.

Think about it… What are YOU good at?

ELA Comprehension

The Bruins I.C.E. School

Zdeno Chara

Meet Zdeno Chara, number 33. He is a Boston Bruins hockey player. His nickname is “Zee”. He is a great

hockey player and an interesting man. He speaks seven different languages.

Chara is very famous in the world of hockey today. One reason is that he is very, very tall. He is six feet

nine inches tall!

When he is not playing hockey, Chara loves biking and wrestling. He also likes music and painting.

Because of hockey, he travels a lot. He likes to bring his cell phone wherever he goes.

Think about it… Do you have anything in common with Zdeno Chara?

ELA Comprehension

The Bruins I.C.E. School

Claude Julien

Claude Julien is the Head Coach of the Boston Bruins. He is a hard worker and a good coach. In 1999, he

won a trophy for being the best coach in the league. In 2006 and 2009, he won a Coach of the Year

award. Finally, in 2011, he led the Bruins to the Stanley Cup. He has had an outstanding career in

hockey.

Before he was the Bruin’s coach, Claude Julien was the coach for the Montreal Canadians. He helped the

Canadians beat the Boston Bruins in 2004 but now, he is helping the Bruins win many of games.

In 2011, the Boston Bruins were the best team in the league. They won the Stanley Cup in seven games

against a team from Canada. All over Boston, fans celebrated the victory. It had been 39 years since the

Boston Bruins had won the Stanley Cup and Claude Julien had led them to that prize!

Think about it… The Boston Bruins waited a long time to win the Stanley Cup again. Think of something

you want to do that may take a long time.

ELA Comprehension

Glossary

League: A group of people who have the same goal. (For example, a group of teams who want to win the

same prize).

Stanley Cup: The prize given to the best hockey team in the National Hockey league.

Career: A person’s job.

Playoff: The final games of a season.

Victory: A win

ELA Comprehension

The Bruins I.C.E. School

Brad Marchand

Meet Brad Marchand, number 63. He is a Boston Bruins hockey player. His nickname is “Squirrel.” He

loves hockey but he also loves other things including hunting and playing Xbox.

He is good at hockey but he is good at other things besides hockey too. He is great at hopscotch and

sewing. He is not very good at dancing.

Brad likes hockey and he is good at it, but if he hadn’t become a hockey player, he would have wanted to

become a police officer.

Think about it… How are playing hockey and being a police officer the same? How are they different?

ELA Comprehension

The Bruins I.C.E. School

Cam Neely

In 2010, Cam Neely became President of the Boston Bruins. He was once a player for the Bruins. He started playing for the Bruins in 1986. He wore a jersey with the number 8 on it.

He led the team for seven seasons. The fans loved him. He is the Bruin’s all-time leader in playoff goals scoring eighty-seven playoff points.

Cam Neely was forced into retirement because of injuries. Because he was such a great player, the Bruins retired his number in 2004. That means that no other Bruins player will ever wear the number 8 on their jersey.

He is still popular in Boston today. He does lots of things to make the city a great place. He works hard to raise money for cancer research. He also helps people who have cancer and their families. Cam Neely is a good man on and off the ice.

Think about it… Why do you think Cam Neely is a good man?

ELA Comprehension

Glossary

Current: Happening now.

Jersey: A sports shirt.

Playoff: The final games of a season.

Retirement: To give up work.

Research: To study or explore.

ELA Comprehension

The Bruins I.C.E. School

Bobby Orr

Bobby Orr was born on March 20, 1948 in Ontario, Canada. By the time he was only thirteen, he was already a Boston Bruin! That may seem impossible, but it’s true. At the age of thirteen, the Bruins signed him to an amateur contract. When his parents signed the contract, they received a little bit of money and a coat of paint for their house!

He officially joined the Boston Bruins’ team in 1966 and played ten seasons with them. He helped the team make it to eight consecutive play-offs and to two Stanley Cup victories in 1970 and 1972.

Bobby Orr was the first defenseman to lead the National Hockey League (NHL) in scoring and is the only player ever recognized as the most valuable defenseman for eight years in a row. Orr played defense but he was also an aggressor. He tried to score whenever he could. Because of his aggressive play, he changed the way hockey is played.

One of Bobby Orr’s most famous moments happened during the Stanley Cup championship game in 1970. He scored the winning goal during overtime in the forth game of the series. That year, he won four awards. It was the first time that one player had won four awards in one season!

One of Bobby Orr’s greatest accomplishments is that he helped to make hockey a very popular sport all across the United States. Even today, Bobby Orr is considered by many as “one of the greatest hockey players ever!”

Think about it… Bobby Orr was once called “a protector and a producer”. Why do you think that he

was called this?

ELA Comprehension

The Bruins I.C.E. School

Marc Savard

Meet Marc Savard, number 91. He is a Boston Bruins hockey player. His nickname is “Savvy”. There are other sports that he plays. He is really good at golf, but he is really bad at tennis.

Marc travels a lot with the hockey team. He always likes to have his laptop with him. When he travels, he has to eat out a lot. One of his favorite foods is ketchup.

Marc Savard enjoys hockey and lots of other things.

Think about it… Is Marc Savard like a kid in some ways? How?

ELA Comprehension

The Bruins I.C.E. School

Tyler Seguin

Meet Tyler Sequin, number 19. He is a Boston Bruins hockey player. His nickname is “Segs”. He was a teenager when he became a Bruin.

He likes golf and fishing. He also loves his iPod. He always brings his iPod with him when he travels.

Tyler likes to eat junk food once in a while. One of his favorite foods is McDonald’s chicken nuggets.

Think about it… Tyler Sequin is very young to be a professional hockey player. How is he like a lot of young people? How is he different?

ELA Comprehension

The Bruins I.C.E. School

Tim Thomas

Meet Tim Thomas, number 30. He is a goalie for the Boston Bruins. His nickname is “Double T”.

He is a lot like a regular guy. One of his favorite foods is yogurt and he likes to drink milk. He also likes to

fish, hunt, and read.

Tim is very good at hockey. He is a smart player. He can remember lots of things about hockey. One

thing that he has trouble doing is remembering names. Good thing all hockey players wear numbers!

Think about it...Why do you think that most sports players wear numbers?