Jack Edwards says goodbye in style

Jack Edwards has been the voice of the Boston Bruins during the club's recent golden age. The B's broke a 39-year Stanley Cup drought and reached two more Cup Finals while Edwards ran the NESN microphone.

And on Sunday, the Bruins team and fans honored the longtime play-by-play man in a pregame ceremony and unveiled a mural at the NESN booth featuring Edwards' familiar “From High Above the Ice…” where new players Game announcer Judd Sirott now announces the games.

Edwards retired after last season due to health issues that affected his speech and remained unresolved, but the bombastic icon has retained his sense of humor.

“Doctors still haven't figured out what's going on between my brain and my mouth, even though Toronto fans insist there's nothing wrong with my brain,” Edwards joked.

Edwards, who spent 19 years behind the B microphone after a long career in broadcast journalism at ESPN, Ch. 5 and in Providence and New Hampshire, was thrilled by the reception from the team and fans.

“I am very grateful to the players, the organization and the fans who have given me a roof over my head for 19 years. “It is truly an honor to have my family’s name on the wall of the stand where I earned my living in a world-class arena,” said Edwards.

Edwards said it was the written word that got him started in the sport.

“I grew up with two newspapers, the Boston Herald and the Boston Globe, and I read Joe Fitzgerald and Tim Horgan and Will McDonough and Leigh Montville, and it influenced me in a way that kids don't today,” said Edwards. “It showed me the value of words and I incorporated that into my style and being an emotional guy. And it was an organic connection between my style – and I don't work with kids to emulate that style – but it worked for me and it was a dream come true. And to have my name in that booth is an honor I couldn’t have imagined.”

Edwards had many catchphrases and famous shouts such as “Tumbling Muffin,” “Chinese Mustard,” and “Juicy Rebounds.”

One of his favorite shouts was “This building is vibrating!” in the B's Game 6 victory over the Montreal Canadiens in 2008, a game that is widely considered to be the game that brought the B's back to attention.

He said the call was a tribute to long-time radio announcer Bob Wilson, who described a Jean Ratell goal against Montreal in overtime with the words “The building is moving.”

“He was my role model play after play during my time at UNH,” Edwards said.

Edwards was able to piss off a few people throughout his day, whether it be the league offices or the opposing team's staff. But he never flinched.

“(Analyst) Andy Brickley and the NESN staff had my back because they knew my heart was in it,” Edwards said.

It would be hard to argue against that. …

Loose pucks

Matt Poitras has been doing some tough things lately and fighting off some big hits.

“I think it’s his competitive spirit. He gets himself into some bad situations that he has to learn from, but we just love how fierce he is. He has competitive fire. He’s a Bruin,” Jim Montgomery said before the game.

In fact, Poitras was thrown behind the Seattle net by Adam Larsson in the third period.

This time Trent Frederic came to his defense by hitting Larsson with his knuckles.

“I love that we stick together, Freddy is defending Poitras tonight,” Montgomery said.

Frederic got an extra two minutes, but Charlie Coyle said, “That’s an easy kill.”

Montgomery said Charlie McAvoy played his best game of the year on Sunday. He was a plus-1 in 23:58 of ice time with seven shots on net and one assist.