PORTLAND, Maine — The players looked the part, Todd Angilly’s golden pipes delivered in peak form and the 4,541 hockey-starved fans arrived well before puck drop Friday night, ushering in a new era of this city’s storied minor league hockey history.
If the black, gold, and white sweaters worn by the Maine Mariners weren’t enough to tell you Portland is a Bruins city, the thunderous ovation for the Bruins boisterous National Anthem singer, Angilly, from the Cross Insurance Arena faithful gave it away.
“We had been waiting for them to become a Bruins affiliate,” said Danny Bullis, a season ticket holder from Westbrook who attended the game with his brother, Ryan, and donned the Bruins black and gold.