So Grzelcyk wasn’t sure. The Bruins have historically played video appreciations to their former players at the first TV timeout in the first period. But toward the middle of the first period, the game didn’t hit an appropriate stop point for the game to go to commercial for quite a while.
Grzelcyk was anxious for the moment to arrive one way or the other so he could move past it. When the game eventually stopped, they showed highlights of both his career as well as him taking part in community events.
“It was cool. I wasn’t sure if that was going to happen or not; I was kind of just like waiting for that to get over with, and I don’t think we had a TV. Time out until, like, 10 minutes,” he said. “So I was just praying for a whistle here and there, and it was nice to get one.”
He tapped his heart and waved to the crowd.
“It was nice to get recognized there and brought back some good memories,” he said.
Grzelcyk played 27 shifts over 21:54 in the Penguins’ 2-1 win.
Grzelcyk, who grew up in Charlestown and played college hockey at BU, arrived in Boston late Thursday night. The Penguins left later than they normally would for a road game to allow players to have most of Thanksgiving with their families.
Grzelcyk said he had his turkey with some teammates before flying north for a strange day.
He’s been going to TD Garden his whole life. His father John works in the building, and he played Beanpot and Hockey East Tournament games there before joining the Bruins.
He spent eight years in the organization before signing a free agent deal with Pittsburgh this summer. Friday marked his first time back.
“It was great. It’s kind of a long day,” he said. “I didn’t know what to expect. A lot of anxiousness. I wasn’t really sure what to feel, but it was really cool to come back and play in front of friends and family again. I’ve been thinking about this for a long time.”
Once he arrived, though, Grzelcyk tried not to think about it.
“I kind of just set the whole routine up. I just tried to do what I normally do before games and tried to shut it off,” he said. “I really didn’t know what to expect at all. I just tried to lock in as much as I could, and my teammates were giving me grief there for a couple of days. But it was cool. Just to be able to come back and get a win was awesome. Makes it that much more special.”
