The final portion of the opening video for the 2013-14 season encapsulated the essence of the Providence Bruins’ existence the best. Before every home game that season, following a highlight montage set to a Fall Out Boy hit and before public-address announcer Dave Zibelli’s distinctive lineup introduction, the masses at the Dunkin Donuts Center saw a riveting back-and-forth sequence on the center-ice jumbotron. It began with still shots of winger Brad Marchand in his uniform from circa 2008 to 2010 — short-lived garb that looked like a cup of banana yogurt with its broad, bright yellow trim — and the superimposed wording read by a voiceover: “Before they were fan favorites.” Cue the reel of Marchand’s partial breakaway and shorthanded goal over sprawling Vancouver Canucks goalie Robert Luongo in the turning-point third game of the 2011 Stanley Cup Final. ...
Providence County product Clark Donatelli represented more than his native locality as a member of the inaugural Providence Bruins team. His attitude toward his arrangement that year evolved in almost synchronized fashion with the team’s on-ice fortunes. It took the newfangled Baby B’s five games and their first exposure to their new home crowd to snap out of a funk and establish their eventual North Division-winning rhythm. Likewise, it took time and coaxing for Donatelli to warm up to a disappointing demotion from Boston out of training camp. His AWOL status at what should have been his first AHL practice that year was NBC-10 sports anchor Frank Carpano’s lead bulletin on his portion of the September 30 evening newscast. Donatelli had been drafted by the New York Rangers out of high school, played three seasons at Boston University, then gone t...