Boston Bruins: Whose Number Will Be the Next To Be Raised to the Garden Rafters?

The Boston Bruins are officially at the halfway mark of their most joyous summer in 39 years.

As of this Thursday, it will have been exactly eight weeks since the team buses pulled in outside TD Garden with a special silver passenger on board. And precisely eight more weeks from Thursday, the franchise’s sixth Stanley Cup championship banner will assume its position on the ceiling of Boston’s big ice mansion.

On that note, as the legacy of the 2011 championship is bound to grow with age, one has to think at least a few constituents from this team will one day have a personal banner-raising ceremony at the Garden. Who that will be shall depend primarily on how each returning player defends this title and continuously builds upon his contributions to the 2011 championship.

At the rate each key player is going right now, in descending order of likelihood, here are the contemporary Bruins and their odds of joining the team’s list of “honored numbers.”

Patrice Bergeron: Nearly a Lock

The Bruins’ lone holdover from the pre-lockout era, Bergeron already has 456 regular season games coupled with 121 goals and 337 points to his credit. And of all contemporary skaters wearing the Spoked-B, he is all but the consensus heir to the captain’s “C.”

If, hypothetically, Bergeron’s untouchable status holds up and he does succeed Zdeno Chara as the team’s formally anointed leader, then he should reach an individual par among Boston hockey fans not seen since Ray Bourque was traded.

In turn, if he stays on the same rough pace he has set amidst the Bruins’ resurgence, he should have no trouble breaking four figures in career games and points. But even if he falls short of that, another eight or nine memorable seasons and at least one more Cup, preferably with his taking the prize directly from the commissioner, should cement No. 37’s place in the rafters.

Milan Lucic: Making Good Strides

It’s fairly early, but so far, so good for another youngster who has delivered beyond his years and worn no NHL emblem but the Spoked-B. While Lucic is not quite Cam Neely, his concoction of toughness and scoring prowess has indubitably captivated Bruins buffs. And he surpassed expectations this past season when he led the team with 30 regular season goals and 62 points.

If he stays healthy and doesn’t have another year like 2009-10, when multiple injuries caused him to miss 32 games, his odds of joining elite company upon retirement are good.

One caveat: That’s only if we’re talking roughly two full decades from now. Again, Lucic is not quite what Neely was. Therefore, he cannot afford to spend merely one decade in Boston and expect to leave the same lasting imprint.

But if he does hang around and does his part to start a collection of Cup rings, No. 17 will be a lock for retirement circa 2030.

Zdeno Chara: Still in Contention

Generally speaking, the Bruins have only honored legendary players who spent no more than three seasons with other NHL teams. The major exception is Phil Esposito, who played a combined nine and a half years for the Blackhawks and Rangers to sandwich his glory years in Boston.

That bodes well for Chara, who played a combined eight seasons for the Islanders and Senators before arriving in Boston. In addition, both Chara and Esposito managed to the win the Cup only when they were in Boston.

Furthermore, the Bruins, their management and their fans have this ongoing penchant for tough defense. If Chara makes the most of his time ahead and wins a few more Norris Trophies while captaining one or two more Cup teams, he will have his place on Boston’s Blue Line Rushmore with Eddie Shore, Bobby Orr and Bourque. Along with that, his No. 33 should someday have its place between eight spokes on a circular banner above the Garden ice.

Tim Thomas: Battling History

Thomas is not hurt so much by the fact that he was a late bloomer. He has more than made up for lost time over five full seasons in The Show.

What does call Thomas’ chances into question is the fact that the Bruins have never retired a goaltender's digits before. Thomas may have backstopped a championship for Boston, but that’s currently one less than his fellow No. 30, Gerry Cheevers.

And he may have snagged two Vezina Trophies, but that’s just as many as Frank Brimsek and only half as many as Tiny Thompson. Thompson and Brimsek combined to backstop the Bruins’ first three runs to the Cup in 1929, 1939 and 1941.

As unfair as the demands might be, Thomas will likely have to hurry up and win a few more hugfuls of hardware before he hangs up his pads if he wants his jersey to hang for everyone to see.

Brad Marchand and Tyler Seguin: Too Early to Judge

One of these young forwards overachieved in his first full NHL season. The other forced his followers to simmer down their expectations.

But by the end of the playoffs, each had set a tone for their respective futures. Marchand broke double digits in the goal column with 11 strikes over 25 playoffs games while Seguin, inserted to commence the third round, scored a respectable seven points in 13 games.

Please stand by on these two.

David Krejci: Not Out of the Question

Right behind Chara, Krejci has the unique opportunity to become the first European to have his jersey retired by the Bruins. And it could happen, assuming he at least stays in Boston for a substantial portion of his career, continues to finish in the upper echelon of the team scoring chart and stokes many more playoff runs.

Johnny Boychuk and Adam McQuaid: Ditto Krejci

Once again, the B's have always loved their hard-nosed rearguards, especially ones who help put the team in contention for the Cup. These two have a similar thread working for them in that they were imported from other farm systems early, fostered in Providence for a couple of years and finished their second NHL seasons with a champagne shower.

If one or both of them stay long term, they will ultimately be filling the skates of Chara, Andrew Ference and Dennis Seidenberg.

Tuukka Rask: Ditto Krejci, Boychuk and McQuaid

Someday, Thomas will be calling it a career. When he does, assuming he is still in the organization, Rask should have a long and rich future as the sole starter.

If he performs even remotely close to what he did in 2009-10 over a span of several years, he’ll have almost as good a chance as Thomas of becoming the first Bruins goalie with a retired jersey.

Nathan Horton: Has His Work Cut out for Him

He is still in the relatively young phases of his NHL career and his first impression in the playoffs after six postseason misses with Florida was otherworldly.

What could hurt Horton’s chances, though, are the uncertain long-term effects of the concussion he sustained in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Finals and the fact that there is simply a lot of traffic ahead of him. With Bergeron, Lucic and maybe Marchand and Seguin, among other younger stars, there is only so much room for so many retired numbers.

Everyone Else: No Chance

As instrumental as he was in this latest run, the newly-retired Mark Recchi only spent two full seasons plus one other homestretch and playoff with the Bruins.

Shawn Thornton might continue to endear himself to fans with his foil-fisted on-ice personality. And he might continue to earn decent ice time with a respectable scoring touch. But the balance he shows in that department is nothing like that of a Neely, a Terry O’Reilly or a Lucic.

As for Gregory Campbell, Ference, Shane Hnidy, Tomas Kaberle, Chris Kelly, Daniel Paille, Rich Peverley, Michael Ryder and Seidenberg: While their roles in the championship run are not to be belittled, their output in this and/or previous years is too unspectacular to contend for any extra rewards.