May 10marks the 50th anniversary of the Boston Bruins' 1970 Stanley Cup championship.

With an all-for-one and one-for-all mentality, that Bruins squad captivatedBeantown and New England,including actor and comedian Denis Leary, who grew up about Austin Voth Jersey an hour west in Worcester, Ma s. Ahockey-obse sed kid, Leary was just 12when the likes of Bobby Orr, Phil Esposito and Derek Sanderson were tearing up the Boston Gardenice.

Sunday at 8 p.m. ET, NHL Network will air a special, "," that takes viewers through the Bruins' rise as they built a gritty, skilled team that capturedthe city's first Stanley Cup in 29 years.

Sporting News caught up with Leary by phone to chat about the Bruins, his love of hockey and why this year's team should just be anointed the 2019-20 champs.

(Editor's note: The conversation has been edited for length and clarity.)

SPORTING NEWS: What was it about that 1970 team that made them so special?Theyjust took over Boston.

DENIS LEARY:You know, it's a combination of how good they were, because they were very good and . . . I'm glad they talked about it in the special because they were really,it wasn't just Bobby Orr . Bobby was an extraordinary once-in-a-lifetime type of player. But, you know, you're talking about Esposito . . . Phil was an integral part of that team, not justas the voice of the team on camera quite often, but on the ice.

So these are iconic hockey guys, but the other thing was they Max Scherzer Jersey were funny, they were camera-savvy,they were charismatic.They were sort of like, my brother used to say they were like the Rolling Stones of hockey. They were just so, they were like a pop culture phenomenon and not just in Boston, I mean, all over the hockey world. So I think that was a big part of it. There was sort of a rock 'n' roll element to that team.

And, but, you know, one of the things they barely touched on this in the special but I've seen in real life: They don't want to talk about it,I know Bobby Orr doesn't like to talk about it,but those guys not only have they stayed connected to that city, and a lot of themstayed there and raised their kids there and their families and everything. Beginning with that team, the stuff they've done for charity in Bostonalone, just inMa sachusetts, is astonishing and it started back then, when they were, you know, the big bad Bruins . . .like, every single one of those guys Bobby Orr, Esposito, John McKenzie, Derek Sanderson, Gerry Cheevers, Ken Hodge, these guys come to your events and not only do they come, they're there all day taking pictures andsigning autographs.

There's a million stories about these guys, uncredited with no cameras around, going to visit hospitals, sick patients.That stuff that you can't even document. You hear the stories but I've seen it at public events, and it Michael A. Taylor Jersey 's nonstop, it's all year . . . So that, in the end, the most impre sive part of that team to me is just how much they've done in the community up there and how that's been pa sed on to them, to the future and current Bruin players. It's pretty amazing.

SN: Take us through that moment and watching that overtime in Game 4 of theFinal vs. the Blues . What was it like as a kid watching that famous goal?

DL: It's such a personalmemory, but, it reallyis, the weather was nice that day. The windows in all the buildings and apartments wereopen. So, what I really remember is being inside, you know, watching the game and there was nobody outside during the game. And right after Bobby scored the winning goal you just heard thisexplosion, you know, sort of like a muted explosionbecause everybody was inside. But then people started yelling out the windows, then people started beeping their horns and then I would say within an hour, all the kids we were out in the street playing street hockey and recreating the goal for I don't know how many hours we did that.

You got to remember, you would tape your stick the way Bobby Orrtaped hisstick. There was a book called "Orr on Ice" that came out shortly after that Cup win. And it was, it was a big picture book but it shows you how Bobby tied his skates andhow Bobby taped his stick and what Bobby ate before a game . I mean, that was like a bible, you know what Imean? So, we were all thinking that we're going to be Bobby Orr if we do all this stuff, forgetting the genetics of it.

When I think of it, I think about when I first introduced my mom to Bryce Harper Jersey Bobby Orr, because my mom loved those Bruins as well. And she came to a charity event and she met Bobby Orr andit was like,it was literally like she was meetingCary Grant.She was just like, "Oh, my God, Bobby, you're still so handsome. Look at your hair. Oh, my God."She just went on and on and Anthony Rendon Jersey on.

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SN: You talked a little bit about it in the documentary about recreating the goal afterward.So, basically you had to get tripped.

DL: On concrete, by the way, so it's in the street. So we were recreating the goal, everybody had to have a turn, being Bobbyand Derek those were the two guys who you were fighting over because nobody wantedto be the guy from the Bluesor the goalie.

SN: Is it fair to say that team just kind of epitomizesBoston?

DL: I think they epitomized Boston. Boston as a hockey town has always loved gritty, tough players, right, like the blue-collar player. So that's, that's true. There's a through-line from Bobby and the big bad Bruins right into the Bruins of the late '70s with Terry O'Reilly, right into Cam Neely and Ray Bourque's era, and even up to now. They appreciate great hockey but they love a team that's tough and doesn't back down. I think that's very true.And for some reason, you know, that sort of stayed.I thinkit reflects the fans, and what the fans love in that town, and I know it's multi-generational Juan Soto Jersey .

I remember we had a practice for one of my charity games when the NHL was in alockout,I forget whichyear that was, butBrendan Shanahan, who I had never met, and all the players were off and he came to the Garden for the skate the day before the event and Bobby Orr was there. Orr wasn't skating, he was just on the bench, and Brendan knew he was going to be there. So we were already out practicing and somebody came and said, "Hey, Brendan Shanahan just got here. He's in the locker room."So I went back in andI said, "Hey, man, how you doing? Thank you so much for doing this."

He's like, "Oh, yeah, nice to meet you."He goes I mean this is a grown man and a ma sive NHL star he goes, "Is Bobby Orr here?" And I go, "Yeah, he's out on the bench."He's like, "Uh, can I meet him?"And I'm like, "Yeah, you can meet him."

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