The NHL season is officially upon us and the Boston Bruins kick off their 2021-2022 season Saturday at the TD Garden.

As a lifelong Boston Bruins fan and all around sports junkie, this is my favorite time of the year. Besides marking the beginning of the regular NHL season, the NFL is in full swing, post season baseball is down to four teams and basketball season starts next week. It's like Christmas time for sports fans.

The legendary Boston Bruins have quite a colorful history of amazing players, but let's face it, the majority of the NHL is made up of players from other counties, like Sweden, Russia, Finland the Czech Republic and of course, Canada. In fact, only 27% of professional hockey players in the NHL are from the U.S. according to CTV News with data collected from the National Hockey League. Of those U.S. born players, only 11% are from Massachusetts, behind Minnesota, Michigan and New York.

When a Massachusetts player makes it to the NHL it's a big deal, when they get to skate for their home team of the Boston Bruins, it's magical.

Here are seven of the most popular players born in Massachusetts who laced up their skates for the Big Bad Bruins. Who is your favorite? Can you think of any we missed?

 

30 famous people you might not know were college athletes

Stacker dug deep to find 30 celebrities who were previously college athletes. There are musicians, politicians, actors, writers, and reality TV stars. For some, an athletic career was a real, promising possibility that ultimately faded away due to injury or an alternate calling. Others scrapped their way onto a team and simply played for fun and the love of the sport. Read on to find out if your favorite actor, singer, or politician once sported a university jersey.

LOOK: Here are the 10 US golf destinations with the most courses per capita

Discover where you can find the best access in the country for your pick of courses, the unique terrain that lends itself to world-class golf, and what makes select clubs noteworthy.

 

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