Bruins Are Only NHL Team Not To Announce Plan To Help Stadium Workers During Coronavirus Crisis
BOSTON (CBS) -- All but one NHL team has announced a plan to provide financial assistance for part-time arena employees during the league's coronavirus stoppage. That one team is the Boston Bruins.
No Bruins fan will be shocked to hear this unfortunate news.
The TD Garden is owned by Delaware North, a hospitality and food service company run by notoriously frugal Bruins owner Jeremy Jacobs and his family. There has been no announcement how the company will help TD Garden workers who are now out of a job after the league halted the season due to the coronavirus pandemic, only a statement to the Boston Herald that the company was "actively exploring support options" for stadium employees.
They promised more information would follow, but that was a week ago. In the meantime, workers now out of work have bills to pay, and they're not sure how that will get done. TD Garden employees voiced their concern over the team's silence to the Boston Herald on Thursday.
"This experience has been hell for me personally," a worker at the Legends restaurant inside TD Garden told the Herald. "My biggest fear is always being homeless again."
The Bruins had six more home games on their regular season schedule, with a potential deep playoff run to follow. There is no word on when the NHL could return, but it won't be any time soon.
Neither the team nor Delaware North returned a call from the Herald on Thursday.
A GoFundMe account was created to raise money for TD Garden employees, with Bruins forward Brad Marchand and Celtics center Enes Kanter contributing to the cause. The Celtics, who share the TD Garden with the Bruins, have already pledged to pay their team-employed gameday staff, but that does not include stadium workers who work for Delaware North.
Hopefully Delaware North will gets its act together soon. It's one thing not to go above and beyond to sign a player. It's another to leave its employees in the dark during such a difficult time.
