Boston Bruins Parade Wraps Up After Two Hours Of Stanley Cup Celebration

But, the question: does this beat the most incredible of incredible Stanley Cup parade rap performances?

That performance, of course, belongs to Kris Versteeg of the 2010 Chicago Blackhawks.

While the crowds are still huge along the latter half of the route, from City Hall to Boston Common to Copley Square, back along Causeway Street near TD Garden where things started around 11 a.m., things are much different.

Empty. There were thousands of people there just about a half hour before this picture was taken. Pretty incredible.

↵Via the Bruins’ official Twitter account:

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Boston Police have announced that the crowd on hand for Saturday’s parade is the largest for any such rally in the history of the city. That’s more than the last billion parades that they’ve had in the last decade for the Celtics, Patriots and yes, even the Red Sox.

Stay tuned with us all morning as we celebrate the 2011 Stanley Cup Champion Boston Bruins. For more, stick with this StoryStream and check in with SB Nation Boston and Stanley Cup of Chowder.

You can watch NESN’s feed, which will hopefully feature a lot of Jack Edwards, via NHL Network’s live stream right here:

The festivities will kick off with something going on atop a stage near TD Garden. There was originally no speaking program planned for Saturday morning, but there’s a huge crowd gathered in front of an outdoor stage in front of the Garden, so maybe we’ll be pleasantly surprised.

According to NHL rules, Marc Savard didn’t play enough games with the Boston Bruins in the 2011 season to get his name engraved on the Stanley Cup, but that’s not going to stop him from participating in Saturday’s 2011 Stanley Cup victory parade through the streets of the city.

General manager Peter Chiarelli said that Savard, who couldn’t even attend most Bruins playoff games in person due to severe concussion symptoms that still bother him, will be in Boston and will be on a float for the parade, which begins at TD Garden at 11 a.m. and winds through the streets for about two hours.

The Boston Bruins parade will take place on Saturday morning at 11 a.m., but news outlets are beginning their coverage an hour prior, at 10 a.m., where they will preview the celebration for Boston’s 2011 Stanley Cup heroes.

New England Sports Network is leading most coverage in the Boston area, but most of the networks in town will have their own coverage as well. NESN will simulcast their feed to NHL Network and NHL.com beginning at 10 a.m. ET and ending at the conclusion of the parade, which is expected around 1 p.m.

THE ROUTE

The route will take duck boats through the entire downtown of the city, beginning at 11 a.m. at the home of the Bruins, TD Garden. From there, the players will board and travel down Causeway Street to Staniford Street, where they will turn left and proceed to Cambridge Street.

Boston Mayor Thomas Menino announced on Thursday morning that the parade will be held at 11 a.m. ET on Saturday, June 18. No details just yet on the route that the it will take, but you can assume it’ll take a similar course to that of the most recent parade in Boston, that of the Celtics in 2008.

That year, the route took the NBA champions from TD Garden, down Causeway Street to Stanford, around Cambridge past City Hall to Tremont, and then all the way down Boylston Street before wrapping near Copley Square and the Boston Public Library.