Today’s Friday Bruin is also the Mystery eBay Purchase and already one of my favourite cards ever, a Fred Cusick autograph. Before I get into why I love this card, let’s learn a little about Mr. Cusick.

Fred Cusick was a graduate of Northeastern and a veteran of the second World War. He got his start as a radio announcer for the Bruins in 1952 and held the position until 1970. In 1971, he switched to television and became the play-by-play man, first for WSBK-TV Channel 38 and later for the New England Sports Network (NESN). He provided TV play-by-play for 27 years before retiring from the Bruins organization in 1997. He would continue to announce for the AHL Lowell Lock Monsters alongside Brad Park until 2002. He would also announce the game of the week for the Cape Cod Baseball League in 2007, at the age of 90.

Back to his NHL career for a second. In 1984, he was awarded the Foster Hewitt Memorial Award in recognition of members of the radio and television industry who made outstanding contributions to their profession and the game during their career in hockey broadcasting. That same year, he was also inducted into the Hall of Fame. In 1988, he was awarded the Lester Patrick Trophy for outstanding service to hockey int he United States.

In 2006, Cusick released his autobiography Fred Cusick: Voice of the Bruins. I have not yet read it, but plan to in the very near future.

For me, Fred Cusick was the voice of the Bruins. Many a night, I sat with my father, watched the Bruins, and listened to Cusick call the action, waiting for his enthusiastic “SCORE!” At the time, his color guy on NESN was Derek Sanderson and the two are forever burned into my earliest Bruins memories. Whenever I listen to Jack Edwards, I cringe a little and wish that Cusick was calling the action.

When Fred Cusick died early this season, I was deeply saddened. I had been eyeballing this card for a long time, but never pulled the trigger. I happened upon this one recently for a mere $3.99 plus s/h and pounced on it.

The card itself is alright. I’m not a big fan of vertical autographs, but it is rare that card companies feature non-player autos. I wish more companies would, actually. I would love for there to be autographs of sports writers, more announcers, and officials. Heck, I think it would be pretty cool to own a Gary Bettman autographed card even though I think the man is a buffoon. Cusick and his signature are also featured on a Beehive card from 05-06 and I think I might actually prefer that card to this, but for the price, I could not pass this one up.

Anyways, I love this card because it brings back all sorts of memories for me: me and my father, Craig Janney and Adam Oates threading the needle, Derek Sanderson never admitting on-air that a Bruin lost a fight, Cam Neely slipping one past Patrick Roy, Andy Moog and Reggie Lemelin teaming up to make save after save, Ray Bourque blistering one from the point, and the list goes on.

Here’s to you, Fred.

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