Along the route, joy over the Bruins

By Vivian Yee, Ben Wolford, and Laura J. Nelson, Globe Correspondents

By 9 a.m., two hours before the Bruins victory parade was to begin, hundreds of fans had already gathered along the parade route next to the Public Garden. Many leaned against the metal crowd control barriers, while others stood on planters further back, waving Bruins flags, draped in Bruins blankets and towels, and wearing silver balloons tied to resemble a Stanley Cup.

The low roar of a few fans’ vuvuzelas filled the air continuously, punctuated by the bright, insistent sound of small horns. A few stands selling Bruins gear kept the crowd stocked.

Over at Park Street station, a group of teenagers on one Green Line car began a raucous chant of “Let’s go Bruins,” which the rest of the car quickly took up. Outside, a man held up his homemade Stanley Cup -- an upside-down bucket, upside-down plant pot, and a bowl, all spraypainted silver -- to loud cheers.

Jim Carignan, 63, had left his home in Washington, D.C. at 11 p.m. last night to pick up his son from Connecticut and drive to the parade. Asked why he had spent the night driving, he said, “Come here? You kidding?”

Carignan grew up near Norwich, Conn., watching the legendary Bobby Orr play on Channel 38 and playing right wing for a local team. Though he never lived in Boston, he came to games so often that his son and daughter “learned to ride the T going to the Garden,” he said.

He almost made it to the parade the last time the Bruins won the Cup, but at the last minute, he and his then-girlfriend decided they were too busy. “We’ll go next time,” they said. This time, he was determined not to miss his chance.

“I knew we could win it, but I’m still kind of stunned,” he said, grinning.

Chris Recchi, 19, the son of the Bruins player Mark Recchi, was standing nearby on a planter with several friends. “I came out of the womb a Bruins fan,” he said. “I’m pumped right now.”

His friends became fans more recently but still cheered as loudly as a police motorcycle fleet passed by.

At Copley Square, where the parade was expected to conclude, the crowd was restless by 9:30 a.m., lining the barriers on Boylston Street, clapping and chanting, “Let’s go Bruins,” as vuvuzelas brayed.

The fans, young and old, wore wigs, Mardi Gras beads and homemade Bruins gear, facepaint and boas, Milan Lucic and Tim Thomas jerseys.

At the barrier, James MacRitchie and Devin Kelly, both 19 from Framingham, hoisted yard-long Stanley Cups made from an inflatable football goalpost, salad bowls and two rolls of aluminum foil.

“Our plan is for Timmy to see this, wave at us and let us get up on the Duck Boat with him,” said MacRitchie, who spent two hours assembling his Cup. “Pretty sure that’s never happened, but we can always dream.”

“Or at least give us a thumbs up,” Kelly said. “Or even just spray us with beer.” They high-fived.

A block down on Boylston, Destin Pramataris, 3, stickhandled a wadded brown bag into the gutter with a tiny hockey stick. He’ll start on a team next fall.

“I grew up playing and he will, too,” said April Pramataris, 31 from Waltham. “We got here at 7 a.m. so he could be here to see this.”

Season ticket holder Derek Whitley, 33 from Dorchester, strode to meet a group of friends, his yellow patchwork poncho flapping. His mother-in-law sewed it from 22 Bruins towels, one for each game. “It’s a good thing I have a good relationship with my mother-in-law,” Whitley said. “For something this important.”

Down on Causeway Street, near where the parade was to begin, air horns punctuated the din and dozens observed the spectacle from apartment windows and balconies.

While authorities were hoping for moderation, Charlie Hults said he had already started drinking.

“I had my first 6-pack in New Hampshire,” said Hults of Manchester, as he leaned out of The Harp with a Bud Light.

“We’ve got the Cup,” sang Fiorella Barone of Boston to the Parliament Funkadelic tune. “We love you guys!”

At the statue of legendary Bruin Bobby Orr on the southwest corner of the Garden, people approached the statue, as if drawn by magnetic force, digital cameras extended.

“It just brings back memories,” said Dennis Roy, 60, of Rowley, who remembers being 21 at a house party with friends, watching the Bruins win the 1972 Stanley Cup.

“Bobby Orr was the greatest who ever played. He symbolized the Bruins. He symbolized Boston.”

As he spoke, the crowds around the Garden grew louder and louder, in anticipation of the parade’s start, standing on tiptoes to get a better view of the Duck Boats, which were expected to roll at 11 a.m.