Awrey is no bauble-head

He has his memories, including some great ones, and those are plenty, says Don Awrey. All he had left for career mementoes were those three Stanley Cup rings, two of them earned here in Boston, and a few weeks ago the former Black-and-Gold blue liner took a deep breath and put them up for auction with longtime friend Phil Castinetti here in the Hub of Hockey.

"Did it take time to make that decision?" said the 63-year-old Awrey, who lives these days in Lehigh Acres, just outside Fort Myers, Fla. "All I'll say is yes . . . yes, it did."

Words laced with regret? Not really, said Awrey. Seven years ago, he sold a bunch of his old hockey sweaters, including some he wore while winning those Cups with Boston in 1970 and '72. His only child, Kristen, was about to be married, and it had long been his plan to sell the sweaters one day to pay for her wedding.

"And it worked out perfectly," said Kristen's proud dad. "She got married, and I'm happy to say, she's well taken care of."

From 1998 to 2004, Awrey and his second wife considered themselves retired, content to spend their days shuttling their RV between Florida and New England, taking in other sights around the country. When they decided to put down more permanent stakes and buy the house near Fort Myers, he figured it was time to get back to work. Three days a week now, he drives around to local medical offices, picking up biohazard material for disposal.

"And you know what? I've never been happier," he said. "I work Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, and every week of the year I've got a four-day weekend. How do you beat that? I've got a great life, I truly do."

He also freely admits that he "is not hurting for money."

Then why sell the Cup rings?

"Well, I'll tell you," he said. "I mean, everybody who has seen those rings, they've seen them, the way I figure it. I don't know how many new friends I'm going to make from here on in, and the friends I do have, hey, they've seen them already. And even if I do meet someone, and they don't know about the rings, you know, it's no big deal for me.

"Sure, I could have passed them on to my daughter, but they're big clunky things, so she's not going to wear them. She'd have to melt them down, and I couldn't see her doing that, either."

Castinetti, who owns and operates Sportsworld memorabilia shop in Saugus, has the rings up for auction on his website, sportsworldauction.com. The two Boston rings, he figures, will draw in excess of $10,000 each. The '76 Cup ring with Montreal could bring Awrey in excess of $7,500.

"My memories are in my head and in my heart," said Awrey, forever remembered in this town for his fearless shot-blocking as a member of the beloved Big Bad Bruins. "I don't really consider myself a sentimentalist."

His disappointments are few. One is that his NHL career, which ran from 1963-64 to 1978-79, totaled only 979 games. He would like to have hit the 1,000 mark. Another is that his name is not on the Stanley Cup with the 1975-76 Canadiens. He was awarded the ring by the Habs, but he didn't suit up for a playoff game that spring after a late-season injury. Even though he played in all but eight of Montreal's 80 regular-season games, his playoff DNP prevented his name from being etched again in silver.

"That's the only thing I'm bitter about," said Awrey. "Before my head hits the bottom of the coffin, I'd like to see my name on that Cup, and in the record book, for that year.

"I got hurt, and I had to sit for a while, and the coach [Scotty Bowman], like a lot of coaches in those situations, he went with what was working. I could have played in the playoffs, no problem. We sure had a powerhouse."

There are days, said Awrey, when he feels compelled to fight city hall, lobby the NHL to take the Cup back to the engraver and do right by him. Sometimes he fantasizes that old pal Don Cherry will "take it and run with it" from his "Coach's Corner" bully pulpit.

But mostly he just lets it go, like the Cup rings.

"Other than that," said Awrey, "my life is perfect."

Garden growth expected

A portion of the long-awaited build-out around Boston Garden, now a decade-plus in the planning stages, appears to be creeping closer to reality. According to Charlie Jacobs, the Bruins executive vice president, his father's Delaware North Companies soon hopes to finalize plans with a co-developer to construct a 37-story hotel/residential tower on the adjacent Nashua Street parcel -- often referred to as the lot "behind" the Garden.

The building, said Jacobs, would house a hotel and residential condos, with the first five floors dedicated to a parking garage. The "lobby" of the building would line up approximately with the roof line of the Garden. The single-tower project also would include ample convention and banquet space.

"We've had a few dance partners on this," said the junior Jacobs, whose father, Jeremy, jetted from Boston to London Thursday for this weekend's grand opening of the 90,000-seat Wembley Stadium (its concessions part of the Delaware North empire). "Frankly, given how long it has taken, I'm a little nervous to say we're near the end on this, but I think we're close."

The project has been fully permitted by the city, said Jacobs, and he is confident that construction could be completed within 36 months.

Meanwhile, the two large building parcels that run along Causeway Street, the area where the old Garden stood for 60-plus years, have yet to be permitted. Jacobs said Delaware North hopes one day to build two office and retail towers there, serving as a grand entrance to the current home of the Bruins and Celtics. Without the permits in hand, there is no telling when those projects take flight.

Why has everything taken so long? "My involvement has been about five years," said Jacobs. "Given the complexities involved -- the design, the review, the need to gain the Boston Redevelopment Auth ority's stamp of approval -- it's just the pace these projects move."

Senators' Cup run in 1927 left Bruins a little punchy

The last time a team named the Ottawa Senators played in the Stanley Cup finals, 1927, they rubbed the Bruins out in four games, 2-0-2.

Among the final-round notables:

It was Boston's first trip to the finals, and games here were played at the Boston Arena, which today is Matthews Arena, owned and operated by Northeastern University. Yankee slugger Babe Ruth, a former Sudbury resident, was known to take in a Bruins game on St. Botolph Street in those days.

Game No. 1, held at the Arena, ended in a 0-0 tie. Officials declared the game over with one minute remaining in the second overtime. The heat in the building rendered the ice unplayable.

The Senators clinched the Cup April 13 with a 3-1 win in Ottawa. Frank Finnigan and Hall of Famer Cy Denneny popped in a pair of second-period goals to put it away. At game's end, Bruins defenseman Billy Coutu slugged referee Jerry LaFlamme upon interceding in an argument between LaFlamme and Bruins president Charles Adams and coach Art Ross. The punch led league president Frank Calder to issue Coutu a lifetime suspension.

Etc.

A sweet move by Middleton
Ex-Bruin Rick Middleton continues to expand his business wings, recently releasing his "Nifty16" dessert bar in the Crosby's Marketplace food stores (Concord, Georgetown, Hamilton, Salem, Marblehead, and Manchester-by-the-Sea). The chilled delicacies, approximately 8 1/2 inches square, are Middleton's interpretation of a favorite Canadian-made treat he enjoyed while growing up in Scarborough, Ontario. "OK, the recipe," said chef Middleton, who got a huge helper on the venture from Vincent Frattura of Hoffs Bakery in Medford. "Let's see . . . ganache chocolate on top, butter cream in the middle, with a base of graham cracker, coconut and more chocolate." Retail price: $8.99. "Just something I loved as a kid," said the 53-year-old Nifty. "And I could never find anything like it in the US." His aim, said Middleton, is for other chains and restaurants to take on the treat. Part of the NESN broadcast team for Bruins games, Middleton also has worked for nearly 20 years with C.B. Sullivan Co., a New Hampshire-based wholesale catalog company that specializes in hair products.

Lower price for higher seats
Rest easy, Bruins fans, ticket prices at the Garden will not increase for the 2007-08 season. According to Charlie Jacobs, the club's executive vice president, the only change will be a slight cost reduction to the corner balcony seats, some 3,000 total. Season-ticket invoices should be in the mail no later than the end of this week. "We'll be spending more money on player personnel," said Jacobs, "but about 80 percent of ticket prices will remain the same, or slightly less in the balcony."

Quiet on the Russian front
As the weekend approached, the Bruins hadn't made any headway in bringing Sergei Zinovjev into the fold for 2007-08. "Nothing there yet," said general manager Peter Chiarelli. "Our understanding is that he wants to play over here if the number is right." A couple of sources say Zinovjev makes some $2.5 million a year with Ak Bars Kazan in the Russian Super League. Keep in mind: Another option could be for the Bruins to trade Zinovjev's rights, even if only for a draft pick. As of July 1, 2008, he is free to deal with any NHL club as an unrestricted free agent. The Capitals would be a potential trade partner. Zino and Alexander Ovechkin could make a nice pair, and such a prospect could increase Zinovjev's appetite to play in North America.

Prior to the 2005 draft, said Chiarelli, some clubs figured Adam McQuaid could be a first-round pick. The Bruins acquired the 20-year-old defenseman Wednesday by trading a fifth-round pick to the Blue Jackets, who chose McQuaid in the second round (No. 55 overall) in the amateur draft. "His game dipped a couple of years ago, but he came back strong this year," said Chiarelli, referring to McQuaid's performance with the OHL's Sudbury Wolves. "When his name came up, all of our scouts liked him. He's big, plays that shutdown role, and sometimes it takes big guys a little longer to develop. He sort of plays a Mark Stuart game, but he's a righthanded shot. He gives us some youth in that slot on the depth chart." A Maritimer (Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island), McQuaid connected for 9 goals and 22 assists in 65 games this season with the Wolves.

Ducks GM Brian Burke was at his quotable best in the wake of the league handing blue liner Chris Pronger a one-game suspension for his hit on Detroit's Tomas Holmstrom in Game 3 of their Cup semifinal series. Pronger clocked Holmstrom, and finished the hit high, which was deemed a head shot by Colin Campbell, the league's disciplinarian. Burke, who formerly held that job, begged to differ with his successor, and overall felt the hit wasn't worthy of time on the pine. "The Red Wings did the honorable thing," the irrepressible Burke told the media the following day. "They put him back in the game -- same thing we would have done. There are teams in this league that would have put him in an ambulance and sent him somewhere for the night."

Now that North Station has been expanded, allowing commuter train customers a legitimate waiting area, and Garden patrons some elbow room before and after events, a much-needed newsstand and yet another Dunkin' Donuts will be added to the waiting area. Pushcart-like kiosks also will roll in during Garden events, hawking Bruins and Celtics gear on game days, as well as concert-related goods . . . New faces continue to roll in on Causeway Street. Lee Castergine is the new director of both ticket sales and fan relations for the Bruins. David Turk, ex- of the St. John Sea Dogs (Quebec League), has been hired to direct the club's marketing efforts, taking over the spot formerly occupied by Sue Byrne . . . Failed phenom Alexandre Daigle, picked No. 1 overall by Ottawa in '93, finished with 61 points for Davos, ranking second overall in Swiss scoring. He recently signed a four-year extension with Davos, the 2006-07 league champs . . . Bruins training camp, scheduled to begin Sept. 14, again will be split between Wilmington and the Garden this year, with the possibility that more workouts will be shifted to Causeway Street. "Overall, I think it's a better atmosphere to have it at the Garden," said Jacobs . . . Don Awrey's RV had two gas tanks, 75 gallons each. At today's prices, a fill-up at the pump would run slightly more than $450. "My first year with the Bruins," mused Awrey, "that's more than I would have made in a month."

Kevin Paul Dupont's e-mail address is dupont@globe.com; material from personal interviews, wire services, other beat writers, and league and team sources was used in this report.