Bruins

Meet ‘Little B’ and the Bruins fans behind David Pastrnak’s new bear suit

"Everyone just started chanting. ‘Bear! Bear! Bear!' So everyone cleared the way, I ran down, helicoptered it over the glass."

By Conor Ryan

March 20, 2024

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David Pastrnak did not have to search for long amid the pile of baseball caps, toques, and other hats that accumulated on the TD Garden ice.

There was no question over which Bruins-related vesture the star winger was going to pluck off the frozen sheet following his hat-trick performance on Tuesday night against the Senators — with a furry blob sticking out amid a sea of headgear.

The real question, of course, was what exactly was it that Pastrnak snagged after his latest three-tally performance?

“I thought it was a fur coat at the beginning,” Jim Montgomery said after Boston’s 6-2 win over Ottawa.

Linus Ullmark tabbed it as a “bear pelt,” while Pastrnak focused more on its “cozy” fit than what his new hat-trick trophy actually was.

Stoneham resident Jessica Labrecque knows full well what Pastrnak’s new bear garb is. After all, she’s the one who chucked it over the glass on Tuesday night.

For her and her family, the bear suit goes by the name, “Little B”.

It’s a title bestowed by Labrecque’s children after wearing it to several games over the years. And on Tuesday, “Little B” helped create an unforgettable night for the lifelong Bruins fan and her daughter, Tessa.

“The bear has been in our family for quite some time now,” Labrecque told Boston.com on Wednesday afternoon. “And it’s what we do every game when we go. So my kids wear it, I wear it. It’s just been family-tradition type thing.”

Tuesday’s game on Causeway Street was far from the Labrecques’ first rodeo when it came to donning “Little B” for a Bruins game.

In fact, the Labrecques still have four more bear suits at the ready following Tuesday’s impromptu donation. They already gave one away earlier this season, giving it to an excited Bruins fan on the train ride into North Station.

“After that, we were like, ‘We need another one, we need backup,’” Labrecque said of their initial giveaway of “Little B” on the train. “Well, I guess during COVID, the company that made them couldn’t keep up with it or it was going out of business. So l’m like, ‘I’m not [buying] just one, I’m buying all of them. So that’s how we ended up with more — because I’m like, ‘We can’t ever not have one.’”

It didn’t take very long for Jessica and Tessa to realize on Tuesday that yet another “Little B” was going to be changing hands in short order.

“We went to the game and I happened to wear a brand new one instead of the one that I usually wear — and Pasta gets two goals in the first period,” Labrecque said. “And I looked at my daughter, she looked at me. I’m like, ‘If he’s gonna get another one, we’re throwing it out there.’

“The whole section was going crazy and then in the third period he scored and everyone just started chanting, ‘Bear! Bear! Bear!’ So everyone cleared the way, I ran down, helicoptered it over the glass. And it was just awesome seeing the guy pick it up, hand it to Pasta, he was pretty excited.”

At this point in the 2023-24 season, the Labrecques are seasoned vets when it comes to crafting memorable keepsakes for Bruins players after finding twine three times.

When Brad Marchand scored all three of Boston’s goals in a 3-1 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Dec. 3, it was Jessica’s Santa hat that he chose from the pile.

“I was dressed as the Grinch,” Labrecque said. “And as soon as [Marchand] got it, I had no thought process whatsoever. And it’s funny because my Grinch costume — it’s hard to find a Santa hat that matches the Santa jacket perfectly. And I was like, ‘Don’t do it.’

“And then I was like, ‘You know what? This is like a once in a lifetime opportunity. Christmas is right around the corner. Like, I’m throwing this thing.’ So I did the helicopter again, tossed it over and what did he end up with? The Santa hat.”

Jessica — who grew up in Wilmington and routinely watched the Bruins skate at their old practice barn at Ristuccia Arena — has brought Tessa to TD Garden for games since she was just a year old.

Tuesday marked the greatest game yet for 15-year-old Tessa, especially after Pastrnak handed her a stick as a token of appreciation for his new bear suit.

“I really wondered how they got it down there,” Pastrnak said of the suit on Tuesday night. “Obviously credit to the one who threw it there. They came after the game to the bench, so I gave them the stick as a thank you for the bear.”

As soon as Jessica pelted “Little B” onto the ice, she grabbed a piece of paper and marker from guest services — crafting an impromptu message for Pastrnak in order to get something in return for Tessa.

“Again, the whole section started chanting my daughter’s name and they cleared the way and made room,” Labrecque said. “We went down to the glass and we sat right behind him and she held it up. One of the players saw it and told Pasta, he looked at it, smiled at my daughter, asked for a stick and at the end of the game handed it to her. … My daughter was shaking in excitement.”

Jessica and Tessa have no qualms with giving another “Little B” to the Bruins, especially if it goes to a good cause.

“My daughter, she does a lot of giving back to the community,” Labrecque said. “She’s always looking to help other organizations out, and she’s actually thinking about donating one of the bear suits that we have and hoping that the whole team will sign it and donate it to the Cam Neely Foundation or something like that to auction it off.”

With four more “Little Bs” available, Jessica and the rest of the Labrecque family will be hard to miss on Causeway Street in the years ahead.

So when another avalanche of hats rain down from the Garden, don’t be surprised to see yet another cherished bear suit helicoptered onto the ice.

“It’s definitely created a bunch of amazing memories that me and my kids are gonna hold onto for the rest of our lives,” Labrecque said.