While I still haven't gotten the CBC video of such incident, I do have ESPN's coverage which ran up to 10:30 pm ET. Some editing had to be undertaken to make it as short (it came out at just over 22 minutes long) as I possibly could.
I know more about this outage then almost anybody!! I worked for the company that maintained the emergency light generator. I did some minor maintenance on this unit before the failure. The engine that powered the Gen set was a huge 6 cylinder ohv gasoline engine that was in the range of 650 cu in displacement . Not sure but it might have been a Hall- Scott or some other ancient brand long out of production. The spark plugs were so oversized that I didn't have a deep socket to fit. The open framed generator that was bolted to the engine flywheel was ancient. The joke was that it was so old that it was signed by Tommy Edison. The Gardens electricians by law had to make sure that unit was started and tested before any event at the Garden. No generator no event! They were more concerned with the electrical output and the electric controls were updated and relatively modern.. So it would get started, warmed up a little bit and tested electrically and shut down. This was done for EVERY event at the Garden. The generator was in an adjacent building next to the Bruins offices. 150 Causeway St if my memory serves me The generator was only 75 kw but was as large as a modern 250 kw unit. The electricians said it only had to run for 20 minutes , the time that they said the Garden would empty. I knew the team doctor for the Bruins and by chance I was at the game with a date. The Garden was foggy inside before the failure , the game went on the lights went out . The generator was started and the lights came on. We waited a few minutes and we decided to leave. I knew that I was going to get an early call from the company that maintained the genset. The generator was run for about an hour and it badly overheated and blew antifreeze all over the floor. The generator had a sheet metal shroud that directed the hot air out of the building through an out side wall. The outlet sheet metal piping was tiny compared to the giant radiator. I asked the Garden technicians to remove the sheet metal from the radiator because I felt it was undersized. The hidden side of the radiator was completely packed with dirt. At some point in prior history the radiator fan was changed from a puller fan to a pusher fan The technicians cleaned the radiator, knocked down an outside wall and put on a proper size sheet metal shroud. The MEDIA scrutiny was fierce and the Bruins office said don't let anyone into the generator room and don't talk to the news people. The failure was caused by an internal switch that failed, not a transformer in the street. That is why only the Garden went dark. I don't think this generator ran the refrigeration for the rink. The Garden rented a large generator to power the the building while the antique was repaired. The generator had a 20 gallon gasoline tank in an adjacent room. The TV Media said the Garden had a fantastic generator. I laughed when I heard that on TV. That antique belonged in a museum in the ancient history department. We had a very interesting meeting with Larry Moulter the general manager of the Garden. The new garden was allready in the planning so I don't think they did a modern update. A year or so later I ran into Moulter and asked him if he remembered me. He didnt so I reminded him about the generator fiasco, he got a pained look on his face with that recollection. I wonder what happened to that relic?
@@kinglll5604 After the generator event the Garden people asked us if we could maintain the gasoline tractors that set up the wood flooring that make up the Celtics playing surface. Very strange union electricians and other union members weren't allowed or qualified to pull a dipstick to check engine oil levels in the tractors!
more like the Custodian panicked and pulled the chord when he saw the Oilers tie up the game at 3, Bruins got hosed on the leagues decision to move the series to Edmonton.
I remember him from around this time because I will never forget him saying “isn’t this neat” during a great playoff game. Tom Mees was a great announcer.
I was at this game, Crazy Experience, The Bruins got hosed by the league's decision to move the series to Edmonton. Truth be told, as hard as the Bruins played, it would have been a bigger miracle on ice that USA beating Russia. That Oilers Team was absolutely stacked with all stars. I would say it was probably the best NHL Team Ever.
@@oceanthresher6184 The bylaws the NHL had in place would have this game restarted as game 7. The statistics stand however. Had the series gone seven games (with this game being discarded), Boston would have hosted it.
COMMENTATORS: (ESPN) MIKE "DOC" EMRICK & BILL CLEMENT (CBC) BOB COLE & HARRY NEALE (NESN) FRED CUSICK & DEREK SANDERSON TV NETWORK: ESPN / CBC / NESN DATE: 24 MAY 1988
@@Transitfan93 I don’t even know, I quit watching Sportsnet after Rogers fired Don Cherry and killed “Coach’s Corner”. That still angers me and I hate Rogers!
@@princeofpop8 I was equally upset since Don Cherry is who I grew up watching on Saturday Nights, now I change the channel during the intermissions... The reason I say the CBC feed was replayed on Sportsnet is because it goes to Ron McLean at what looks like his recording area at home saying what the fallout was
Now that I recall further, both WSBK and NESN carried this gam in Boston, using WSBK's remote truck, which had it's own generator, and thus, the telecast continued with Fred Cusick and Derek Sanderson describing what happened. This blackout spurred construction of what is now TD Garden.
Was There Season's Tickets Balcony Section 64 Row G Seats 5-6 Just inside The Blue Line Top of Face-off Circle where May 10th 1970 "The Goal" Was Scored...but as for this game it was really Scary walking along the long slim corridor feeling the wall all the way down then at the top of the stairs on to the railing for dear life
For people looking for the CBC video of it, I have found this: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-YiVnVcaF0UQ.html A lot of it is just dark and then Don MacLean talking about it.
Somehow, I wonder if there's some connection between the death of Len Bias (prospective Boston Celtics draft) and Bill Buckner's dropped ball in the 86 World Series and the power outage during the 88 Stanley Cup?
The game was never finished and was thrown away. Game 4 was thrown to the back of the series if they needed it. So the order would be 1 2 3 5 6 7 4. Very confusing. Oh well, SB Nation has an entire video about that called “How to set a record in a game that doesn’t exist”. In 1988, I was -17 years old.
The refrigeration system tried to draw too much current from the grid. So if this were in Edmonton… Boilers? BTW, here's the CBC video of this. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-EeAwVMjJyl0.html
