One Long-Time Garden Employee Has A Favorite Bruins Player: His Son

Joe Mathieu, host of WGBH's Morning Edition

Joe Mathieu is the anchor and executive editor of WGBH's Morning Edition. Before joining WGBH Radio, Joe worked for six years as morning anchor on WBZ NewsRadio in Boston, where he was part of the team that received a Peabody Award for coverage of the Boston Marathon bombings. Joe also received the Edward R. Murrow Award for best newscast in a major market.

Karen Marshall is the Executive Producer of GBH News' Morning Edition. Having alway dreamed of being an editor or writer, Karen got her start in radio at WROR in Boston as an intern, eventually working her way to being an on-air talent. She has worked at stations across new England including Portland Maine and Manchester NH before relocating to Vero Beach Florida where she co- hosted a morning show and met her husband. She joined WGBH in 2015 as the producer for Morning Edition with then host Joe Mathieu. During that time, Karen contributed to many significant moments in GBH News' coverage, from the 2020 presidential contest, to tracing architectural artifacts from Cuba to Boston and Massachusetts’ history of singin’ the Blues. Karen lives in Wakefield with her three children, husband and dog, Marty McFly.

May 29, 2019

Updated August 01, 2023

John Grzelcyk’s job will be done by the time the Bruins take the ice Wednesday night for Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Finals. He’s a member of what’s known as the Bull Gang — the group of workers that transition the Garden from a basketball court, to an ice arena, to a concert hall and back again.

But tonight, Grzelcyk will be focused on his son: Bruins defenseman Matt Grzelcyk.

Grzelcyk grew up as a Bruins fan and got a job working at the Garden in 1967. He has always admired players like Bobby Orr, he said.

Years later, Grzelcyk started taking his son Matt skating in Charlestown — only about a mile away from the Garden — almost as soon as he could walk.

“He just loved it,” he said. “You can drive anyone to the rink, [but] you can’t make them skate. … He took to it like a duck to water. … And the more I gave him, the more he wanted.”

Now at 25 years old, Matt is helping to make Bruins history. This year is the first time the Bruins are facing the Saint Louis Blues in the Stanley Cup Final since 1970 — the same year Orr made his legendary game-winning goal, which is immortalized in a statue outside of the Garden.

But if you ask Grzelcyk, Orr’s got some competition.

“I always said that was the greatest goal ever,” said Grzelcyk. “And then [Matt] scored his first goal as a Bruin, and then he just scored two goals in the Playoffs … so Bobby Orr is probably down to number four.”