Neely nuggets

Neely

BOSTON — Bruins President Cam Neely touched on a couple subjects of interest to me during and after the State of the Bruins town hall meeting tonight at TD Garden.

In response to a question from an audience member, Neely acknowledged that the Bruins are actively looking to upgrade their practice facilities.

After the town hall, I asked if he could expand on that.

“Obviously, you’ve seen [Ristuccia Arena in Wilmington] is fine, it’s just more the space for players,” Neely said. “Whether it’s in Wilmington or whether it’s somewhere else, we’re unsure. But we know we have to do something. And we do want to do something.”

Rumors have abounded for years that the Bruins would move their practice facility elsewhere. Now we at least know for sure they’re looking to get something done somewhere to provide their players with some more state-of-the art.

•Also, Neely announced during the town hall that on Oct. 28 the Bruins will honor Milt Schmidt’s 75 years with the organization. Obviously, those aren’t continuous years of service because Schmidt was the GM in Washington in the 70s. Nonetheless, it’s a great idea to honor the franchise’s history some more after the tribute to the ’70 team last season.

There are still numerous sweater numbers that should be honored or retired in the future, including those of Wayne Cashman, Gerry Cheevers and Rick Middleton. Neely acknowledged he’d like to figure out a way to make the Bruins’ history a major part of their present.

“There’s been a number of discussions over the years about honoring certain players, whether it’s a Bruins Hall of Fame. I know some other teams have started to do that. So it’s something we’ll definitely look at because there’s been a lot of great players that have come through this locker room.”