Bruce Cassidy once wore the Blackhawks sweater as a promising defenseman, a first-round pick (No. 18) in the 1983 amateur draft. He played one game for the Hawks in the old Garden on Causeway Street in the late 1980s, with Mike Keenan as coach.

“I remember playing here . . . we lost, 8-1,’’ Cassidy recalled Saturday, prior to his Bruins taking on the Hawks at the new Garden. “Part of it was my pleasure to deliver it to the Bruins because I was a big fan. But obviously, at the time, I was a bit disappointed, like everyone else.’’

Hindered by persistent knee problems that cut his career short, Cassidy finished with only 36 games (and 17 points) on his NHL playing résumé.

Prior to Keenan taking over as bench boss, Bob Murdoch was on the job in Chicago when Cassidy reported as a rookie.

“They let him go late in the summer and I had played some games for him,’’ noted Cassidy, now 52 years old and in his second season coaching the Bruins. “Good teacher, and for some reason I got into his good graces, so I thought I had a real good chance the next year. Then Mike came in and wanted a different flavor, unfortunately, and that’s the way it goes.’’

In the old Chicago Stadium, one of the beloved Original Six buildings, Hawks players not in the lineup on a given night were assigned seats in the organ loft.

The cozy press box was too tiny to accommodate anyone without a media pass. The powerful pipe organ was the building’s trademark, shaking the Stadium’s old bones with its booming blasts.

“That [American] flag would come down it was huge,’’ said Cassidy, recalling the vantage point from the organ loft when the national anthem was played. “Just the national anthem itself was one of those sporting experiences in Chicago that everyone should have done once.’’

Bergeron won’t travel

Patrice Bergeron, healing from a cracked bone in his right foot for the past two weeks, is not expected to join the club on its four-game road trip that kicks off Sunday (12:30 p.m. start in Chicago).

The club said Bergeron’s availability would be assessed after two weeks, but Cassidy made it sound like the team’s No. 1 pivot will remain out for a while longer.

“I don’t have an update,’’ said Cassidy. “I don’t anticipate he’ll be playing on this trip at all. He is not playing today. He is not playing tomorrow. He’s not skating with the team and he’s not skating on his own just yet . . . he would have to go through some of that before he thinks about rejoining us.’’

Carlo paired with Z

Charlie McAvoy’s recent knee injury, sidelining the rookie at least through the remainder of the month, has meant Brandon Carlo returning to sidecar duty with team captain Zdeno Chara.

Carlo, 21, enjoyed a strong rookie year in 2016-17 as Chara’s partner in the club’s top shutdown pairing. This season, with McAvoy fixed at Chara’s right side, Carlo most of the time has been paired with the more offensive-minded Torey Krug, who was back riding with Nick Holden on Saturday.

“It’s good, he’s very assertive on the ice,’’ said Carlo, asked if it feels like homecoming week to be paired again with Big Z. “He creates a lot of space for himself, because guys are almost a little bit scared of him at times — he has the long reach, great on defense and he’s also creating quite a bit of offense as well. It’s been fun to play with him again.’’

When paired with Krug, whose game skews to offense, Carlo is counted on first and foremost for his defense, in part why his numbers this year have declined from his rookie season. As a freshman, he posted a 6-10—16 line in 82 games. Headed into the Saturday matinee, he stood 0-6—6 in 64 games.

“I’m not shy to give the puck to Z, by any means,’’ noted Carlo prior to faceoff, “the same way I would with Torey. But they are definitely two different players and there’s no secret with that. But overall, yeah, I think it opens up some opportunities for me to jump up in the play, and I feel like I’ve gotten up there a couple of times in the last couple of games.’’

Khudobin nears mark

Anton Khudobin, whose first trip to America brought him to Chicago as a teenager, will make the start Sunday at the United Center.

Khudobin (15-4-4) has a chance this season to surpass his all-time win mark in the NHL (19-14-1), set with the Hurricanes in 2013-14. He has won his last two starts and is 7-2-1 in his 10 starts in the new calendar year.

On his first visit to the States, Khudobin played for a Russian team, invited to play the annual Tretiak tournament in Chicago — the tourney named after Vladislav Tretiak, among the greatest goalies in Russian hockey history.

Like the rest of his team, Khudobin stayed with a host family, and still remembers being overwhelmed by the vast selection of cereals the family provided for breakfast.

“And the orange juice,’’ he recalled. “Delicious. I will always remember that taste.’’

Quick hits

The Bruins hustled off to Hanscom after the game for their charter to Chicago, stop No. 1 on a four-game road trip that also will take them to Carolina (Tuesday), Florida (Thursday), and Tampa (Saturday). In their last 10 games, the two Florida-based clubs have gone a combined 15-3-2 . . . After landing 23 shots on net in his first four games with the Bruins, Rick Nash collected only four more in the wins over Detroit and Philadelphia . . . Bergeron remains the club’s top shooter (198), followed by David Pastrnak (177) and Torey Krug (150).

Hughes signed

Prior to the second intermission, the Bruins announced that they signed University of Wisconsin forward Cameron Hughes to a three-year entry level contract. Hughes, 21, just wrapped up his senior year in Madison, where he was the Badgers captain, finishing the season with a line of 8-14—22 in 37 games. Drafted 165th in 2015, he’ll report directly to AHL Providence.

Under heavy fire

The Bruins fired 72 shots at Jean-Francois Berube, hitting the Hawks goalie with 40 of them. The Hawks landed 27 on Tuukka Rask, firing 45 in total . . . .Jake DeBrusk led the Bruins, landing 6 of his 11 attempts . . . Defenseman Kevan Miller played the most minutes with 22:18, followed by Brad Marchand’s 20:17.

Kevin Paul Dupont can be reached at kevin.dupont@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @GlobeKPD.