Rene Rancourt, a native of Lewiston and a Boston Garden and TD Garden staple for over 40 years, will retire from anthem performances for the Boston Bruins after the 2017-18 season.

Rancourt, who will be 79 in August, has handled anthem duties for the Bruins since the 1975-76 season, rallying crowds with his strong vocal performances and signature fist pump – modeled after the “Stump Pump” of former Bruin Randy Burridge.

Rancourt is a trained opera singer and first began singing the national anthem at Boston Red Sox games. Rancourt is a veteran of the United States Army.

Rancourt took part in an opera singing audition on the radio and was heard by John Kiley, longtime organist at both Fenway and the Boston Garden.

The Bruins will honor Rancourt at the Bruins’ final regular-season game on April 8 against the Florida Panthers.

Rancourt has many of notable performances with the Bruins – highlighted by a rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner” against the Sabres on April 17, 2013.

The game – which was the City of Boston’s first pro sporting event since the Boston Marathon bombings on April 15 – opened with Rancourt signing the first few lines of the national anthem before deferring to the TD Garden in what was an impressive moment.

PENGUINS: Goaltender Matt Murray is taking a leave of absence from the team following the death of his father.

The Penguins announced that James Murray, Matt’s father, died on Tuesday in Ontario, Canada.

Matt Murray, who backstopped Pittsburgh to consecutive Stanley Cup titles in 2016 and 2017, will be away from the team indefinitely.

Murray took a brief trip home last week to tend to what the team called a “personal matter” at the time.

The Penguins began a three-game trip on Wednesday in Anaheim, California.

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