Boston Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask (40) stands near the goal as the team honors Bruins legend Milt Schmidt with his number 15 illuminated on the ice prior to an NHL hockey game against the Edmonton Oilers, Thursday, Jan. 5, 2017, in Boston. Schmidt, who was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1961, is the only person in Bruins history to have served the club as a player, captain, coach and general manager. Schmidt died on Wednesday at the age of 98. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)
Boston Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask (40) stands near the goal as the team honors Bruins legend Milt Schmidt with his number 15 illuminated on the ice prior to an NHL hockey game against the Edmonton Oilers, Thursday, Jan. 5, 2017, in Boston. Schmidt, who was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1961, is the only person in Bruins history to have served the club as a player, captain, coach and general manager. Schmidt died on Wednesday at the age of 98. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola) Credit: ap — Elise Amendola

Boston — Boston said goodbye to the man called “the ultimate Bruin.”

The hockey club observed “a moment of celebration and applause” for Milt Schmidt before its game against the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday night, a day after the former captain, coach and general manager died at the age of 98.

The hall of famer had been the oldest living former NHL player.

“Milton Conrad Schmidt arrived here on Causeway Street in 1936. And, in many ways, he never left,” the public address announcer told the crowd at TD Garden. “Milt Schmidt embodied everything we know about being a Boston Bruin.”

Schmidt helped the Bruins win two Stanley Cup titles before enlisting in the Royal Canadian Air Force months after the attacks on Pearl Harbor. He returned to claim the 1951 Hart Trophy as the NHL MVP and went on to assemble the Boston teams that won two more championships with Bobby Orr in the 1970s.

The Bruins dipped Schmidt’s retired No. 15 from the rafters in the pregame ceremony and played a video of his career highlights. In lieu of the usual moment of silence, the announcer asked for “a moment of celebration and applause,” and the crowd responded.

Schmidt’s No. 15 was painted on the ice behind the nets. The Bruins also wore patches on their sweaters in his memory.

Another video was played during the break between the first and second periods.

The native of Kitchener, Ontario, was the center of the “Kraut Line” with Bobby Bauer and Woody Dumart that finished as the top three scorers in the league in 1940 — the only time in NHL history that players from the same team finished 1-2-3 in scoring.

As coach, Schmidt reached the Stanley Cup finals in 1957 and ‘58. But he had left the bench and taken over as general manager when Bobby Orr made his debut in 1966.

“I got to know Milt when I arrived in Boston, and I quickly learned that he was an outstanding ambassador for the game of hockey, a true gentleman, and that he epitomized what it means to be a Bruin,” team president Cam Neely said this week.

“When people today talk about ‘Bruins Hockey’ they talk about the style that Milt created, and generations of Bruins after him tried to emulate.”