Rene Rancourt, 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 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.

The Lewiston, Maine native 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.

The Bruins will honor Rancourt at the Boston 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 Buffalo 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.