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Before we get into it...and we will get into it...I wanted to share my favorite moments of the Cup Finals...
Game 2 in "The Joe"
It was my first time in this legendary building....I grew up with a Red Wings fan for a dad so it was special to be in this hallowed hall. I was also just amazed by the crowd.
Games 3 in Pittsburgh.
We had a series again and that's all that you can ask for...I remember best the crowd following that game....watching fireworks outside...and then meeting Simon and Tom from the CBC at the after party for the press. two of the more fascinating people I have ever spoken to.
Game 4 in Pitt...
I remember the crowd outside before the game the most. The Pens played a great game, but the Wings played a greater one....I did get the sense the Pens were gaining confidence which is why I went on XM the next day and guaranteed a win for the Pens in Game 5.
The day between games 4 and 5...
The Pens media availability was at the MGM Grand Casino in Detroit so Jules, EJ and I hit the tables. that was a fun time...( a quick time, but a fun time) and then we went to the bar where we found a folded up $100 bill under the table.
That night I met up with Brian Burke and got a chance to sit down for an hour with one of the people I most admire in this sport. I am doing a blog on that experience for tomorrow.
Game 5. What more can you say about game 5? It was when I realized YET AGAIN how damn lucky I am to be doing this for my living. I was recording the sound of the Red Wings crowd down the stretch with chants of "WE WANT THE CUP!" resounding down when all went silent with 34.3 seconds left.
Game 6. The game itself wasn't close to the spectacle that game 5 was. but afterwards....
My favorite moment was stepping onto the ice and seeing Dallas Drake's wife and kids as they search for their Daddy. There is a video of it in my last blog. Thinking of all the years that Dallas has done this. The incredible player and soldier he has been I can hardly imagine what was going through his wife's mind as she looked for him and finally found him doing an interview. The kids hugging him around his legs as he tried to keep composure and his wife watched trying to fight back the tears of a thousand sacrafices they both had made along the way. The kinds of sacrafices the families of athletes have to make. being without Daddy for long stretchs....it all must have been very hard...and it all looked so very worth it.
The other thing I noted was something I first saw in Carolina. the difference between TV and being at a cup game is the ability to watch what you want to watch. One thing that I have noticed is the moment the Stanley Cup appears the players who have won it become ten year old boys. They celebrate as men when the clock counts down, but they celebrate as kids once that trophy appears. That is the moment when it all hits them. They didn't just win a championship. They won the Stanley Cup. They start jumping up and dpown and pushing each other out of the way to see that trophy. It is amazing and yes even a team with all these players who have won this before acts that way....
I will be back shortly with my rumours on the Penguins UFAs..getting a quick bite to eat on the drive home
Game 2 in "The Joe"
It was my first time in this legendary building....I grew up with a Red Wings fan for a dad so it was special to be in this hallowed hall. I was also just amazed by the crowd.
Games 3 in Pittsburgh.
We had a series again and that's all that you can ask for...I remember best the crowd following that game....watching fireworks outside...and then meeting Simon and Tom from the CBC at the after party for the press. two of the more fascinating people I have ever spoken to.
Game 4 in Pitt...
I remember the crowd outside before the game the most. The Pens played a great game, but the Wings played a greater one....I did get the sense the Pens were gaining confidence which is why I went on XM the next day and guaranteed a win for the Pens in Game 5.
The day between games 4 and 5...
The Pens media availability was at the MGM Grand Casino in Detroit so Jules, EJ and I hit the tables. that was a fun time...( a quick time, but a fun time) and then we went to the bar where we found a folded up $100 bill under the table.
That night I met up with Brian Burke and got a chance to sit down for an hour with one of the people I most admire in this sport. I am doing a blog on that experience for tomorrow.
Game 5. What more can you say about game 5? It was when I realized YET AGAIN how damn lucky I am to be doing this for my living. I was recording the sound of the Red Wings crowd down the stretch with chants of "WE WANT THE CUP!" resounding down when all went silent with 34.3 seconds left.
Game 6. The game itself wasn't close to the spectacle that game 5 was. but afterwards....
My favorite moment was stepping onto the ice and seeing Dallas Drake's wife and kids as they search for their Daddy. There is a video of it in my last blog. Thinking of all the years that Dallas has done this. The incredible player and soldier he has been I can hardly imagine what was going through his wife's mind as she looked for him and finally found him doing an interview. The kids hugging him around his legs as he tried to keep composure and his wife watched trying to fight back the tears of a thousand sacrafices they both had made along the way. The kinds of sacrafices the families of athletes have to make. being without Daddy for long stretchs....it all must have been very hard...and it all looked so very worth it.
The other thing I noted was something I first saw in Carolina. the difference between TV and being at a cup game is the ability to watch what you want to watch. One thing that I have noticed is the moment the Stanley Cup appears the players who have won it become ten year old boys. They celebrate as men when the clock counts down, but they celebrate as kids once that trophy appears. That is the moment when it all hits them. They didn't just win a championship. They won the Stanley Cup. They start jumping up and dpown and pushing each other out of the way to see that trophy. It is amazing and yes even a team with all these players who have won this before acts that way....
I will be back shortly with my rumours on the Penguins UFAs..getting a quick bite to eat on the drive home
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