|
Fan Poll Friday: The Most Memorable Hockey Game You Have Ever Attended |
|
|
|
|
|
Alright, it's almost midnight on the East Coast as I begin this blog, so if I can type quickly enough...this can be a genuine Fan Poll Friday (if not, Fan Poll Saturday it is!). Thanks to all of you who took part in last week's over/under, I'm glad you enjoyed it. For those that did participate, I will do my best to lobby to the powers that be that whoever managed to get the most right be awarded a prize of some sort. We'll cross that bridge when the time comes.
This week we're making it personal. What better way to get some chatter going than posting the tale of the most memorable game you have ever attended? Well obviously none at the moment, cause if I had anything better in mind you'd be reading it right about now.
So why don't I kick things off with a memory of my own......
It was November of 1997, and I was just a 12-year-old in the 7th grade. My dad got us tickets for the annual post-Thanksgiving matinee against the Vancouver Canucks. We carpooled with a few of my cousins and aunts who had tickets on the other side of the rink. The final score had nothing to do with my lasting memories, as the Bruins fell by a score of 5-2. It was all about the experience. It was the first hockey game I can genuinely remember attending.
I made my way down from our 7th row seats to the glass on the Canucks' side during warmups (I believe Arturs Irbe was in net) and watched in awe as Pavel Bure and Mark Messier skated within inches of my wide open eyes. I didn't dare blink. Who could in the presence of the Russian Rocket and the Messiah? Being a huge Rangers' fan in those days (I had a soft spot in my heart for Leetch, Beukeboom, Graves, Richter etc.), it was surreal.
It's been 12 years now so all the details are a bit hazy, but I'm fairly certain Steve Heinze, who had recently returned from injury, potted both goals for the B's. Sergei Samsonov could absolutely fly. He was like a fighter jet from Top Gun out there. Joe Thornton, in his rookie season during which he averaged in the neighborhood of 8-10 mins/game, got so sick of taking crap from Dave Scatchard that he decided to drop the gloves and partake in his first NHL fight. The crowd went insane, absolutely nuts. As Joe's long curly blonde hair flung back and forth, the crowd's intensity grew louder and louder after every jab Jumbo Joe, the 18-year-old rookie, landed. Every newspaper the next day noted that the Fleet Center, as it was known in those days, reached it's highest volume in quite some time when the highly touted #1 pick threw down.
My dad told me that I could always have the privilege of telling people that I saw Joe Thornton's first professional fight. Since then I've seen some wild and wacky games, including but not limited to: Phil Kessel's first shootout attempt (the GWG vs. Tampa Bay in which Phil appeared somewhere around the 7th or 8th round, only after the crowd pleaded loudly to put him in), a Brian Gionta goal that silenced the Garden with less than a second left in OT, Scott Walker's devastating OT winner in game 7 this spring, Thornton scoring an OT winner against the vaunted Red Wings, a 0-0 tie between Byron Dafoe and Martin Biron, the "We Want Bitz!" game....I could go on forever.
But why don't I stop and let you tell your story?
So when was this game that sticks out more than any other? Where were you sitting? Was it the regular season or the playoffs? What magical moment made the game so memorable?
I expect to hear some fascinating stories. Fire away.
JC
Shameless Twitter Self-Promotion:
Join the Discussion:
»