Wanna blog? Start your own hockey blog with My HockeyBuzz. Register for free today!
 

Rest in Peace: Josef Vasicek - Scorer of biggest goal in Canes history

September 7, 2011, 2:04 PM ET [ Comments]
Matt Karash
Carolina Hurricanes Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
First, my thoughts and prayers go out to everyone affected by the tragedy today.

But staying closer to home, the untimely passing of Josef Vasicek today hits me personally. Same as anyone else, I feel horrible anytime I hear of a tragedy like today's, and while I did not know Josef Vasicek personally, I have always felt like the players who were part of the early years of the Canes from the late 90s up until the 2002 Stanley Cup finals berth were a special part of the close-knit Canes community. These were the days when we were doing our best to adopt and love hockey in a new market not without its struggles along the way. And the sincere goodness as people of the collection of players who were part of this awkward, sometimes bumbling development were a huge part of it. The foundation of this the Carolina Hurricanes and our community is built upon the backs of these players. Josef Vasicek was 1 of them.

More than a decade ago, I adopted CarolinaMatt as my moniker for all things Canes. I have used it on various message boards over the years. Shortly after the magical 2002 Stanley Cup playoffs run, I began to add 63 to the end of CarolinaMatt when I used it in a new place. The 63 was of course Josef Vasicek's number and was a tribute to the fact that I liked him as a player but more so as a memory of the goal he scored to win game 5 of the 1st round 2002 playoff series against the New Jersey Devils. Ironically, I finally broke down a few days ago and set up a Twitter account tied to my blogging hobby here. Being a new account, I paused for a second on whether to just be CarolinaMatt or to keep the 63 at the end. I decided to stay true to my roots and memories from that 2002 foundation.

So with that, my memories of Josef Vasick are twofold:

1) As a young foreign-born rookie without a ton of hype and expectations, he always came across as a good kid who was just happy to be playing NHL hockey. This maybe is not that unusual for many young players especially those who make it to the NHL not by way of a high draft choice and can't miss expectations. But what struck me as the years went on was how later as a mid-20s veteran with more English-speaking practice and 4-5 years of NHL experience, he also came across in interviews with Chuck Kaiton and Jon Forslund as still the same humble kid who was just sincerely happy to be there.

2) The biggest goal in Canes history. I have written about this a handful of times previously, but will do it fresh instead of stealing from an old blog. You can hunt down the old blogs if you think that my claiming this goal so important is new and driven by today's tragedy.

So the 2000-01 season was the Canes first in Raleigh after a difficult couple years playing to 1/3 full arenas in Greensboro, and the team enduring seasons of playing home games a little more than an hour drive away from home. The willingness of the players to become part of the community helped, but the team was looking for a spark to jumpstart the franchise. So in 2000-01, the Canes made the playoffs. After falling behind 2-0 in that series and being physically abused, an undermanned Canes squad fought back admirably to make it a 6-game series but a first-round exit nonetheless. Then in 2001-02, the Canes again make the playoffs and again are faced with the playoff-experienced Devils as a first round foe. I do not recall a single expert picking the Canes to win that series and have to admit that I did not feel too optimistic myself. But looking more like a hungry underdog than an intimidated lesser team, the Canes stormed out to a 2-0 lead in the series winning 2 games at home. But from there the series took an abrupt turn in the direction that everyone expected. The Devils won handily at home in games 3 and 4 chasing Canes goalie Arturs Irbe in each of those games. All that was left for the Devils to make games 1 and 2 an afterthought was riding the momentum to decisive game 5 win in Raleigh before returning home to close out the series in a respectable 6 games. But led by Kevin Weekes the Canes battled and stayed in game 6 and pushed it to overtime. Soon after a memorable glove save in OT by Weekes keep the Canes in the game, Josef Vasicek finished the game with an incredible overtime winner that paved the way to the 6-game series win and run all the way to the finals.

At the point where the Canes beat the Devils in the first round, the season had been an overwhelming success, Canes fans had experienced the exhilaration that is NHL playoff hockey and there were enough fans who had caught the fever to push the franchise forward. The subsequent series wins obviously helped, but to this day, I argue that the franchise in Raleigh, North Carolina turned on that game 5 and subsequent series win against New Jersey.

Rest in Peace Czech Condor.

Go Canes!
Join the Discussion: » Comments » Post New Comment
More from Matt Karash
» Maple Leafs and Hurricanes: Comparison in rebuilding strategies
» Snarly Hurricanes vs. Flyers match up set for Saturday
» Canes treading water - Will they eventually drown or swim?
» Solid first half of week tees 'make up' time at home for the weekend
» Hurricanes at Red Wings -- Canes look claw even for road trip