It was lunch hour on Wednesday I think when I heard two women talking about THE show of the summer and singing the praises of one of those atrocious reality TV shows. Turns out that Tuesday was the season premiere of Love Island on CTV and they thought it was (and I quote): "just amazing!". Personally, I saw 5 minutes of it and I just couldn't believe anyone would want to subject themselves to such boredom. Clearly my face was telling as one of the two asked me: "What did you think of it Karine?" For half a second I thought: Oh just got along with it...But I just couldn't. So I said: "I thought it was utter crap and quite frankly, TV in the summer is boring as can be and I really miss hockey". Then came the mother of all eye rolls and one of them said: "How can you miss hockey? It's just a silly game!". Riiiiiight and your so called "reality" TV show is not? That annoying 3 minute long conversation got me thinking about how much more than a game hockey is...Not only is it unscripted live action but if you truly care, it can take you on an incredible rollercoaster of emotions.
For us puck fans, the unscripted drama that unfolds all season long on this beautiful clean sheet of ice (for the first minute of the game or so) matters. Case in point, is anyone here capable of watching Joe Sakic receiving the Stanley Cup from Gary Bettman, not hoisting it but passing it straight to Raymond Bourque without getting goosebumps? A moment 22 years in the making, one of the greatest d-man of all-time who bled black and gold but wanted to capture the Cup so much that he had to move to Colorado to follow his dream. When Raymond Bourque finally got to raise the ultimate price in hockey, I'm not ashamed to admit that not only did I get goosebumps but it also brought tears to my eyes...And I'll bet that the Bruins' faithful were also elated for their former captain and franchise icon. It's fair to say that the hockey world fully got on board with the Avs' Mission 16W and it felt like a wrong had been righted the night 77 got his biggest win.
Can anyone talk about emotions in hockey without mentioning the last game at the Forum though? Who doesn't remember that standing ovation the famous Rocket got from Habs nation? That right there was a real piece of TV gold: