It's obvious that hockey is my favourite sport, so it's pretty exciting for me when the season starts and sad when it ends. But every year I forget just how much I love the night the Stanley Cup is awarded!!
This year was just like every other...only it took a couple more games than I expected [I would have been happy to see them win in 4 games but 6 allowed them to win at home the less and I love those home town wins, especially Stanley Cup wins].
I feel the same emotions every year, yet somehow I always forget. I get chills as they announce the last minute of play, tears in my eyes in the dying seconds [if it doesn't go into over time], chills again as they announce the Stanley Cup Champions, then a whole range of emotions during the celebrations...pride, joy, happiness and even a bit of heart break of the losing team.
Before I say anything more, I should say that I didn't watch the whole game. I was actually away from the computer when the first 2 goals were scored and I took that as sign that I didn't have to watch for the game for them to win. So I had it on but I wasn't hardcore watching it. I tuned in again with about 3 and a half minutes left and that last goal [or two the connection was sketchy so it froze a few times]. The emotions for me started then and didn't stop until after all the credits.
[side note in the final couple of minutes they were showing fans in the stands and there was a father with his young child in the stands with a poster that read something along the lines of "my dad waited 44 years for this and I am 1 for 1". edit: I found a screen cap of it.]
I love the pure joy when the clock is running out and the players on the ice throw off their gloves and helmets and leap into each other's arms, the rest of the team going crazy on the bench and then pouring out on the ice themselves. Then the announcers says "The Los Angeles Kings are first time Stanley Cup Champions!" All the craziness of the season is gone and there is just joy.
Then they have the hand shake line, no matter what these two teams have been through in the series they shake hands. It's bitter/sweet to see the hand shake line. You see the winners, trying not to rub it in too much, but bursting with happiness. The losing team, some in tears, having fought all season and then all playoffs, getting so close and yet they come up short. They just want to get out of there and in this case I am sure they just wanted to get on a plane and head home. Tonight my heart broke a bit when they showed Zach Parise skate off the ice and head to the dressing room with tears in his eyes. And for Martin Brodeur who has won before but would have been the first 40 year old to win it. I've always had a soft spot for goalies [imo they are the hardest working and they are a bit crazy, you have to be to volunteer to stop pucks] but during the hand shakes Martin Brodeur and Jonathan Quick exchanged a few words, the veteran imparting wisdom on the rookie, I'm sure. While were on the topic of Brodeur, he was interviewed after most of the on ice festivities and said that that was not his last hand shake line. At 40 you'd think he might be about ready to retire, I'm not saying he should or even looked like he should, he obviously showed that he can still play. But there aren't to many 40 year olds still playing in the NHL, let alone playing net. We'll see how his off season goes.
After the hand shakes, the Conn Smythe is awarded to the MVP of the playoffs. Without going into all his playoff stats [cuz I don't want to look them up] it should be said that his record was 16-4 in the playoffs and he only lost one away game. [edit: just read a tweet that said, "the kings allowed 29 goals all playoffs and won the Cup...the Pens played 6 games and allowed 30 goals." Goalies matter.]
Though it's exciting to see the Conn Smythe trophy lifted, it's not the main attraction. Shortly after the Conn Smythe trophy is awarded, the Stanley Cup gets walked out by two men with white gloves, it's set on the table and the commissioner of the NHL calls the captain up to receive what they have been dreaming of all their lives.
Dustin Brown raised the Cup with ease and skated around for a bit. It's always interesting to see who the captain will pass it off too, tonight Brown was calling for 'Mitchy' a seasoned veteran and first time Stanley Cup winner, Willie Mitchell. [By veteran I mean he has been in the NHL for 12 seasons and without looking it up I am pretty sure he went to game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals with the Vancouver Canucks last year.] Apparently the team had to push Mitchell up to get the Cup second.
After the Cup gets passed around by the players they all pose for the team shot. That's up there on favourite moments of the night. Partly because it's the picture that will be looked at for years to come and even though I love the playoff beards, how excited can they be that that is going to be THE picture, I mean honestly, they usually have the beards shaved the next day or soon after.
After the team picture, the players families have made their way down to the ice. The Cup gets passed around some more and it makes it's way to the guys in the front office. Now I usually can't recognize or just don't know the guys in suits, expect for maybe one or two. Tonight there was only one that I knew and when he lifted the Cup I got teary eyed. Some people might say that Wayne Gretzky made hockey known in LA [hi Mum!]. But when I think of the team I always think of Luc Robitaille. Which makes sense Robitaille played most of his career there, I just looked it up and he started with the Kings but played with the Pens, Rangers, Kings again, Wings and ended his career with the Kings. So naturally after retiring as a player he made his way to the front office in 2007 he became the Kings' President of Business Operations. Robitaille never won the Cup as a player, I'm not that familiar with his career but I'd say the closest he came was in 1993 when the Kings lost in the finals to my Habs. So I was happy to see him lift the Cup tonight. [Even if they were interviewing a player at the time and quickly turned to him for a few seconds before he passed it to someone else.]
I also love the player interviews, sometimes with their wives and/or kids or with their parents. Not saying I could do better but the questions often leave me wanting more, they JUST won the Cup, it probably hasn't fully sunk in yet and they probably have no sweet clue what they are going to do with the Cup when they have their day during the summer. And of course how many ways can the players answer how they are feeling, when the win is so fresh.
Then they show the dressing room, all decked out for Champions. The CBC usually doesn't show much of the 'in room' celebrations. But they always have the playoff in review montage. It's funny how much is forgotten as the playoffs advance, at least for me.
Then they run the credits and just like that my favourite night of the year and the hockey season is over.
[Of course, there is the awards show and the draft in the next few weeks and the free agents, etc. but for the most part hockey is over until next season.]
PS-The Kings started their season over seas, I forget the exact stat, but at least the last 3 or maybe 4 teams that started their season over seas won the Cup...weird, eh?
~believe.
No comments:
Post a Comment