hockey is life

i went to a hockey game last night. that sentence cannot even begin to grasp the glory that which was the game. if you’re a hockey fan, a real hockey fan, you may have an inkling of what a religious experience it is to be present in the arena when everything your team does clicks. it is magic.
my team: vancouver canucks (6th). opposing team: colorado avalanche (1st). place: gm place, vancouver. attendance: 18,222 – sell out crowd. historically, the canucks have a losing record against the avs. there is no love lost betwixt them, to say the least. the kicker is that we’ve beaten them twice this season, and the avs have only lost nine games.
it was glorious. after a soft goal by colorado, we trailed 2-0 at the end of the first. i told jason that if he went and got me one of those cool hats we’d win. whether he believed me or not, he did. so i wore my new hat. we only scored one goal in the second, but outshot them 18-5. four minutes into the third period, we tied it up. early in the third, two unfortunately penalties left the canucks with a two-man deficit for 1:42. although it was scary the arena was going wild and “backup” bob essensa was a god. luckily, we were sitting right behind him and had the ultimate view of his spectacular goaltending. every time he stopped a puck, the crowed jumped to its feet and roared. there were countless chants of “bobby! bobby! bobby!” during the night.
after a soft colorado goal, the canucks rebounded and made it 3-3. but the best was daniel sedin’s goal. with just over half a period left, we were leading 4-3. this is when we started to bite our nails. could they hold on? could they keep the avs’ offence at bay? could bob keep up his supernatural stopping ability? things got even more tense when, with just over two minutes in the game left, pederson was sent to the box for tripping. the avs pulled roy for a 6 on 4 advantage. every time the puck crossed vancouver’s blue line to slip into the neutral zone, the crowd raged. finally, schaffer, with less than a minute left, got a quasi-breakaway and managed an empty net shot to nail the coffin closed with a final score of 5-3 for vancouver.
after the game, jason and i were sitting there in awe. i was shaking and exhausted. as we were walking to the station we just kept saying “wow”. we were waiting for a light to change and i said to him “that was… spectacular.” he said, “i don’t think that’s the word.” “you’re right,” i said, “it was orgasmic.” “that’s the word,” he replied.
of course, if you aren’t a fan of hockey you could care less about this entry. but there’s just something about screaming yourself hoarse to encourage your team to a victory against a seemingly insurmountable foe. it felt like david took down goliath last night. it felt like the tide has changed and the tsunami is building to propel the canucks to a victory they so richly deserve.
this good ol’ hockey game…