Wow, that’s the first thing I thought as the final seconds ticked off the clock. The final minutes of the game seemed to fly by, until the last two minutes which went by excruciatingly slow, the last minute like an eternity. I went through a whole range of emotions from nervous to excited, then back to nervous and finally as those last seconds counted down, disbelief. Was this really happening? I was absolutely speechless. My son, two hours past his bedtime, slept peacefully on the couch oblivious to the historical moment taking place as I jumped up and down in the living room.
I can’t help but feel a little bad for Montreal fans because I know how they feel. How many times over the past twenty years have the Rangers been in their position? How many times have the Rangers come this close only to be defeated and sent home to say maybe next year? Much too many times. One of my favorite traditions in all of sports is the handshake line at the end of each round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. It’s a truly beautiful display of sportsmanship. No matter how bitter the rivalry or what transpired during the series, everyone lines up to shake hands. I can’t tell you how happy I am to have gotten to see the Rangers line up for that handshake line for three times this year as the victor.
You see, I wasn’t into hockey twenty years ago. In 1994 I was graduating the eighth grade and it would be two more years before a boyfriend in high school got me interested in the sport. Sure I knew what hockey was, but sports weren’t something that were watched and certainly not encouraged in my household. So I missed out on the chants of 1940, “Messier’s guarantee,” “Matteau, Matteau, Matteau!,” Gary Bettman telling Mark Messier to come get the Stanley Cup because he was so wrapped up in the excitement of it all that he forgot to skate over for the cup presentation, the parade, all of it. I missed out on all of that; it’s all just stories to me just like it is for my son. I’ve been waiting what I refer to as my whole hockey life for this moment to happen. About a month ago, as it appeared as though the Penguins were ending the Rangers playoff run, I had the following conversation with a good friend of mine, Russell McKenzie who also writes for LWOS.
I reminded him of the talk we had this morning, and I laughed at how you never know what’s going to happen in sports. Sometimes the underdog pulls off a huge upset, other times a far superior team beats the snot out of someone, and sometimes it’s a complete toss up as to who will win a series and even the best analysts with all the sports knowledge in the world can’t do much more than flip a coin to make a prediction. I however am fortunate enough to live with my very own personal hockey guru who not only predicted that the Rangers Playoff Run would end with them winning the cup, but also predicted that they’d be playing the Los Angeles Kings in the finals to do it. Here’s the most recent picture I have of him from our trip to the Rangers Hockey House at MSG.
Every day since the Rangers clinched their spot in the Stanley Cup Final when I say, “Let’s Go,” to my son for any reason his response has been, “Rangers!” and then he starts a, “We Want the Cup!” chant. So, Let’s Go Rangers! Win this one for the fans who missed out on 1994, don’t make us wait another year, we’re looking forward to taking the day off to make a trip into New York City for a championship parade.
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Henrik Lundqvist Photo by Elsa/Getty Images
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