I’m going to list some of my favourite hockey memories. Some of these are subjective but I think most people can relate and hopefully enjoy most of them.
One of my favourite memories has to be Mario Lemieux coming back from retirement for the second time. The Penguins were facing my most hated team, the Leafs, and Mario not only came back, he stole the show. Super Mario put up a goal and two assists leading his Penguins team to a 5-0 drubbing of the Toronto Maple Leafs. His comeback kind of plateaued midway through the season and eventually his season was cut short because of injuries and fatigue but I will never forget the moment Lemieux scored that goal and I started to remember just why I love hockey so much in the first place.
Another great memory I have doesn’t really have to do with the NHL but it was the year the NHL was under its lock out and subsequently the Ontario Hockey League and the related QMJHL, and WHL competing in the Memorial Cup became my NHL. The centre of that sub-NHL universe was London Ontario, my home town. This tournament was filled with talent and this London Knights team was the cream of the crop. This team lost 7 games all season with an astonishing record of 59-7-2-0 and went on a 31 game unbeaten streak (29-0-2) and I had the pleasure of attending game number 31 of that streak. This was the most exciting game I have ever been to. The Knights were down 3-0 going into the third. Ten minutes into the third they made it 3-1, with 5 minutes left they made it 3-2 on a power play and then with their goalie pulled with 30 seconds left they tied it up and I thought a crowd could never get as loud as the John Labatt Centre was at that moment. I was wrong because 2 minutes into overtime Robbie Schremp took a breakaway pass from just outside his own blue line and buried a backhand just over the Kitchener Ranger’s goalie blocker. I had a smile on my face that stretched from ear to ear and it solidified my belief that I was watching the greatest Junior team to ever lace up their skates collectively. They went on to confirm feelings by dominating the Memorial Cup with a 4-0 Hockey School against Sydney Crosby and the Rimouski Oceanic.
Uwe Krupp scoring the overtime winning goal in the 1996 Stanley Cup Finals has to be on this list. Earlier that year Patrick Roy told the Montreal Canadiens that he just played his last game as a Hab. He was subsequently traded to Colorado where the team flourished backed by his goal tending and some amazing talent in Peter Forsberg and Joe Sakic. In the Stanley Cup finals the Florida Panthers were no match for the near All-Star team the team from Denver had and Uve Krupp’s overtime blast from the point was the final touch in the biggest Fuck-You ever completed in the NHL by Patrick Roy to the Montreal Canadiens.
Tags: colorado avalanche, hockey, john labatt centre, london knights, london ontario, mario lemieux, memories, overtime, penguins, pittsburgh, stanley cup, uwe krupp
March 24, 2008 at 3:05 am
Can’t forget the Knight lost 2 of those 7 games resting their players in the final 2 games of the season and another couple during the world juniors when they were without Perry, Syvret and Schremp. Easily the best junior team ever. The best part was going downtown after the Memorial Cup victory, I’ve never seen downtown so crazy.