My goal is to keep this blog as a place of positivity during these unprecedented times. As such, I was absolutely delighted to see this pop up in my social feeds this morning:
It's so hard for me to believe that game happened 26 years ago. Of course, I remember the ending, "The Goal," and "The Save." And I remember how nervous I was at the end of regulation. But off the top of my head, I don't have any specific recollections about what went down during the first three periods — I can't wait to watch it again, even if it will be in regular definition.
I haven't had my sports channels on much at all since the "pause" began. I did flip on Sportsnet on Saturday night, but moved on once I spent some time trying to figure out what year the Leafs-Flames early game was from, based on the players in the lineup.
I believe it was October 14, 2006, a
5-4 win for Toronto off a shorthanded OT winner by Mats Sundin.
I was a little surprised that they made reference to referee Tim Peel, who's obviously still in the game. His partner that night was another now-veteran official, Justin St. Pierre. Peel's now 53 and St. Pierre's 47 — a reminder that officiating careers last a lot longer than playing careers do.
Just one player from each team's roster that night is still in the NHL — Mark Giordano, from the Flames, and Alexander Steen, then with the Leafs.
Watching the '94 Canucks game will be much more exciting and emotional — although I admit, I'll probably PVR it. Though I originally had this weekend blocked off to do a bunch of March Madness liveblogging, I'm actually a little bit grateful that didn't happen because it has allowed me to focus on a bigger writing project that I'd thought was due April 30 — but it's actually April 1. Eeep.
As I've settled into the "pause," my mind has finally stopped racing long enough for me to really start digging into this assignment. I went right through till dinnertime yesterday and I'm hoping I can get on another roll today.
I did take time out to go for another good run early this morning, while there still weren't too many people about. And I'll also share how pleased I was by the service I received on Friday from 33 Acres Brewing, who have set up a new online store and hand-delivered my order of Hazy Pilsner within a few hours at no additional charge.
It felt great to support an independent local business that is going the extra mile to stay operational and is doing it in such a cheerful and customer-focused fashion.
Let us know if you've had any exceptional experiences with retailers or service providers over the last little while!
Everyone who continues to go to work has my utmost respect — especially, of course, the health-care workers on the front lines through this unprecedented time.
I've got one more slice of cheerful Canucks content for you today, too...
Remember how we were hopeful that Tyler Madden might be able to follow in the footsteps of his fellow Northeastern alumnus Adam Gaudette, who won the Hobey Baker Award as the top player in NCAA Hockey in 2018?
Madden was nominated for the award this year — and had taken a nice step forward in his sophomore season, going from 12-16-28 in 36 games last year to 19-18-37 in 27 games. He led his team in scoring this year, but after Northeastern won the Hockey East title last season, they were sitting seventh in the 11-team conference at the time of the pause, with an 11-12-1 record through 24 games.
Northeastern was also ranked outside the top 15 in the final weekly men's college hockey poll, released March 9. Last season, they finished ninth in the final rankings.
As much as I liked Madden's tenacity as a Canucks prospect, now that he has been traded to the Los Angeles Kings, I'm excited that we can set our hopes on a new Hobey candidate. The list was narrowed to the Top 10 candidates earlier this week and is now open for voting. Madden didn't make the cut — but new Canucks' signee Marc Michaelis did!
You can do your part in welcoming Michaelis to the Vancouver organization by throwing some votes his way:
The field will be narrowed to three on April 2. Even though there will be no Frozen Four this year, the Hobey Baker winner will be announced on April 10 — although with considerably less fanfare than usual.
I'll leave it there for today with the hockey talk. I hope you enjoy tonight's game.
One question before I go — what are you watching and listening to? I'm finding it really hard to find the right TV and music content that doesn't send my brain spinning off in unwanted directions.
I plan to return to "Schitt's Creek" as soon as I finish this writing project. I found the first season marvellously distracting when I binged it just before Christmas, so I have a bunch more episodes of that still in the vault.
And I've been enjoying Stingray's "Remembering the 80s" playlist, in all its over-the-top grandiosity, while doing tasks like cooking and cleaning.
What's working for you?
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