I've had a chance to get a few (3ish) hours of sleep and I've watched the replay I recorded on my DVR. Needless to say, no work for me today. I'll try this afternoon, but it's all Canes right now.
I'm working on getting some more pictures. I've had my seats since 1999, so I know a lot of my neighbors. I am hitting them up for good pictures they took. The atmosphere in the arena was amazing. I know John Davidson mentioned it on the telecast, but the fans were standing for the entire game, wire to wire. I think I sat down twice (first intermission and second intermission) while I was there.
The stands do not have microphones throughout, so the TV did not reflect how deafening it was in there. I think it was somewhere around 128.8 decibels at Kaberle's goal - probably louder at the end. When Aaron Ward scored the first goal early in the game there was an electricity in the air, the second goal by Kaberle was like throwing fuel on a fire. Even when Pisani scored to cut the lead in half, the crowd shrugged it off. Ward's save on Pisani late in the game was the nail in the coffin. The crowd felt it. Williams' goal validated that feeling, though, and it was pure mayhem. Absolute wild and jubilant celebration. People were crying (my wife included), jumping around, high fives, hugs, kisses - it was crazy.
Kevyn Adams broke two bones in his hand blocking a Chris Pronger slap shot in the first period. With some tape and pain killer he was out there, not even missing a shift. Hedican tore his labrum in Game 1. Ward got a concussion in an earlier game, but managed to avoid the necessary tests that would have kept him out. Cole is still recovering and is only 90%, but he brought the physical game - I know Torres in particular was a bit upset at being targeted, a nice "turnabout is fair play" moment in the series.
There were bonfires in Glenwood south, but nothing too destructive. Only one car was damaged, and it was the 96 Rock Car (96.1 "The Cup"), which is funny. They got a dealer to donate a green Crown Victoria during the Buffalo series. They painted it red and allowed fans to decorate and write things on it - it was driven to Buffalo for every road game. They kept it for the finals and were going to donate it to charity. The fans tore it apart after the game in celebration.
A major theme of the season for the Hurricanes was including family in all aspects of the team - from training camp through the regular season all the way to the last game. Seeing the various family members out there celebrating was a nice way to cap it off. Craig Adams (Scoring the Real Game Winner™) went off the ice and called for his dad to come down - it happened right next to me.
The parade is tonight, but I doubt we'll go. It will be nothing next to the pure and spontaneous joy at the final horn. I saw what I needed to see. I have some of the confetti that was launched - I'll probably put it together with the game tickets and a few other items in a nice collage. There were plenty of fans who could not get tickets and watched on TV - they can have my seat tonight.
Today is a day of celebration and rest. Satuday is the draft, although it seems like it's here way too soon. There are several players who need to be addressed with contracts, so it should be an interesting, if short, offseason.
Some random thoughts:
- Who would have thought that Frank would be the first Kaberle brother to win the Cup?
- What is Jeff O'Neill thinking right now?
- Bates Battaglia makes his offseason home here and was supporting the team (his bar, Lucky B's, is a popular one on Glenwood South). He is part of the Toronto organization though, last time I checked.
- The Canes have as many Stanley Cups as Calgary, Tampa, and Dallas. The Canes have more than Buffalo, Ottawa, Atlanta, Florida, Washington, Columbus, Nashville, St. Louis, Minnesota, Vancouver, Los Angeles, Anaheim, Phoenix, and San Jose.
- The Southeast Division has won the last two Stanley Cups. Five of the last ten Eastern Conference Champions (Carolina twice, Tampa, Florida, Washington) have been from the Southeast Division.
- I don't think I would recognize David Lee without his beard.
5 comments:
I have tons of photos from section 225 and beyond that I'll post soon. And my husband has video of the final empty-netter, the end of the game, and player interviews--Cole, Whitney and Commodore--done after the game (with audio of me in the background, screaming, "You are the MAN, Eric Cole.")
I saved some confetti too. Funny.
Cool, Laura. I can't wait to see them.
Confetti fills my camera bag. Great minds think alike.
I will be working on y pictures tonight, trying to lighten the exposure a bit and take out the green tinge that the arena lights for some reason seem to bring out.
I'll be posting them on The Stinging Nettle. Some of them are pretty good, if I do say so myself.
See you next season, Chris. I'll wave at you from 110, Row z.
Dr. Frank (and Laura too) - feel free to come down to the bottom of 113 and visit David and me.
That's not a very sound argument - 58 years between the old and new is a huge stretch.
Technically, Ottawa is an expansion team from 1992 - the same year as the Tampa Bay Lightning. San Jose has an older franchise by a year. The fact that they use the name from a team that used to play in Ottawa and, later, folded in St. Louis, is irrelevant.
If Seattle gets a team and names itself the Metropolitans, do they get to claim 1917? How about Quebec Bulldogs (in Hamilton)? If Winnepeg chose Victorias instead of Jets, they could have hung some banners immediately.
I've not been to the Corel Centre, but do they hang Stanley Cup banners from the rafters?
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