The date – May 24, 1994. The venue – the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver. The scenario – the start of double overtime in game five of the Western Conference final, with the Vancouver Canucks leading the series 3-1 and poised to advance to the Stanley Cup final for the second time in franchise history.
The building was rocking and the streets of Vancouver were packed as the puck dropped to begin the second overtime. Canucks great Trevor Linden carried the puck into the Toronto Maple Leafs' zone, leaving it for defenceman Dave Babych, who threw a quick shot on net. Leafs goalie Felix Potvin let out an errant rebound. With Leafs standing still all around him, Vancouver forward Greg Adams stepped into Canucks lore forever.
Adams picked up the rebound and put the puck in past an unprepared Potvin, sending the Canucks to the Stanley Cup final and fans into frenzy.
I remember watching those dramatic events unfold on television with my family, at our home in Cold Lake, sitting on our floral patterned, hide-a-bed couch that still sees action to this day.
Leading up to the '94 season, I had really grown to appreciate the Canucks, with the stellar goaltending of Kirk McLean and humble leadership of Trevor Linden.
Then the '94 playoffs happened and the team swept me off my feet.
They played with skill, speed and hard-hitting determination. It was nearly impossible for a young impressionable fan to not be captivated by the playoff performance of the '94 Canucks.
That night, after the Greg Adams goal, my mind still tingling with elation, I floated up to my room and did something I will never forget.
I penned a message on a two-dollar bill (yes, those artifacts still lingered back then) and placed it in my piggy bank.
The message read: Next time this happens I am going to Vancouver!
My trip fund had begun.
May 24, 2011 – exactly 17 years to the day since that fateful evening and the Canucks again found themselves in the enviable position of leading the Western Conference final 3-1, heading back home for game five.
I again found myself sitting with my family, at our home in Cold Lake, this time on an updated burgundy couch.
As chance would have it, the game again went into double overtime and again a strange bounce landed right on the stick of a Canuck, turning the player into an instant icon.
This time it was Kevin Bieksa.
The puck took a strange bounce off the glass partition leaving San Jose Sharks players, including goalie Antti Niemi, looking as though the puck had disappeared into the crowd. But Bieksa read it, took the bouncing puck on his stick and let a flopper go that curved in just past a stunned Niemi.
The building went nuts and fans filled the streets of Vancouver in a '94-like frenzy.
I immediately ran for my piggy bank.
And like at a stereotypical Greek plate-smashing celebration I took hold of that piggy and tossed it in the air.
The pink ceramic hit the floor and smashed to pieces, revealing the noted two-dollar bill and some loose change – (soon after '94 I moved most of my funds to a central bank).
But the symbolism was there. I made a promise to myself that I just had to keep.
So this year, 17 years after falling for the team from the lower mainland, I will be fulfilling one of my hockey dreams and making my way to the beautiful city of Vancouver for the Stanley Cup finals.
A young boy's dream is coming true.
Just imagine if they win!
