More rain meant I could have the dogs walked early so I could relax and watch game 5 of the Stanley Cup finals.
It’s been a good series so far, and an inspiring run for the Florida Panthers. Vegas is also very impressive of course up 3 games to 1 with the Cup in the building tonight, but I don’t watch a ton of late west coast games so I hadn’t caught the Golden Knights much.
The hockey panel before the game was talking about the pressure of that final 16th win. It made me think of the cover of a book I bought (Mission 16W), after my childhood idol, Ray Bourque, finally won a Stanley Cup with the Colorado Avalanche in 2001.
Game three of that series was the first and only time I’ve been to a Stanley Cup game and Bourque even scored to cap off a memorable weekend where we were also almost run over by Don Cherry and Ron McLean as we wandered aimlessly through the parking lot afterwards.
I hope there is another game because 5 games would be a shame after such an exciting playoffs – even though my Bruins were knocked out early.
There may be hockey handshakes or there may be another night of hockey and pup cuddles, but either way, some fan somewhere is soon to have a hockey dream come true.
I’ll never forget watching game 7 of the 2001 Stanley Cup with my dad at Rookies, as our team hoisted the Stanley Cup for the first time in my life. I had tears in my eyes in that moment – in part because of that time spent with dad and also, Joe Sakic giving Bourque the first raise of Lord Stanley over his head.
Sending game 7 vibes into the universe.