There was something magical about listening to Saturday night hockey while driving down the Las Vegas strip. There was nothing magical about the Leafs exploding with five unanswered goals to seal a 5-2 win over the New York Rangers. That was the reality of hard work and perseverance, although the Leafs were in mind when rubbing the feet of the Winged Angels at Hoover Dam for good luck.
I didn`t see John Mitchell`s two goals. I didn`t see any of the five goals the Buds scored in 5:21 to obliterate Steve Valiquette`s shutout bid. I didn`t see Dominic Moore, plucked off waivers by Toronto last season, rule the circle with an 80% faceoff average.
I didn`t need to see. I felt the excitement of Leafs fans 3629km away from Air Canada Centre. Best of all, being so far from the arena, no media pass around my neck, cloaked in the anonymity provided by thousands of tourists, I tossed journalistic impartiality out the window and cheered. Not necessarily for the Leafs, mind you, but for the story.
Fans, media, and experts did not expect the Leafs to have a winning season. More efforts like this one and they`ll be winning respect from those who had written them off.
Sunday, November 02, 2008
Comments on a Game I Didn`t See
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4 comments:
Not being able to see my Habs pull off their own comeback, I did catch this Leaf takeover. It was quite impressive, it just happened so fast. The Rangers totally fell apart.
The Leafs are a lot more likable now than they have been in previous seasons, since they're now a young, rag-tag team that's working very hard. And they can skate.
Jack Valiquette`s
Steve.
It was pretty sweet though. I had turned the NJD game off earlier this week because the first was boring and they were down 2-0 and ended up feeling pretty crappy about missing that comeback. Glad I got to watch this one in all its fist pumping glory.
I still don't think that they're going to be contenders or anything - but I like watching them *play*. They come to get it done, every time they step on the ice. And that's entertainment.
I didn't see it either. Thank god. I don't think my television would have survived.
The Leafs are the 'feel good' team of the year so far, and they play a fun game. I love seeing them beat the Red Wings in the beginning of the season. The hockey fan in me appreciated it.
The Ranger fan in me did not. How mortifying. I've said it from the beginning of the season... this is NOT the Rangers year. I'd love to be proved wrong, and yeah, they had an excellent start, but you look at things like this and go 'how the heck did that just happen.' 5 goals in 5 in a half minutes. How can you justify that at all?
I DID see the Habs come back though. And didn't Nassau sound like a Canadien home game? It was AWESOME... until I found out the Ranger score :-(.
hockey on the strip - that would be fun : )
dominic moore - so that's where he ended up recently....
always entertaining to see an underdog have a night of glory - hopefully you guys will get another one soon (just not against the pens!)
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