Not What I Thought I'd Be Writing After Game 7

Melissa commented on last night's post today to ask if I was alive after the excitement, and yes I am, thanks for asking! After blogging last night, I turned off the computer and took the iPad to watch the Bruins game, and about five minutes into the third period, I was frustrated and upset, and upset with myself for being upset. The Bruins were down 4-1, they weren't playing very well, certainly they Weren't Getting It Done, and this is it, why am I upset, I knew this was coming, all season they've done this, why am I upset, damn it, this is it. Sniff. Having had a sad day, I had felt myself to be somewhat insulated from pre-game jitters, but now that it was in front of me, well, let's just say it wasn't improving my mood any.

Then Nathan Horton scored, making it 4-2, and I was honestly annoyed. You can't just lose quietly, you keep trying to raise my hopes, to get me to believe, before you crush me again? Well, I don't believe. Damn it. A friend who's a Red Sox fan was just telling me how she lost hope for a while during their 2004 run, and when she went to the last game, and they were giving out buttons that said something like "I never stopped believing," she wouldn't take one, because "I did stop!" That's where I was.

I was getting ready for bed. Game still on in the background, oh they're pulling the goalie, how cute, it's like they believe they can ... hmmm, they scored? 4-3 then. OK. How will they lose? Will this be it? Will Toronto score again now, the knife to the heart?

Goalie still pulled, extra attacker on, under a minute left, and Bergeron, my Bergeron, scored. Tie game. Bedlam at the Garden. And I'm not yelling, not jumping, just looking at the TV, puzzled. Did that just happen? Hmmm. Oh, so they're going to go to OT? Well, okay, Toronto will win and it will be crushing. Just like last year, just like so many other times. Shit.

But I watched. And with Chara forming a six-foot-nine, 255-pound screen in front of the goal, Bergeron scored again. In overtime.

They won.

The game, the series. They won. The Bruins. Won.

They won?

I just sat there, not yelling, not excited, just ... dumbfounded. Did that just happen? (I'm not the only one who asked that question, either.) Did I just see that? Is that Bergeron, running and jumping up and down on his skates? Am I awake?

"Insane Game 7 Rally," NHL.com is calling it today; "miraculous rally" and "the wildest game of this year's playoffs" from the Hockey News, "epic" from Backhand Shelf. I've certainly never seen anything like it. The closest I can recall is a non-Bruins game seven from a few years back (knowing my memory, probably more like ten, or twenty, but who knows), I think it was the Devils, and maybe Washington, and one team was down by two goals, I want to say, and then scored three times in like the last minute to win, stunning the other team completely. Does anyone else remember that? Am I making it up? My memories are vague enough (and possibly flat-out wrong, since no one else brought it up today) that I am not having success searching it out.

Other coverage of this one: the game summary in GIFs, and a nicely written piece from the other side. If you're really interested (and I'm not judging if you're not) and have half an hour, here's the condensed game: goals, saves, hits, the works. Since I couldn't bear to really watch the end last night, I felt like I was seeing it for the first time! Hearts of lions, indeed. Also kudos to whoever put it together, for including the part where, when they were down 4-1, Jack talked about how Toronto was going to eliminate the Bruins "unless they suffer a colossal collapse..." Check!

Anyway. The Bruins advance to round two, how about that? And, I was shocked to hear, they haven't faced the Rangers in the playoffs in 40 years. How is that possible? 1973? When they've played Montreal a bazillion times* in that span? Weird.
*Okay, only 18, but still. Almost every second year versus 0-for-40? How does that happen?

Fun fact: the Rangers have a player, Mats Zuccarello, who is listed at five-foot-seven. Can't wait to see him next to Chara! Fourteen inches difference? That will make a fun photo. Much like this one, of Sabres teammates John Scott and Nathan Gerbe, who are 15 inches apart (as seen on Backhand Shelf, awhile back).

Ottawa-Pittsburgh starts tonight*, Chicago-Detroit tomorrow, but the Bruins, thankfully, get a few days off (after 3 games in 4 nights), and don't play until Thursday. Then they very kindly do not disrupt my Saturday plans, and are playing game two on Sunday--in the afternoon, even, so I can get to sleep at a decent hour. It's all very kind of them. Because, you know, it's all about me.
*So does LA-San Jose, but I won't see any of those games due to the time difference (maybe, maybe Saturday's 9 PM start, if I'm awake after the Webs trip, but I doubt I'd stay up for the whole thing). Do we call this the Battle of California? The Cali Cup?

Semi-unrelated story: It is not at all unusual for me to meet someone and in so doing, become the biggest Bruins fan they know. I am not the biggest Bruins fan ever, I know that (I've seen the face-paint people), but a lot of people don't know a lot of Bruins fans, if you follow me, so when they meet me and I say things like, "I don't know why the Bruins keep losing, it's like they don't want me to be happy," it seems to make an impression. Not one I'm intentionally setting out to make, but it does happen. As an example, one of my coworkers sent me an email this morning that he was thinking of me last night, with this picture:

So there's that. And last night at stitch and bitch, when I said I had to leave at the end of the first period so I'd be home in time for the second, someone asked me how long it is between periods, and when I said 18 minutes, she was pretty amused. (I think that's right, though; but I know, it's a fairly specific answer.)

And now it appears to have happened with the chiropractor, who I only met for the first time a few months ago, remember. First, he recently gave me a Bruins rubber bracelet (actually, a handful so I can give some to friends), which kind of makes sense because he's in healthcare and these have the Hallmark Health logo on them (healthcare provider of the Boston Bruins). Then, yesterday he gave me a Bruins fleece jacket (or, more accurately, the office manager gave it to me). Which sounds a little ... funny as I write it out, but it didn't feel that way at all. More like, he came across it and thought oh, I know who would appreciate this. And of course, I do! And clearly, it carries some good karma in it, don't you think?

I'm starting to come down from the initial high. I did not get enough sleep last night, surprise surprise. Not long enough, too much adrenaline. It took me a bit to unwind enough to go to sleep, and then when my bladder woke me an hour before the alarm went off, my brain kept me from falling back to sleep. Earlier to bed tonight.

I wore a Bruins shirt to work today, under the non-casual-Friday layer, and due to my laundry status being Not Caught Up, I was down to my last clean Bruins shirt, the Terry O'Reilly! Not that there's anything wrong with it, of course, but it isn't the first choice for celebrating a team victory. Must do a rare mid-week load of laundry before Friday.

Maybe tomorrow I'll be able to write about something other than hockey (no promises). Maybe lilacs! And license plates!