Garlando
Registered User
Couple things stand out:
1.) I was born in the early 90’s it was about 96-97 when I really became a massive hockey fan. That time frame coincided with the prime Paul Kariya era with The Mighty Ducks and that dude quickly became my favourite player despite growing up in suburban Toronto in a Maple Leafs household. Kariya became Captain of the Mighty Ducks and he along with Teemu Selanne led the team to the playoffs including a thrilling 1st round 7 game series win before losing in 4 games to the Red Wings who went on to win the Stanley Cup. What followed was a contract dispute and then a concussion in 97-98. 98-99 was a disappointing first round exit for the Ducks and slowly but surely the team was torn apart including a Teemu Selanne trade to the Sharks, and eventually struggled until 2003 when out of seemingly nowhere...they made the famous Cinderella run to the Cup Finals. I remember being glued to TV watching that series, Giguere was unbelievable and the Ducks were winning. The moment I’m nostalgic about is the Kariya goal in game 6 at home where he scored the big 4th goal that sealed game 6 for the Ducks on that beautiful slapshot past Martin Brodeur after being concussed by prime Scott Stevens earlier in the game on a hit at the blueline. The emotional rollercoaster of watching your favourite player get blown up at the blue line in such an important game and thinking he’s gone for the game and potentially the series (could be even more long term too)…and then watching Kariya come back on bench and onto the ice and blow that slapshot past Brodeur…I was just over the moon elated and I remember actually having tears in my eyes. The will and determination just blew me away at the time, and I remember thinking that that was the definition of bouncing back and leading by example. Hindsight now says that Kariya probably shouldn’t have been out on the ice again, and that that hit likely changed Kariya’s life and career immensely, but damn what a moment!
2.) Playoff Rivalries: Red Wings and Avalanche in the late 90’s were so much fun to watch. And more personal for me was the Battle of Ontario in the early 2000’s between the Leafs and Senators. It may be nostalgia clouding my memory, but those series were hard fought, and super entertaining to watch as the players on both teams were well versed with each other and didn’t like each other. What makes it nostalgic for me is I had/have family that lived in Ottawa that were season ticket holders from the beginning of that franchise’s existence, and I always enjoyed the back and forth that we had during those series and seemingly throughout the entire year as we had/have a family cottage that we all congregate at in the summers some weekends. I’m sure there are plenty of other rivalries that others are nostalgic about and I encourage others to share their experiences with playoff rivalries! I feel like the parity in the NHL these days has robbed the league of playoff rivalries…I miss them!
1.) I was born in the early 90’s it was about 96-97 when I really became a massive hockey fan. That time frame coincided with the prime Paul Kariya era with The Mighty Ducks and that dude quickly became my favourite player despite growing up in suburban Toronto in a Maple Leafs household. Kariya became Captain of the Mighty Ducks and he along with Teemu Selanne led the team to the playoffs including a thrilling 1st round 7 game series win before losing in 4 games to the Red Wings who went on to win the Stanley Cup. What followed was a contract dispute and then a concussion in 97-98. 98-99 was a disappointing first round exit for the Ducks and slowly but surely the team was torn apart including a Teemu Selanne trade to the Sharks, and eventually struggled until 2003 when out of seemingly nowhere...they made the famous Cinderella run to the Cup Finals. I remember being glued to TV watching that series, Giguere was unbelievable and the Ducks were winning. The moment I’m nostalgic about is the Kariya goal in game 6 at home where he scored the big 4th goal that sealed game 6 for the Ducks on that beautiful slapshot past Martin Brodeur after being concussed by prime Scott Stevens earlier in the game on a hit at the blueline. The emotional rollercoaster of watching your favourite player get blown up at the blue line in such an important game and thinking he’s gone for the game and potentially the series (could be even more long term too)…and then watching Kariya come back on bench and onto the ice and blow that slapshot past Brodeur…I was just over the moon elated and I remember actually having tears in my eyes. The will and determination just blew me away at the time, and I remember thinking that that was the definition of bouncing back and leading by example. Hindsight now says that Kariya probably shouldn’t have been out on the ice again, and that that hit likely changed Kariya’s life and career immensely, but damn what a moment!
2.) Playoff Rivalries: Red Wings and Avalanche in the late 90’s were so much fun to watch. And more personal for me was the Battle of Ontario in the early 2000’s between the Leafs and Senators. It may be nostalgia clouding my memory, but those series were hard fought, and super entertaining to watch as the players on both teams were well versed with each other and didn’t like each other. What makes it nostalgic for me is I had/have family that lived in Ottawa that were season ticket holders from the beginning of that franchise’s existence, and I always enjoyed the back and forth that we had during those series and seemingly throughout the entire year as we had/have a family cottage that we all congregate at in the summers some weekends. I’m sure there are plenty of other rivalries that others are nostalgic about and I encourage others to share their experiences with playoff rivalries! I feel like the parity in the NHL these days has robbed the league of playoff rivalries…I miss them!