One wild goal-mouth scramble and a puck trickling over the goal line - that's all it took to send the Calgary Flames to the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs and my beloved Vancouver Canucks to the golf course.
It was like a dagger to the heart.
I, like many Canucks fans, am still getting over the fact that the hockey season came to an abrupt end on Monday night.
It wasn't supposed to end like this. After the heroics of Brendan Morrison last Saturday night in triple overtime and Matt Cooke tying Monday's game with five seconds left, I figured we had a team of destiny. Does anyone remember the Canucks' glorious run in 1994? I had that feeling on Monday night, but it wasn't meant to be. As painful as it is to admit, the Flames deserved to win this series. I've never been a big fan of Calgary or the Flames, but they played a heck of a series. They played harder than Vancouver, had better goaltending, got a few bounces, scored more goals and did the little things needed to win at this time of year.
I wish them luck in the second round, although I predict a more rested and healthy Detroit Red Wings squad will knock them off in five games.
After the final goal on Monday night, I just sat there in my living room reflecting on what might have been. It's why I love sports so much - the agony of losing and the ecstasy of winning.
I'll have to admit it's probably been rather tough for some of my co-workers to comprehend my devotion to the Canucks and the playoffs for the past couple weeks.
Many were giving me the gears on Tuesday morning, one even going so far as to say thank God hockey is over for another year.Everyone is entitled to his or her opinion. I, for one, live for sports and live for my teams.
I rushed home every night for the Canucks games the past few weeks. I even went so far as to come back to work after the games for a couple of hours to make sure the paper got to press on time.
Some people probably think I'm nuts, but that's who I am.
So now what to do to fill the void until September rolls around?
I had to laugh on Wednesday when I flipped through the Vancouver Province and saw a feature story urging depressed Canucks fans to root for the Flames. I know that's not in the cards. The story also recommended cheering on the Maple Leafs from Hogtown or maybe the Habs from Montreal.
As for the Leafs, I could care less. I could live with the Habs. My Dad grew up watching Montreal, so if I'm to continue watching the playoffs, I guess that's who I'll be rooting for.It's been a painful couple of days, but I'm sure my agony will soon fade.
