Canucks 3 San Jose 2 - We're off to the Cup Baby!

Since I had to go back to Vancouver, I thought I should go to a hockey game. I was fortunate enough to have a work colleague Ryan that was willing to part with his tickets at a reasonable price -- still hurt though. So I scored two tickets, now who do I call to go to the game?


As you might remember, my brother, sister, and mom met up in Tuscany earlier this year in April. Conspicuously absent was my brother-in-law Andrew who stayed behind in North Vancouver to hold the fort. So .... I called up his cellphone and asked what he was doing for the game .... he said, "I'm off work so .... just going to watch at home ..." and I asked, "I have some tickets, do you want to go to the game" .... after a couple of seconds where he was probably trying to figure out whether I was kidding ... he came back with a resounding "YES". So, we arranged that he'd meet me at the Four Seasons and we would grab a drink or two in my hotel room -- since beers are $10 each at Rogers Place. 

Andrew showing off his towel and enjoying a cold one

I met Andrew in the lobby .... I had a hard time recognizing him because all I could see were his teeth from the "perma-grin" he had on his face. The day before I went back to the house to pick up my authentic (and autographed) Trevor Linden flying-skate Canucks jersey. Andrew had brought a towel .... and we did our version of a tailgate party and then headed off to the game.
Along the way I heard my name being called "Matt ... Matt ... Matt" and I turned around and saw our friends' son Sam Fedak running up to greet me. I haven't seen Sam in about a year and he's grown about a foot -- he's now taller than me. We exchanged a hug and asked a couple of questions about how we each were .... great to see him, and I was really happy he called out.


We joined the sea of people heading into Rogers place and found our seats in Section 109 ... in the opposition corner. Great seats, and on the back of each was a towel to wave .... so we had our props, I had my jersey on and we started cheering. 

Canucks and Sharks Take to the Ice in Overtime

The game was a curious one. I think the crowd was a bit corporate as the arena was kind of flat. The Canucks were behind 2-1 with a couple of minutes left. Then at about 1 minute left the coach pulled Luongo and with an empty net there was an icing call against the Sharks and 20 seconds left. The Canucks lost the draw but Daniel dug the puck out and passed it to Henrik at the point who sent a wrister towards the net and it was deflected by Ryan Kessler into the San Jose net. Bedlam ensues ... there are 13 seconds left .... whoa nellie, we're going to overtime.

Another unhappy Canuck fan after Kessler ties the game with 13 seconds  left

About 10 minutes into overtime with Vancouver pressing, the puck took a crazy bounce off the glass to Kevin Bieksa who sent a knuckleball slapshot to the net for the winning goal. Now real bedlam. If anyone at the arena said they saw the goal, I think they were lying. We were all tracking the puck to go behind the net, then it went back to Bieksa who made the winning shot ... and we were wondering what happened, until the horn went off and the confetti came out. We stayed for the presentation of the Western Conference Championship Trophy and then headed back West Georgia Street through thousands of deliriously happy fans -- grabbed a quick beer at a bar and then parted ways ... both happy as clams.

Henrik posing with, but not touching the Clarence Campbell Bowl awarded to the Western Conference Champion Vancouver Canucks