More Notes From the Canadian State Religion

[leahbobet]

My study break tonight has serendipitously and coincidentally *cough* coincided with the beginning of the Leafs-Oilers game on CBC. So I turned it on and tonight's the night they're doing the tribute to the 1967 Leafs team -- the team that won the last Stanley Cup this city has unfortunately seen.

So they get all these people out on the blue carpet on the ice, and they're old. They're old men: half the team was over 36 that year, which means they're mostly in their seventies and eighties now, which is something you'd never see in the NHL today. They didn't by and large stride down that carpet waving. They shuffled, heads down, because they had to pay attention to every step.

But they're just...beaming, y'know? Big wide grins, except for Dave Keon (oh my god I saw Dave Keon just now!) who has this little half-smile on his face that were he a character, would be the detail that tells it all about who he is.

And then they get Sundin out to do the ceremonial faceoff and he's got the same shit-eating grin on his face, shaking each of their hands like a five year old boy who's never going to wash that handshaking hand ever again.

The crowd cheered for every one of these little old men. For Keon, Red Kelly, Johnny Bower, Frank Mahovlich they screamed for a solid minute each.

(Holy crap I saw Red Kelly!)


cpolk once characterized my town and our hockey team as having Barilko Syndrome -- we're always living in hope for that Cup-winning goal, against all odds, coming out of the sky. It's 1967 Syndrome too: getting through the first round past a team that should by rights have kicked the crap out of us, and then to the Cup through another team that should by rights have kicked the crap out of us with half your roster old and injured and on a week's less rest than the other guy. It's mythology and legend.

I just grinned and bawled through the whole pregame thing.

I love my town.

Comments

[stillnotbored.livejournal.com]

You just made me cry, reading about it. Wish I could have seen it. :)

[linden-tree.livejournal.com]

I liked the conversation when they did the ceremonial face off.
"Has anyone ever done this before?"
"Ya, you just drop it!"

[leahbobet.livejournal.com]

Heee, yes. It was cute. :)

[boywhocantsayno.livejournal.com]

It was a great ceremony, wasn't it? I was pleased to see the reception Keon got.

And were my ears playing tricks, or did the announcer introduce Mahovlich as "Senator Frank Mahovlich"? It's appropriate, I suppose, but it sounded a little odd in context.

I was sorry to see that Eddie Shack wasn't there, though. I always loved him, even though his best years with the Leafs were before I was born.

[leahbobet.livejournal.com]

Nope. they introduced him as Senator. Which is...well, it is his title, so I guess maybe omitting it might be read as a snub?

[boywhocantsayno.livejournal.com]

I don't know if it would have been a snub, so much as a violation of protocol. But I'm not up on this kind of stuff. When Ken Dryden was being honoured in Montreal a couple of weeks ago, did they introduce him as The Honourable Ken Dryden?

[leahbobet.livejournal.com]

M'not sure -- didn't see the game. But yeah, that's what I was trying to say, I guess: that you observe all the protocol when you're honouring somebody.

[cpolk.livejournal.com]

so funny I was at work and on the phone and I glanced over at the tv and blurted out "omg Johnny bower! this has to be the '67 leafs!!"

and the customer said, "huh?"

and i said tune in to cbc ch 300 look look!

and the customer said, "now I know you're nt snowing me. the call center really is in canada!"

[leahbobet.livejournal.com]

Hah! Awesome!