We all remember where we were.
May 19, 2007. Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals. Senators vs. Sabres. It was a Saturday afternoon.
As long as I’ve been a Sens fan, I’ve had this terrible fear of the post-season. Fear might not be the right word actually. Stress? Yea maybe it’s stress. There are dangerous levels of excitement in there too obviously but that feeling of caring so much about something that is completely out of your control is pretty unique. Whatever it is, it can’t be healthy.
Anyway, with the Senators up 3-1 in the series and a win away from the Stanley Cup Finals, I remember agonizing about the right way to watch a game of that magnitude. One group of friends was getting together at a cottage. But what if the TV signal doesn’t work? Another group of friends was heading to the Sens Mile. Do I really want to be down there if they lose? And, if I assume they’re going to win, will my arrogance ultimately cost them the game entirely?
And it went on like this. I have a totally healthy relationship with sports fandom, by the way.
Ultimately, and at the last minute, I decided the best approach was a low key one. I ended up watching the game at a friend’s house. There were six people there and I bet among them, they couldn’t name five Sens players on that 2007 team. They didn’t care. At all. It was exactly what I needed, for some reason.
And for the next three plus hours, they watched on in confusion and amazement as a grown man went through every possible human emotion, all while watching a hockey game. Moments of joy, of anxiousness, of blinding anger and ultimately, complete euphoria. Again, totally healthy relationship with the Sens.
I don’t really remember what happened in those immediate moments after the goal. Drinks were spilled, I’ve been told. A fairly large couch may have been flipped over. I made noises that can’t possibly be described and that can really only be recreated while watching playoff hockey.
I do remember running out the door at one point. I chugged a beer in the middle of a parking lot, if I recall correctly. In the distance, I could hear car horns honking as the city around me came to life.
I called my Dad. We had watched so many playoff heartbreaks together in the years leading up to that moment. He answered on the first ring. Neither of us could really say much. And then at the same time, we both said the only thing that came to mind at the moment- “They did it”. It’s funny how memories fade over the years but with certain moments, you can take yourself back to that exact place and time and remember every single detail. That phone call was one of those moments.
Everything after is a bit of a blur though. I think I ended up getting on a bus. I think I ended up on Sens Mile. I think I chipped a tooth. Legend has it that I had a dance off with the Sens Squatch.
On this day, 14 years ago, Daniel Alfredsson scored the overtime winner in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals.
