The whistle blew, the puck dropped and the hockey sticks clashed. The fans of both teams watched intently and with extreme excitement.
This is my recollection of the first five seconds of the Stadium Series game between the Detroit Red Wings and the Colorado Avalanche at Coors Field this past weekend – one of the most amazing hockey games I’ve ever had the pleasure of experiencing.
Packed with a full house of 50,000 hockey fans, Coors Field was a gigantic hotspot of adrenaline and energy. Fans of the Wings, myself definitely included, chanted their team onward as they gained the first goal. As the Avalanche rallied and scored two goals before the first period ended, it was the Avalanche fans’ turn to cheer and get loud for their team. As the first period drew to a close, everyone knew that they had experienced only the start of a truly magical and exhilarating battle between these two long-time rivals.
The second period was a battle of grit – neither team could gain the advantage and score. Hard hits, close calls and high tension are the definitive words to describe the entire second period. Going into the third, the Wings were down two to one, and it looked like the Wings wouldn’t be able to break the deadlock and tie the game up before regulation time ran out.
That turned out to be of no concern. The Wings tied the game up at two goals apiece. In the first two minutes of the final period. Five minutes later, they struck again, suddenly turning the tables on the Avalanche who had been leading the game only minutes before.
Unfortunately, the Avalanche immediately scored one more goal to regain the tied score, and this is how the game remained for the next 10 minutes of play. Both teams, neck and neck, always there to cancel out each other’s attempts to score. Words can’t describe how myself and the rest of the crowd felt. You could cut through the anticipatory tension of a goal in the air with a knife. Both teams, fueled by their emotions and their drive to be the victor, held each other at bay.
That is until Detroit forward Brad Richards netted the go-ahead goal with exactly one minute left in regulation play.
Myself and approximately 20,000 other Red Wings fans all around the stadium, rose from our seats and cheered as loudly as possible. My heart was pounding and I was sure I was going to suffer a lost voice in the next few days. The score was four to three and the Wings were winning. The Wings were winning.
But the Avalanche weren’t ready to accept defeat, and with one minute left in play, they sent their goaltender to the bench for an extra skater to go on offensive. The Wings prepared to defend their lead. With Avs fans and Wings fans all on their feet cheering their team on, Detroit goaltender Petr Mrazek made a key save and gained possession of the puck at the 20 second mark. Mrazek noticed Detroit forward Darren Helm open near the center of the ice and he made a perfect pass to him. Helm turned tail and skated hard towards the Colorado zone. With Avalanche skaters about to converge, he took one final shot at the empty Colorado net.
The puck went in, the horn sounded and I finally knew that the Wings had done it. They had won the game, five to three. As Wings fans all around me chanted and exchanged high fives and fist bumps, I knew that not only had the Red Wings defeated their long time rivals in front of 50,000 people, but they had done it in enemy territory, in Denver, Colorado.
When Avalanche fans rose from their seats full of disappointment and began to skulk towards the exits, I knew that I had just been a part of one of the Red Wings’ most historical games in the history of the franchise. At that moment, I knew I had been a part of something truly special.