A Comeback for the Ages

There are times when life and sports intertwine, transcendent instances that are permanently etched in the mind like a champion's name in Lord Stanley's cup. And the funny thing is, sometimes you don't recognize the magnitude of the moment until it passes and you look back.

For me, December 8th, 1987 is one of those moments. That night, hockey history was made when Ron Hextall fired the puck into an empty net becoming the first goalie to legitimately score a goal (sorry, Billy Smith).

My father and I were nine rows off the glass that night, my sister and brother ten rows behind us. Rather than leave early to beat the traffic as my dad suggested, we stayed in our seats and celebrated like maniacs when the shot went in. On the ride home, my dad thanked me for talking him into staying. I've never left a game early since.

The Flyers' opponent on December 8th, 1987? The Boston Bruins.

Last night, I sat with my son to watch Game 7. I promised him he could watch the whole game, bedtimes be damned. The Flyers, once down 0-3 in their Eastern Conference semifinal match-up against the Bruins, fell behind by three goals in the game's first ten minutes. While picking up the pieces of my shattered remote control, I told him he may be going to bed earlier than I thought.

Nope, I'm watching the whole game, he informed me.

During the first intermission, after James van Riemsdyk had cut the deficit to two, I had the following exchange with my boy:

Me: "You think we can come back?"
Him: "Yeah, do you?"
Me: "I don't know, bud. I'm not sure."
Him: "But we were losing by three."
Me: "The game or the series?"
Him: "Both."
Me: "Good point."

Great point, actually. Most teams that fall three games back in a best-of-seven series roll over and die. Only five have come all the way back to force a seventh game. Two actually won the series, but that hadn't happened since 1975.

We stuck it out. Scott Hartnell and Danny Briere atoned for first period high-sticking penalties that resulted in power play goals by the Bruins with second period markers that evened the score.

When Simon Gagne potted the go-ahead power play goal in the third, we jumped around the living room like my old man and I did the night Hextall scored. As time expired and the comeback was complete, I picked him up and just laughed.

As I carried him up to bed, I thanked him for staying with me. We had just witnessed sports history. Hopefully he'll remember May 14th, 2010 as vividly as I remember December 8th, 1987.

I know I will.