[browna]

10 years ago, last night (Saturday), April 19 2004, this happened:


-Some solid saves by Kipper in the second.
-Iginla's first, could see him skating out of the corner of my eye on the screen before he got cut off, and a great pass from Conny a few second later. Then the rare celebration from Iginla.
-Iginla's Goal #2 had to be seen via reply to truly appreciate, especially in all the excitement of the time at the house part.
-Cooke's second goal...the comedy of errors with the sweater, Iginla arguing then falling, his man now free, and the crescendo with the Canucks skating untouched through their zone, through the neutral zone, it all building up, that by the time Naslund got around Leopold (but before Cooke scored), you KNEW somehow, some fricking-agonizingly how, the Flames were going to give up a goal and choke this away with under 5 seconds to go.

The only thing keeping my relatively stable personality from reaching undesirable and never before seen stages of despair and rage after the goal with 4 seconds left, was a) Kipper sipping water like it was no big deal, but mainly, b)the fact that the Flames still had a PP. I recall sitting alone on the stairwell of my buddy's house where there was 10 of us...few to no words were exchanged by any of the guys during that intermission, but the only hope I clinged to, for my hope for the game, but more for preventing a major mental heath episode, was the 90 second or so PP the Flames still had.

Iginla's move out of the corner on that OT goal was a thing of beauty...will never forget the feeling of pure, utter, exhilaration and joy, when seeing that puck flipped over Auld out of that scramble.

There's a split second that Cuthbert is behind from that happening to his call, but it seems as all the emotion had already poured out of me by the time he did confirm it....15 long years of missing the playoffs or finding ways to lose series ('90 and the Morel screw job, 91 up by 3 goals in Game 7 and losing, 93 getting swept, 94 up in Game 7 and losing, 95 up in Game 7 and losing, getting swept in 96), all now forgotten as the puck crosses the line over a flailing Auld.

More emotion from Iginla with the stick bang to the Vancouver fans on the glass 2 seconds after the goal, and Kobasew diving and missing the pile.

Didn't matter if they lost in 4 to Detroit; the team was playing with house money from that point on, to get that monkey off the back was an unbelievable, personal, feeling.