The Varsity Match (part four)
Pandemonium.
Eli 23.6 was one of the first players to reach the shooter after the score. He's flying. Everyone in the stands was screaming their heads off, except for the fifty or so Cambridge fans.
It's one of the greatest celebrations I've ever seen, with the most dramatic finish imaginable. I've only seen that ending once in over forty years of watching hockey.
Soon, a Cambridge player will skate out and shout at the refs and be summarily ejected. Hard feelings, and I can understand. Those players gave everything they had, too. They were gutted.
The players skated around the rink to thank the crowd, and as Eli skated by, I recognize the look on his face. It's joy.
He's been playing hockey for fifteen years. Now he'd done the one thing left he said was missing in his career--win the Rivalry Match.
Eli was named game MVP, and his name will be engraved on the platter along with other players who had their moment in this special game.
We talked briefly after the game, but had a much longer call the next day. I asked him what it felt like to have that career-defining moment in the biggest game.
His answer surprised me. The first two words he said were "enormous gratitude." Only a few players in any sport ever get to experience what he did, he said, no matter how many years they play. And if the hockey gods hadn't been looking out for him in overtime, he wouldn't have experienced it, either. And he said long after he's forgotten every other game he ever played, he'll remember this one.
Down four skaters, including their best player, everyone gave everything they had. Eli told me their best defenseman played FORTY-FIVE MINUTES of a sixty-five minute game. It's inconceivable, but that's what it took. He couldn't have had that moment without them.
This might be the last time I tell one of his hockey stories. It might be his last season. I feel so lucky that I got to tell one more, though. Especially this one.
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