By Josh Houreas|Follow me on Twitter @JHoureas

As we go on about life without the Stanley Cup Playoffs (and as much as that sucks) life isn’t all bad. This past Monday marked the ninth anniversary of the day the Boston Bruins won the Stanley Cup.

So how did they get to a winner take all game 7 in the Stanley Cup Final against the Vancouver Canucks?

Let’s recap.

After going down 2-0 in the series, with Game 1 being a 1-0 Loss with the game-winning goal coming from Raffi Torres at the 19:42 mark of the third and final period. For those who don’t know, that goal came with 18.5 seconds remaining. In Game 2, the Canucks put a stranglehold on Boston by scoring another clutch goal, this time from Alex Burrows, only eleven seconds into overtime.

Boston came back home with one goal in mind, and that was to win game three. Boston got the boost that they needed, but it came at a drastic cost. Aaron Rome came across the blue line and knocked Nathan Horton to the ice. Horton raised his hand for the trainer, and would soon be transported by medical personnel to Mass General Hospital. Rome’s crushing hit on Nathan Horton would lead the Canucks defenseman to a game suspension and later a series suspension

This would be the spark the Bruins needed as soon after, they scored the opening goal, and wouldn’t look back. After putting an 8 spot on the board, the Bruins were back in the series, but still had a critical game 4 to win.

After running Roberto Luongo out of the net in game 4, the series became a best of 3 as the President’s Trophy Winners and the Eastern Conference Champions were tied at two games apiece. The Bruins would travel back to British Columbia hoping to change their misfortunes at Rogers Arena. Unfortunately, that wouldn’t be the case as Vancouver took game 5 and was one win away from their first-ever Stanley Cup.

Before Game 6, Canucks netminder Roberto Luongo told the media “I’ve been pumping his (Tim Thomas) tires ever since the series started.” Thomas responded with a subtle realization that it wasn’t his job to pump Luongos tires. Thomas and the Bruins responded by scoring the opening two goals only thirty-five seconds apart, and then the Garden erupted as Nathan Horton was shown on the jumbotron. After a game 6 Bruins victory, it all came down to one game.

Game 7

Professional hockey would come to an end after 60 minutes (and potentially more. That afternoon, Nathan Horton would pour a bottle of water on to the Vancouver ice, walk into the Bruins locker room, and tell his teammates “it’s our ice now”

Boston would take full advantage of Horton’s inspirational quote, scoring the pivotal opening goal. Patrice Bergeron got the Bruins on the board and Boston would never look back. Two and a half hours later, Bruins fans would rejoice as the team won their first Stanley Cup in nearly four decades.

As the Bruins celebrated with Lord Stanley, twenty-two-year veteran, and 3 time Stanley Cup Champion up to that point Mark Recchi would announce his retirement.

All I remember (I was 13 at the time) was counting down the final seconds and my mother hugging me tightly. My grandfather immediately called me after the game to let me know I would be one of the over one million people who would be attending the parade within the next few days. I was speechless. Not at the fact that I was going to the parade, but the fact that the Bruins had just won the Stanley Cup.

As for the immediate post-game festivities, I tried to look over my mom’s shoulder to watch the celebration to no avail. I had the game set on DVR, so I could either watch the post-game celebration in its entirety seven times over or immediately delete the recording, depending on the outcome.

I’m just glad it wasn’t the latter. My fellow colleagues can vouch for me. Some were home like I was, others were celebrating the victory at the local bar enjoying drinks with their closest friends. For some, it was the series that got them into the sport of hockey itself.

And I believe that’s the reason we watch this amazing game. To celebrate the most amazing victories with the people we love the most and even comfort in times of defeat.

Even though recently, as some of us still recovering from the heartbreak of last June, we remember a summer that saw our beloved black and gold celebrate with Lord Stanley.

And who knows, maybe it’ll happen this summer, so we can forgive and forget the last one.

Check out the new Black N’ Gold Hockey Podcast episode 183 that we recorded below on 6-14-20! You can find our show on many worldwide platforms such as Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, iHeart Radio, Spotify, SoundCloud, and Stitcher!

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