By and large, I'm a lucky man. I have a great job, work with great people and live in a beautiful part of the country. When I landed in Vegas in September I wasn't sure what to expect, but I knew I was ready for a new adventure. Never did I ever imagine I'd be sitting here in late May getting ready (along with everyone else) for the Golden Knights to play in the Stanley Cup Final. If you walked into a Hollywood producer's office with this script, he'd put a match to it.
It's mind-boggling that this will be my third opportunity to be involved in a Cup Final. People work in hockey two or three times longer than I have and maybe get to enjoy one trip. Again, I'm damn lucky. My first two experiences were very different. One ended in the chaos of a celebration in the Boston Bruins locker room in Vancouver in 2011. The other ended in stunning fashion against the Chicago Blackhawks in 2013.
Dave Goucher Relishing In Third Stanley Cup Final Experience
Let's start with the good stuff. The Bruins of 2011 had lost in a Game 7 three years in a row, including the ultimate kick in the teeth of losing a 3-0 series lead to the Flyers and a 3-0 lead at home in Game 7 in 2010. By the time 2011 rolled around, and the Bruins lost the first two games of their opening round matchup against Montreal at home, it was easy to think the playoffs might be over quick. Coach Claude Julien took the team to Lake Placid for a couple of days before the next two games to keep them out of the Montreal fishbowl. But still Bruins TV announcer Jack Edwards and I sat in the Bell Centre stands at the morning skate prior to Game 3 and trimmed $10 million off the payroll in five minutes and wondered who the next coach would be. Shows what geniuses we were, because two months later they were holding a victory parade through the streets of Boston! The B's stormed back, winning two straight in Montreal to eventually force Game 7 where Nathan Horton, who scored some enormous goals in the playoffs, won it in overtime to vanquish the Canadiens.
The second round against the Flyers was a four-game sweep of sweet redemption after what happened the year before, but it came at a cost. Patrice Bergeron, the Bruins' best all-around player, took a hit from Claude Giroux in Game 4 and missed the first two games of the Eastern Conference Final against Tampa Bay with a concussion. He returned for Game 3 but the B's relinquished a 3-0 first period lead (shades of 2010) in Game 4, allowing the Lightning to tie the series. It came down to a winner-take-all Game 7 for the chance to play for the Cup. One goal was enough and naturally it came from Horton in a 1-0 win. After he scored with 7:30 left, no one in the Garden sat down again. When the Bruins closed it out, I looked down at my hand and it was shaking with nerves.
The Cup Final against Vancouver, like the first round series, did not start well with the Bruins going down 0-2. A buddy from back home had made the trip out for Game 2 and we debated over a beverage whether they could win four of the next five. Horton was knocked out of the series, literally, on a hit by Aaron Rome in Game 3 but the Bruins blew out the Canucks 8-1 to get right back in it. In fact, all three games in Boston were routs (17-3 B's in total goals). The home team won the first six games. Again, Game 7, this time for the greatest trophy in sports. All the games in Vancouver started at 5 pm PT (sound familiar?), so that meant no morning skate. I go stir crazy in hotels after too long, so I walked down to the water, grabbed a coffee and tried not to overthink what might happen that night.
It was no contest, with the Bruins winning 4-0 in a game that easily could've been 7-0. Bergeron and Brad Marchand scored twice and Tim Thomas capped off a Conn Smythe winning performance with a shutout to give the B's their first Stanley Cup in 39 years. The locker room was a mob scene. Cigars, champagne, beer, and people were everywhere, with the Cup in the middle of it all. A thing of beauty. In the playoffs in Boston, the announcers don't travel with the team, so win or lose I was staying the night in Vancouver. But the team was heading home and just as they left, myself and the other Bruins announcers (Jack, Andy Brickey and Bob Beers) were sitting in a now empty locker room, when someone wheeled in a big bin of Molson Canadian that was supposed to be used in the Canucks celebration. And we drank every single one of them.
The Duck boat parade through the streets of Boston three days later will stay with me for the rest of my days. Over one million people packed the route, hanging out of windows, standing on top of bus stops, climbing trees to get a better view and standing 20-deep on the sidewalks at the thickest parts. The noise level was beyond belief.
On that Cup run, Shawn Thornton and a certain defenseman named Shane Hnidy brought in framed black and white pictures from the Bruins glory days of the 1970 and '72 Cups to get the message across that this was what they were playing for. The best photo of the bunch was of Bobby Orr, soaked in sweat, Cup in his lap, arm wrapped around it, holding a bottle of champagne. There was nobody left to beat. And there was nobody left to beat for the 2011 Bruins either.
2013 was a much different experience. To start with, the season didn't begin until January after a lockout and following an abbreviated 48-game schedule, the Bruins built a 3-1 lead on Toronto in the first round. But before we knew it, the series was all even and the Leafs had a 4-1 lead in the third period of Game 7 with 11:00 left. I looked at my phone and the texts ranged from, "this sucks" and "they're done" to "do you wanna play golf tomorrow?" Annoyed, I put my phone out of my reach. And then everything changed. The Bruins scored three goals, including two with Tuukka Rask pulled, and Bergeron tied the game with :51 left. Figuring it was over, a few thousand fans had already left the building and I'm sure they couldn't believe their ears when the radio announcer (hello, self) was screaming Bergeron's name like a banshee when he completed the comeback with the overtime winner. I looked down at my hand, shaking with nerves again.
Claude Julien called that Bruins squad a "Jekyl and Hyde" team. Fortunately, Dy. Jekyl showed up in the third period and that series victory spurred them on. It was a quick five-game win over the Rangers and a four-game sweep of Sidney Crosby, Marc-Andre Fleury and the Penguins. The Chicago Blackhawks were next in an Original 6 Cup Final. Game 1 was and still is the longest game I've called, a 4-3 triple-overtime Hawks win. The Bruins led 2-0 and 3-1 and I've often wondered if they'd won Game 1 if things might've turned out different. Dan Paille scored in OT to win Game 2 sending the series back to Boston all even and the Bruins took Game 3 to grab a 2-1 lead. It was their last win of the season. The Hawks won a wild Game 4, 6-5 in OT and took Game 5 back home. The B's needed to win Game 6 to stay alive and it looked like they were in good shape, leading 2-1 late. Chris Kelly took a penalty with about 5:30 left and I remember thinking "if they kill this off, they'll win." They killed it off and lost. The Hawks scored two goals in :17 in stunning fashion to not only win the game but win the Cup. Every time those two goals come up on some highlight video, I change the channel. Leaving the Garden, I had to walk by the Hawks locker room, and I heard the same sounds of celebration I heard two years earlier in the Bruins room in Vancouver. I stared down at my feet as I walked down the hall. The only thing that's ever made me feel slightly better about the loss is that Patrice Bergeron wouldn't have been able to play a Game 7. A broken rib, torn rib cartilage, separated shoulder and collapsed lung wouldn't allow it. He spent three nights in the hospital after the series was over.
That's the incredible price players pay to grab a piece of immortality and have their names engraved forever on the Stanley Cup. When you're playing in late May and early June it can go one of two ways. For the Golden Knights, which way will it end? I'll take the first championship parade down the Strip version any time.
