GENE'S BLOG: Miracles

It is one of the most iconic moments and calls in the history of hockey. The play and the play-by-play going hand-in-hand on February 22, 1980. The place was Lake Placid, New York. The sport was hockey. The event was the Winter Olympics and a medal-round match. The teams were the United States and the Soviet Union.
The Americans were heavy underdogs against the Russians, until a group of college kids stunned the world. With a 4-3 lead and as the seconds were stripped off the clock, the upset was about to be completed when broadcaster Al Michaels uttered the words, "Do you believe in miracles? Yes". The Americans would go on to win gold against Finland, but what happened against the Russians and the call of it stands out to hockey fans 43 years later.
The legendary play-caller was at Saturday's game in Seattle between the Oilers and Kraken. Recent back surgery prevented him from joining us on Sportsnet near the Oilers hallway. The walk was too long, but the talk was just long enough when I went to meet Mr. Michaels. He's a 30-year Los Angeles Kings season ticket holder, who before the game spoke with Connor McDavid and told him the Edmonton captain was the best he'd ever seen since Wayne Gretzky.
Now, some of Connor's plays could likely have the Michaels Olympic hockey line uttered to describe the NHL's leading scorer, but it might be better served to be matched up with Evander Kane's comeback from what could have been a career-ending and life-altering injury.

I will not forget that November night in Tampa, because I can't remember another one anywhere near like it. My TV studio is located 15 to 20 feet from the Oilers dressing room. I saw what happened and then heard what happened afterwards. A calm but hurried hockey player expressed, "I need help". He repeated the line four or five times. Luckily, Kane got it.
From Edmonton, from Tampa, from the building, from the hospital, he was taken to after his wrist was cut by an errant skate. There was a rush I witnessed from my studio of medical personnel who sprinted into action to join Oilers team doctor Jeff Robinson, head athletic therapist T.D. Forss, and assistant athletic therapist Chris Davie. What Kane needed was immediately provided. First responders filling his immediate needs followed by a trip to see a plastic surgeon who took care of the rest.
An example of what was written above is why on Saturday afternoon, with the voice of the famous call at Climate Pledge Arena in a suite, it was also sweet to watch Kane pick up three goals on three shots. There were no guarantees Kane was ever going to have his career back after the skate blade mishap.

The wrist is a combination of ligaments, tendons and nerves, and they were sliced through before the impact was stopped at bone. I remember speaking to Evander a couple weeks after it happened. He described the feeling of the nerve endings reattaching. It felt like wires were being connected or crossed, which led to a burning sensation.
Despite all he went through, Kane's athleticism and rehabilitation led him back to the ice weeks before expected. It made his three-shot, three-goal performance special. As he celebrated his sixth-career regular season hat-trick, and fifth in his last 49 combined playoff and regular season games, any doubt he ever had was gone.
It would have been natural to wonder if his wrist would ever be the same for hockey or for the simplest of tasks like lifting his kids. His answers for hockey and home have been delivered just like the winger delivered for Edmonton. As Michaels once famously asked, "Do you believe in miracles?", Kane's answer would be an emphatic yes.