Bruins/Capitals Playoff Ticket (4/26/98)

April of 1998 was not the easiest month for me as a hockey fan. In the beginning of the month, I went (still don’t know where my ticket disappeared to) to the Frozen Four Championship game at the Fleet Center. BC was playing Michigan, and after Michigan forced OT with about 6 minutes left, they won in overtime. It was the most heartbreaking game I have ever attended and as I described for my BC Superfan T-shirt, my friends and I didn’t say anything or move from our seats until the building was empty and security told us we had to leave.

That story has a happy ending though, because three years later BC won their first of 3 championships (2001, 2008, 2010).

So, a few weeks after watching the Eagles fall short, I went to see the Bruins play the Capitals in game 3 of their first round playoff match-up. This game also went into overtime, and the B’s put the puck in the net. However, one of the Bruins players had his skate in the crease when the goal was scored, so it was disallowed (back then, it didn’t matter if you touched the goalie, a player couldn’t be in the crease before the puck – the NHL has since changed this rule). Not only did the goal not count, the Bruins got a penalty for goalie interference. I don’t remember if the game-winning goal was scored on that penalty or not, but the Bruins lost in OT and the winning goal was scored by former Bruin, Joe Juneau. I was not happy.

I would like to point out one more thing as I look at this game’s box score. Grant Ledyard, one of my dad’s least favorite players, played over half of the game and was a -2 (He was a -54 in his career). My friend Patrick and I often quote my dad whenever we question a coach’s decision about who to play: “Huh? What d’they got Ledgahd out theah foah?”

Looking for the Bruins to bounce back tonight, push around those little Habs, and take back control of this series…