1996 WCF

Quite suddenly, in double overtime, Steve Yzerman put a jolt into Millwood that pierced the night sky. Dad and I both jumped to our feet, thrusting our hands into the air, shrieking with joy, not caring if we woke the rest of the house up. I swore I heard the voices of Steve and his dad celebrating across the neighborhood too. Steve Yzerman had blasted a sixty foot slap shot over the right shoulder of Blues goaltender Jon Casey just a minute and fourteen seconds into double overtime. “Score! Steve Yzerman! Detroit wins!” the television announcer exclaimed emphatically, drawing out his vowels in a release of all tension. I’ve watched replay of that goal so many times that I sometimes have heard those words in my sleep or in some drug-induced flashback. Whenever I see a replay of it, perhaps the most famous goal in Yzerman’s illustrious career, I don’t just think about that semi-charmed ‘96 season, I think about fathers and sons, and about the way we were then. The only thing preventing it from being the most memorable goal in Red Wings history is that the Red Wings subsequently failed to reach the Stanley Cup Finals. In a twist of fate, Detroit earned the rites to play Patrick Roy and the Colorado Avalanche in the Western Conference Finals, a series in which Roy, en route to the Conn Smythe Trophy, would get his revenge for the nine-goal drubbing he had received at Detroit’s hands months prior in Montreal.

Visions of Yzerman

Ch 6