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Welcome back all the viewers from home, I'm Josh Bogorad and with me here is Brent Severyn. You are watching the SECOND OVERTIME OF GAME SIX OF THE STANLEY CUP FINALS with the traveling crew of Fox Sports Southwest. We are right here at Air Canada Center, seconds away from puck drop.
For those who are joining us right now let me just inform you that from the first second of this game the Dallas Stars and the Toronto Maple Leafs had been at each other's neck. Each team came to this game with the knowledge that tonight the Dallas Stars may potentially become the 2020 Stanley Cup Champions. This game so far had been a terrific eighty minutes of hockey, from both teams.
And now the players get positioned for the faceoff of DOUBLE OVERTIME. Each team sent their top line, and the score is two-two. Remember, if Dallas win this game they would win the series. Seguin and Matthews are at the faceoff circle aaand we're underway.
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Welcome back from the the T.V. break, we are at the eleven minutes mark. So far the two teams kept their consisted defensive game which we saw all throughout the game. In general Dallas had kept that consistency all season long, and just took it to the next level during the playoffs!
The referee just dropped the puck at Toronto's endzone, and Toronto won the draw easily. Matthews sent it to Hyman who sent it to Nylander. And it is one on one with only Heiskanen at the diffense. Nylander still with the puck, trying to keep the puck tucked away. He just fired a shot, top shelf, BUT BISHOP READ THE PLAY EASILY. And the puck is now at the board and there is a little battle going on. Hintz was able to take the puck along the boards, to the center line. Reilly is after him, trying to steal the puck away. OH AND JUST NOW Reilly tripped Hintz and Hintz went flying.
The play is blown dead and it seems like Dallas will have a powerplay. This game was fairly clean up until now, and this is the second powerplay of Dallas so far this game. The first penalty was at the first period which back then Toronto was able to kill. Let's see if they will once again succeed.
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Dallas first powerplay unit is on the ice. Seguin won the faceoff, sent it to Benn AND WITH THE QUICK RELEASE, SHOT THE PUCK HARD ONTO THE NET. Andersen was able to save it, and he covered it. OH BOY, I have a feeling it's going to be an interesting shift.
Once again Seguin won the draw and Benn with the puck, searching for an opening. Now Radulov with the puck skating along the boards. He passed it to Klingberg who faked a pass to Seguin, and now is alone in front of the net. He rocketed a shot, HOWEVER ANDERSEN IS ON FIRE AND MADE THE SAVE!
Andersen sent the puck all the way to the other end where Bishop went to play the puck. Meanwhile the two teams took this opportunity to have a partial change. Bishop passed the puck to Heiskanen and let's see what they are going to do at the lasting forty two seconds.
The puck is now with Pavelski who tries to find an opening. He seemed to find none, so he sent the puck along the boards to Gurianov. Gurianov sent it to Johns who is at the blue line. OH AND HE SENT A BEAUTIFUL PASS TO PAVELSKI WHO'S WIDE OPEN. Two of Toronto's players just double teamed him in mere seconds and any good chance he might had, was gone.
There are still four seconds left for the man advantage, and it seem that also this powerplay was killed.
Holl sent the puck flying to the other end and with that end the powerplay arrived. HOWEVER DALLAS ISN'T FAST ENOUGH AND REILLY FRESH OUT OFF THE BOX IS RACING TOWARDS THE PUCK. He won the race and it's him and Marner on Bishop. Reilly still got the puck, and he's getting closer to the crease. Meanwhile the closest player of Dallas is catching up to them and he's almost at arm's reach to Marner. Reilly shot the puck, but Bishop stopped it and sent it quickly to Gurianov at the faceoff dot. Gurianov and Seguin are the players further back out of Dallas, and they are off to their own two on one against Andersen. Gurianov have a shot at the net, and Andersen saved it. BUT HE DIDN'T RECOVER FAST ENOUGH AND SEGUIN WAS ABLE TO BARRY THE PUCK TO THE END OF THE NET!!!
AND THIS IS OVER, WITH SEVEN AND A HALF MINUTES LEFT TO DOUBLE OT. THE DALLAS STARS HAD WON THE STANLEY CUP!!! IT HAS BEEN TWENTY ONE YEARS SINCE THE LAST TIME, AND TWENTY YEARS SINCE THEIR LAST APPEARANCE AT THE FINALS. YET THIS TEAM WAS ABLE TO WIN AGAINST THE TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS IN SIX GAMES TO END THE SERIES.
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After double-shifting (and a little more) Tyler was too exhausted to register that this goal which he just had, had ended the game. But more importantly, that they won the game and the series. That they did it! That they went all the way and won the Cup!
It really registered two seconds afterwards, when all of his team formed a ever-growing pile of white and green players. After the initial embrace he started to get pulled to one hundred and one different directions from various teammates, all with the same goal of thanking him and to show their affection. He of course took part at the ritual like the others.
Yet, he wasn't really present in the moment. Pretty much like the rest of the playoffs, once the game had ended and his presence wasn't necessary anymore, his brain allowed itself to be occupied with different matters, much more alarming matters. Like the fact that his grandfather had been since like two weeks prior to the start of the playoffs at the hospital. About the fact that his condition hadn't improved much since then, and it became clearer and clearer that his days were counted.
During the duration of the playoffs he would fly to Toronto and drive the fifty minute drive to the hospital when he was able to. However it was always for a day at most, so it never felt enough. The organization knew about the situation, so they were understanding and accommodating. The media found out about the situation halfway through the second round, against the Blues. He was pleasantly surprised to see that the majority of the players chose to respect him and not to address it on the ice. That was honestly the only way he was able to keep his sanity during this stressful time.
During his distracted daze he kind of resurfaced as they all stood at the side, mere seconds before Bettman would announce the Conn Smythe winner and the team as the Stanley Cup Champions. He let himself be present at that moment, enjoy it. The team knew beforehand that even if they were to win this game, he would go immediately afterwards to see his grandpa. Just like he did following every other away game of this series. When Jamie was finally awarded the Cup, he and the rest of the team were ecstatic. Jamie took a second to calm himself, and then he hoisted the Cup and took off with it.
Tyler didn't really let himself imagine beforehand what it would be like if they won the Cup, out of some absurd superstition. Yet every time that he had thought about it, he didn't guess that after Jamie's lap he would be the second out of the team to hoist the Cup above his head. That's why he was a bit surprised when Jamie handed him the Cup.
During his surprise he still instinctively reached for the Cup. However he searched for many of the older guys who hadn't had the chance to touch the Cup beforehand. He was able to catch Cameu's eyes. He wasn't sure what he expected to see exactly, but when Cameu's only reaction was a "Go on" motion with his hand while having a face splitting grin, he felt relaxed and happily hoisted the Cup above his head.
It may had been his second opportunity to have a victory lap with the Cup, however this time he felt like he truly deserved it. This run was so different from the run with Boston as a rookie in the league. That was why every emotion and sensation felt so much stronger than last time. The feeling of the ice beneath his skates, the crowd screaming with so many fans who got there all the way from Dallas just to show their support, the wind which ruffled his hair, and the most intoxicating loop of his and his teammates (who were basically family at that point) screaming and cheering.
The only similarity was the fact that it still was hands down the lightest fifteen pounds he ever held above his hand. At least up until the point where he saw his uncle, Brandon, standing at the end of the tunnel near a police officer. In mere seconds he felt like he was holding a ton of bricks above his head. Then he was curious about how he was able to do so if all his blood left his body. It took him a few calming breaths to gather himself enough for the impending news. The daze once again took over as he gave the Cup to the next player (he honestly couldn't tell you who it was) and skated towards his uncle.
On his way over numerous reporters tried to stop him for an interview. He didn't care and just blatantly ignored them. Once he reached Brandon the first thing out of his mouth was "Grandpa died. Didn't he?"
He watched as his uncle's throat worked on nothing, while looking genuinely moments away from crying. It was unsettling, so Tyler gave him free range as calling the shots. Brandon then just looked questionably at the officer. Only after getting whatever answer he was waiting for, he reached forward and put a reassuring hand on Tyler's back and said "Let's go to some place quiet ".
Tyler understood why it was hard on Brandon this all situation, especially with his mission. But Tyler still kind of wanted to rip the band-aid off, and not delay it any further. Eventually Tyler did step off the ice, slipping away from the mayhem towards the locker room. During the quiet walk he tried to appreciate the last few ignorant seconds before hearing how his grandpa passed away.
Inside the locker room all the noise from the ice felt like a million yards away. The only noise still available was heard as a gentle barely there echo. Tyler sat down in his stall, taking how his uncle took the neighboring stall of his and the officer mirrored his action and took the stall on the other side of him. As they sandwiched him in he tried to ignore the chills that ran down his spine. Their seriousness let his anxious mind come up with much more tragic situations than the most likely reality. At that moment he really wanted to rip the Band-Aid. So he tilted his body to the right, in the direction of his uncle and practically bagged him to tell him what happened. After a whole minutes where he was met with maddening silence he half-shouted "Brandon, come on I'm a big boy, you can tell me what happened. I can deal with the bad news".
And that was when his uncle lost it completely. Brandon just started to cry hysterically. Brandon was never really emotional guy so it really effected Tyler to see him like that. Instinctively he reached over to hug his uncle. Generally all throughout that stressful time Tyler hadn't really reached out to his extensive family. It was out of selfish reasons and his wishes to not fuck up with the team playoff's run. However, during the hug he felt bad for not realizing how badly the whole family was coping for the past few months.
Usually, Brandon was about an inch taller than Tyler, but currently with Tyler still dressed in full gear and skates he was taller and could feel the tears soaking up the collar of his jersey. At some point during the embrace Brandon opened his mouth and tried to tell Tyler the news. After three attempts of him never getting past the first two words, Tyler realized the simple fact-something else had happened.
With that realization a tsunami of encompassing dread washed all over his body. After a few deep breaths he turned to the officer and asked politely for what happened. Up until that moment he hadn't really paid much attention to the officer, his uncle was the main attention grabber. But now he was able to focus on the officer. The officer was a large tall man who wore a sad face and fidgeted with his wedding ring, a nervous tick Tyler recognized from various past and present teammates. Tyler looked closely to the way the officer rose to his full frame and nervously coughed two times before actually opening his mouth.
"Hello, I'm Officer Thompson and I'm sorry to inform you that earlier this evening there had been an accident. A fatal car accident I might had, which sadly left no survivors from both involved vehicles…"
Officer Thompson paused after that, obviously waiting for Tyler's reaction. However Tyler hadn't reacted in the way Officer Thompson expected. His initial reaction was to start taking deep breaths. He thought that maybe it would calm him down. Although it didn't really help in calming him down, he kept taking them. Well until he literally felt like he was on the cusp of hyperventilation. Then and only then he turned to Brandon, who during Officer Thompson speech detached himself from Tyler's front. He studied Brandon closely and then stated more than asked "All of them died on the way to the hospital?"
Tyler was present to catch the affirmative nod to his mind blowing question, but since then he wasn't really conscious to the surrounding of his. He just spaced out and tried to grasp the idea that his mother, father and sisters, whom he all saw a few hours prior, before he had to go to the arena and them to grandpa, were all gone. At the time he was a little bummed that none of them would be present at the game, yet he tried to remind himself that they were going to watch the game with grandpa and the rest of the family. But now he just felt numb with the realization that he would never get to see them again.
He resurfaced partially when Brandon started to talk about what happened, from their perspective. By the end of the story he also learned that grandpa passed away as well.
Hearing about grandpa's passing was the last straw and before he registered it he had started crying. At first mildly until it developed into full-body sobs. Following that, Brandon manhandled him into a bone crushing hug while whispering encouraging words directly into his ear. Yet, Tyler couldn't hear a thing past the deafening ringing in his ears.
He stayed in Brandon's embrace even after his full-body shudders stopped. It was comforting and safe, so he stayed like that up until they heard the locker room's doors getting opened. Once he indeed heard foreign footsteps inside of the room he quickly raised his head from Brandon's shoulder, actually fast enough for him to get a head rush. It was a mild side effect in his rush to hide what he was doing. Yet, it didn't help him with understanding what Miro wanted out of him. It took him awhile, but at last he understood what was expected out of him. So he just rose to his feet, absent mindedly glad that it hadn't occurred to him to get out of the uniform. He shot a quick "Be right back" to his uncle and followed Miro through the locker-room back to the ice.
In his clarification to the team about his action after the game he did say that he would stick around for the team picture. So he didn't blame Miro for taking him back to the chaos. Miro, the wonderful human being that he was, sensed his lack of social ability and left him to his own thoughts. And that was how they got to the team, who pretty much arranged itself for the photo. Jamie was in the front, and called him over for an open spot right next to him. However, Tyler just ignored him and stood at the outskirt of the group. He didn't want to ruin thar day for the team. So he tried to play it cool, while putting his best effort of a smile (it was a grimace) and waited for the pictures to end. At the end he could feel himself beginning to tear up again, yet he couldn't stop himself. From the happiest day of his life it just turned to living hell.
On his way back to the tunnel Coach caught up to him and followed him back to the locker room. Tyler wasn't in the mood to speak, so he just waited for Coach Bowness to speak. That's why they remained silent up until the locker room's door. Once inside, Coach started talking.
"I'm sorry for just now, we were lining up for the picture when some of the guys noticed your absence and insisted on calling you, despite my best efforts."
Coach paused while Tyler mumbled something that resembled "It's fine", yet he wasn't too sure. Afterwards Coach just looked at Tyler for a long moment until he pulled him into a tight hug. Still at the embrace Tyler heard him talk.
"Your uncle told me what happened. It's awful to hear about it, and the organization is there for you with whatever you need".
To that Tyler mumbled a silent "Thanks".
Coach seemed satisfied with his speech, because from there he went on to some logistical points. Tyler didn't really care, yet he appreciated Coach directness. They agreed that they would let the team celebrate uninterrupted tonight, and tomorrow Coach would gather them together and tell them the news.
After that it wasn't long until Coach left and Tyler was once again alone with Brandon and Officer Thompson. He headed to his stall and midway through Brandon got up and said "We'll wait for you outside, at the hallway. Shower fast and then Officer Thompson will drive us to the hospital".
It was for sure the quickest shower of his entire life, yet he didn't care. Ten minutes later he was in the hallway, dressed in street clothes with only the essential stuff on him. The rest he left for someone else to deal with.
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Throughout the drive Tyler stubbornly looked out the window, focusing on the ever changing landscape (during the day at least) and keeping his mind as blank as possible. He fairly succeeded once they got out of Toronto and continued through the province. Yet with every passing kilometer the realization that they were one kilometer closer to the destination started to haunt him.
Their arrival to the hospital would mark the finality of the situation- five family members dead in one day. And Tyler didn't think he would ever be ready for that. His breathing once again picked up within the 500 meters mark from the hospital.
In the dead silence of the car he felt like the others knew what was up with him, however no one addressed his uneven breathing. Then at last, they arrived to the hospital. With his descent from the vehicle he kind of took a stumble, not a serious one. In other situation it would be nothing at all, but now he was too dizzy to righten himself in time, resulting in his fall. It wasn't a hard fall, however Brandon within seconds lifted him from the ground. He also did a once over to make sure that Tyler was fine.
Tyler was kind of occupied with being dizzy and light headed to care about whether or not he hurt himself with that fall and on whether or not he hurt himself. Apparently he right palm was bleeding a bit and Brandon tried to make a fuss out of it. However Tyler couldn't care less about a little bit of blood so he just said "It's just a cut, it will stop bleed in a minute".
It seemed to satisfy Brandon to not worry about the hand, but then he found something else to fixate on.
"Ty, are you alright? You look unwell".
And to that Tyler didn't have an answer, so he just shrugged and replied with one word "Dizzy". In response Brandon led him to a bench by the hospital's entrance. Once Tyler sat down Brandon repositioned Tyler's head between his legs and coached him through his breathing until he felt better. When he was aware of himself, Tyler just sat there for a few minutes, content to just postpone his entrance as long as he could. Brandon sat next to him, resting a reassuring hand around his shoulders.
After what felt like ages Brandon just nudged him and said "Come on, time to face the music".
Tyler wanted to disagree, however he resignedly stood up and headed for the entrance.