Was it all a dream? I remember perusing TSN.ca, Sportsnet.ca and ESPN.com on Friday night and reading that the NHL season might not be as dead as we thought. I went bed that night exhausted from a whirlwind week with my hopes up. At about ten to ten, I literally collapsed and fell asleep earlier than I had any day this year.
When the phone rang it felt like the dead of night so I asked Taryn to answer it because it had to be an emergency. It turned out it was only ten o'clock and it was my brother Steve calling to share the great news he saw reported on TSN. The players and league had reached an agreement and the season would be saved Saturday.
I never spoke to Steve because I was sound asleep but once I got the message from Taryn I sprung back to life. I had gone to sleep hopeful, but now Steve was telling me the rumours were true. There would be a season and I felt such ecstasy. I leapt out of bed, jumped on the computer and called Steve to discuss this awesome turn of events.
What Steve had interpreted as fact was instead a report from The Hockey News. I knew it wasn't a sure thing when I saw TSN.ca put a question mark after their headline "Season Saved". I wrote this entry and eventually fell asleep just before midnight fairly certain The Hockey News was right and we'd hear the season was uncancelled Saturday.
When I first heard the good news from Steve I felt as if we were involved in a long war that was now over. I was so happy and my heart was racing a mile a minute. We spoke for almost an hour that night about how much we loved the game and how much we missed it. For moments Friday night, the season was uncancelled and the players were on their way home to suit up for a brief training camp. I was once again planning my Saturday nights around the game, thinking about our playoff pool and dreaming of Stanley. It was so surreal it was dreamlike. The Great One and the Magnificent One had got involved and everything was right in the world once more. It was pure ecstacy.
It was premature. It's as if something I loved was taken away from me, miraculously returned only to be ripped from my grip once more. I was angry before, now I'm just bitter.
