the Goal

February 23, 2004

Yes. The hockey was played and I took part. It is already on the list of amazing things that have happened to me. In front of a crowd...I scored a goal against "King" Richard Brodeur on a 2 on 1 with Randy Heath (ex-Winterhawk, NYRanger). With the afternoon sun streaming in from the west wall of the half glass building and casting an outdoor glow on the rink I worked my way through the first two jittery shifts. When you're on the ice with real hockey players its evident you are a musician but the joviality of the affair can help you recover some self esteem. We were down 7 to 5 in the last period and the "eMeNeM" (John Mann, Matt Johnson, and me...Northey) line was on with Heath & Lumme on defence. Randy jumped up at one point and I dragged a foot to stay onside and dug in for the net. To my surprise the lane was open on the left wing and, as I am a right shot, I cocked a little so he could see I was ready for the pass if he wished to make it. He fed me the perfect flying saucer over the defenceman's stick and I batted it in from a few inches off the ice at a pretty good clip. As I curled left to avoid the end boards I could see it hit the back twine halfway up the short side. A gorgeous little black blur. I still can't believe I did it. It wasn't just any garbage goal (I'll take those too ...I'm happy to crash in there and have someone bounce it off my head and in). It was a "nice goal". In that instant my whole being was denying that I accomplished the task. I am not programmed to accept such things as real. They do not happen to me naturally as part of my skill set. When Randy Heath punches your glove and says "beautiful shot" and Gino Odjick and Jyrki Lumme are skating towards you for the three way hockey hug with beaming smiles it starts to get even more surreal. I'd like to thank Randy for making "King" think he was going to shoot and then feeding me the glory. King Richard told me later at the banquet that he thought Randy was going to shoot. He was trying! I could have missed ...BUT I DIDN'T.

The whole weekend had that fantasy camp aura. I didn't score in game two but there were as many little joyous boyhood blasts as there were breaths to take:

Crouching on the right of the face-off circle and getting ready to see if Matt Johnson (54•40) can beat Bryan Trottier and haul it over to you was just a tiny nugget. If Matt won then I wouldn't have the puck for long. Getting in a lucky pokecheck on Russ Courtnall in the corner (that's all you get). Making the right choice to give Tiger Williams room when he was coming in hard on you. Joking with Cam Neely while running warm-ups in the zone after the anthem in GM Place. Having the Hanson brothers be the 1st line and being on the second line yourself. Having Howie Meeker coaching with his hand resting on your back and saying, “Red is going in next with Mann and Johnson”. Yes. Howie & the Tiger dubbed me “Red”. What Canadian kid wouldn’t pay $10,000 for what I got to do?

Brent Butt (Corner Gas CTV...WATCH IT) was in goal for us and as he stopped Trottier and Courtnall on a 2 on none I thought, “Fuck Brent! How many goalies who tried and almost made it to the NHL never got to do what you just did after spending every day of their young lives trying to get there?You spent all that time in clubs becoming a comedian”. Amazing, sad, joyous and fun.