There was just something so different about seeing two teams crowd the ice together for the anthems. Hockey both took a backseat and didn’t on the day, all its positive qualities brought to the forefront. Glen Gulutzan was absolutely correct: the season was painful until suddenly, it wasn’t. And all his team had left to do was play for fun, the way the game always should be played.
That was the only objective. And they fulfilled it. Finally.
It has, overall, been a miserable season. Though the team had their struggles early in the year – they were creating chances, but just could not capitalize on them – they were still very much in the playoff conversation.