Coming of age

It was 10 years ago (the 1998-1999 NHL season) when Ken Hitchcock was standing behind the Dallas Stars' bench, beginning a season he would never forget. He didn't know it at the time, but his team went on to put forth a season that could be ranked as one of the best in recent memory.

That season the Dallas Stars went on to gather 51 wins, only 19 losses and 12 ties for a winning percentage of just under 70% and 114 points. That is insane in the 'old nhl'. They set a team record for most wins and fewest losses. They won their division, won the conference, won the President's Trophy (most points in regular season) and most of all, won the Stanley Cup in 6 games vs. the Buffalo Sabres.

Tonight, the 2008-2009 NHL season is upon us, and Ken Hitchcock stood behind the visiting teams' bench, beneath the Stanley Cup banner that he helped raise. His team, the Columbus Blue Jackets who are a young team looking to gain a spot into the playoffs, a place they have never been before.


For the last week I have been hanging around the house awaiting the Jackets season opener vs. the Dallas Stars. I feel like this season is going to be something special. Perhaps not as special as the season Hitchcock was a part of 10 years ago, but special nonetheless. Beating a loaded Dallas team on the road at their home opener was going to be a daunting task, but a task that was going to need to be met if the Jackets are going to reach the next level.

I am proud, happy, and honestly a bit relieved, to tell you that they did it! At times it wasn't pretty, but they beat the Stars on home ice 5-4 in overtime!

The game was: calm, orderly, chaotic, ugly, uglier, controlled, messy, pandemonium, and basically a little bit of everything all rolled into one. The jackets had managed to score 4 goals in spite of the fact that Nash, the superstar, had been kept scoreless...until OT. Nasher came through with an amazing wrist shot from a pass from Chimeara. With :21 seconds left in OT, Nash won the game.

The most memorable thing about that game was the celebration at the end of it. Nash jumped like it was his first ever goal and the players poured from the bench as if they just advanced to the Cup finals.

Yes, it was just one win in a very long season, but it was a bit of a coming of age for this team. They faced adversity and they pulled through together. They are becoming a team and tonight was a great bit of adhesive that will help bind them.

I wonder if Hitch took one last glance at the banner before he retreated into the locker room. On this night, 10 years after that faithful season, I would have.