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December 3, 2019 is another day for the memory books! Zack scored his first ever goal in the NHL! I have a hard time letting that actually sink in. My son who has dreamed since he was 5 years old of playing in the NHL, actually got there and scored his first goal!
The events leading up to this point are so many but I will start with going back to Sunday afternoon. On Sunday, our grand daughter Phia was baptized. So as our family always likes to do we had a little celebration after the baptism. I was sitting there thinking that it was so nice having the family together, well except that we didn't have Zack there. This would be the second thing in his big brother's life that he had to miss. The first being his wedding because he was at the Canucks training camp and now the baptism of his niece. Being a hockey player means that you unfortunately have to miss many important family events. We of course did our part with sending videos and pictures so that Zack could feel like he was part of it!
However, sometimes all the pictures and videos just aren't enough. As I am sitting there at the party I get a text from Zack. I could tell that he was a little sad that he was missing Phia's baptism. He eventually made a comment that it would be great if someone could come out to Vancouver for a few days. This broke my heart. I knew Craig or I couldn't go because of work commitments. But as we were chatting about it, we realized that Kurt could go! This would be awesome because Kurt didn't get to go to Vancouver last year when Zack made his NHL debut, so he could go spend some time with his brother and get to see a game. The flight planning began and Kurt was on a plane Tuesday morning. Everyone was excited, especially this mama knowing that her boys were going to get to spend some much needed quality time together!
Tuesday night rolls around and Kurt arrives at the rink. For us, it was just like being there because he was sending us pictures, videos and snap chats documenting not only seeing his brother play, but this was his very first NHL game ever!
Before the game, as I do before every game I sent Zack a good luck text. But this one was a little different. I mentioned to him how special tonight was going to be as the team celebrated Alex Burrows, an undrafted guy who was endeared by coaches, fellow teammates and fans because of his work ethic and determination to be the best player he could be. I told Zack that I see so many of the same traits in him and that he should take this all in and use Alex's story as something to aspire to.
So the game starts and Craig and I are watching from our living room, making our usual comments, like..."Can you believe we are watching Zack play in the NHL?" to, "That was a great shift." and of course, "Great hit"! Just to name a few! You could tell that every one of the Canucks were inspired as they all came out blazing and we were all over the Senators. With roughly two minutes left, Zack and his linemates (Eriksson and Schaller) were having a great shift and did a great job on the forecheck to retrieve the puck. As the puck goes to the point, Zack goes to his happy place, in front of the net to screen the goalie. Benn takes a shot and it doesn't get through, but the Canucks retrieve the puck once again and it comes back to Benn for another shot from the point. This time the shot gets through and Zack tips it in and Pandemonium begins! Craig and I are jumping up and down in our living room, giving each other high fives, I'm crying and my phone starts blowing up! We see the smile on Zack's face and his celly was just so perfect! We even got to hear the announcement of his goal because Kurt recorded it for us! As we are watching him go through the line and high-five his teammates, I notice at the end that he points to someone with a big smile. I ask him afterwards who he was pointing at and he says, "Demmer". It was icing on the cake that Thatcher was in the net when Zack scored his first goal. These two have been teammates and roommates in Utica, but most importantly they are great friends. And to add to an already great night, Thatcher made 40 saves and had a record night for himself! Needless to say, me and Danielle (Thatcher's mom) had a great chat about our boys after that game!
Thankfully the goal happened close to the end of the 1st period, because I spent the whole intermission reading/posting/answering texts, tweets, FB messages, emails, and phone calls. It was great to see that so many people stayed up late on a Tuesday night to watch the game! To say I was overwhelmed is an understatement. So many people, many we know and so many we don't, sent us messages of congratulations. Here are just a few:
Nobody will ever truly understand how thankful I am for all of the support shown to Zack on his incredible journey. Every message I receive is very special to me and it really solidifies that there is a special community that surrounds hockey in Canada. That community expects great things from it's NHL players, sometimes to a fault, so when I get to witness first hand the pride and happiness shown to my son, it absolutely means the world to me. Finally, a little message to Phia, "Uncle Zack might not have been able to make it to your Baptism but I know that he really wanted to be there. The only consolation is that he got to score the biggest goal of his life for your Daddy!"
