November 2nd, 2004

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Sports
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Vancouver vs. Calgary, 1994

Coming hard upon the rare clothing post, here’s a rare sports-on-TV post for Canadians. Game 7 of the 1994 Vancouver/Calgary playoff series is probably the best Canucks game I’ve ever watched. Kirk McLean’s remarkable save on Robert Reichel in overtime is the most memorable save I’ve ever seen a goalie make. Pavel Bure’s breakaway is hockey at its finest, and ecstasy for Vancouver fans.

For those missing the frozen game, Sportsnet is broadcasting this fine game from the archives this evening. Drag yourself away from that business south of the border and enjoy.

UPDATE: A few quick thoughts, having just finished watching the broadcast. Kirk McLean was the last quality stand-up goaltender the league ever saw. He kept the Canucks in it in overtime, making a couple extraordinary saves on Al McInnis and Joel Otto. The best moment for me was one I hadn’t seen before. Trevor Linden, a huge smile on his face, running on his skates from the ice to the dressing room. Nobody took Canuck losses harder than Linden (and he’s knee-deep in labour negotiations at the moment), so it was a pleasure to see him so joyful.

Comments: 4 Responses so far

filmgoerjuan
November 2nd, 2004
2:41 pm

Excellent! Thanks for pointing this out, Darren, as I would have totally missed it otherwise!

I was one of those sad few individuals who was out of the country during the 1994 Canucks cup run — I missed everything! :(

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Sue
November 2nd, 2004
5:38 pm

Sweet! Now if they weren’t the only Sportsnet channel to NOT be showing the Poker. :D

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Mike
November 3rd, 2004
5:21 am

I don’t recall MacLean’s save, but it’d have to be pretty good to have beaten Cujo’s save on Nieuwendyk in the 1997 Western Quarterfinals. :)

You’re right though, he’s one of the last good standup goalies. Too bad he pretty much bombed in New York, I liked him.

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Jeremy
November 3rd, 2004
8:29 pm

Every time the Canucks have made the playoffs since then (minus the years he was doing his tour of duty away from Vancouver), Linden has stepped it up to an almost superhuman level. The guy’s got heart, no question. If I had cable, I would have been enjoying that game last night too…

[Reply]

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