"On the eve of Game 4"

[eggybread.livejournal.com]

x-posting from iwp:

I offer a rough draft. Will it somehow anger the hockey gods? Yet I'd rather do it now than when I can spend an age of time thinking about what might have been.

title: "Hiding in Net, Just Like Tom Barrasso Did"
involves: Ty Conklin, Marc-Andre Fleury....."Special Guest Appearance" *snerk*
rating: PG-13 for language/hardcore fantasy.
disclaimer: History warning. Sorry, I haven't actually been able to get Conks's opinion on the matter...but the facts are all true.
notes: Like I said, rough draft, so if any more experienced hockey historians/Pens fans want to fill me in with more details? Shoot. And yes, the title is a riff on the Barenaked Ladies' "Brian Wilson".


Tom Barrasso. He came here from Buffalo, too. You know what? Fuck it, I wanna be like Tom Barrasso. Okay, I did when I was a kid, but for some unfathomable reason since I came to Pittsburgh, I seem to think about him more frequently, again.

Okay, so I have his number. I broke his save percentage record. I almost have his birthday. (what's a day's difference, anyway? Day apart; eleven years apart, close enough.)

Flower took his record for most games and minutes played in a season. And he's right up there in that exclusive little club of "goalies who actually played more than 10 games in the NHL while they were still 18". Eighteen. One eight.

Oh, yeah. Barrasso came to the Show, of course, right out of high school.

HIGH. SCHOOL. That's pathological. You know how it's pathological? NOBODY ELSE has ever even fucking TRIED!

No juniors, nope, just sure, I'll go straight to the NHL.

Fuck, when I was 18? And he was only the goddamn STARTER. Who just happened to win the Vezina. (And yeah, the Calder with it, but Andrew Fucking Raycroft won one of those.)

I want to think it's a punishment if (not when, IF) I'm sent to play five games in the minors.

I want to go toe-to-toe with Scotty Bowman and live to tell about it.

Flower's creeping right up there on him this spring in terms of playoff wins and shutouts.

I want to pitch a 1-0 shutout in the Cup Final. Hell, I'll settle for an 8-0 shutout.

Sometimes, I want to truly not give a shit what people think or say about me. Not give a plastic rat's ass if I'm liked or not.

I want 48 goddamn fucking lifetime goalie record career points. So what if they're all assists? Can't have everything.

I don't think I can do the hair.

But I want to be cool enough to be the only one to rock a duck's ass instead of a mullet.

Marc's not old enough to really remember the scope of his career or have paid too much attention to the last #35 at his zenith.

But he wants to be Tom Barrasso just as much as I do.

So he won't laugh if I'm in the crease for five minutes practicing without a puck, playing Game 3 against Chicago in my head..."Saved by Barrasso. Good shot, better save by Barrasso. Stopped. by. BARRASSO."

It's in his eyes just like it is in mine.

"I want to win a Stanley Cup for this franchise."

=====================================================================

Notes: Uh, if you're somehow not familiar, Tom Barrasso was probably the first, basically the last and unquestionably the greatest franchise goalie the Pens have ever had. Ten+ years, two Stanley Cups, and holding 90% of the records (though you see Marc and Ty are making progress!) will do that. (Currently the goalie coach of the Whalercanes; being BFFs with Ronnie Francis helps.)

If you wanna *see* "Game 3 against Chicago"...The quality's not great but the video sure is. (At the 7:10 mark if you want to FF. 27 saves. And please to be noting how he goes to beat down Chelios at the end. :D )

The man, the myth, the legend.... Tommy, Tommy, Tommy, I'm not sure you ever learned how to breathe properly, but my god, you were brilliant.

Comments

[eggybread.livejournal.com]

Ahahaha. THANK YOU! I wasn't sure if my writing was that bad or Tommy was just that disliked (or obscure these days??) that nobody would say anything to me about this!

Really, though, on my top ten list of questions to ask Conks is "what's the deal with taking #35? Because there's no way you didn't know whose number that was."

And while we're undoubtedly blessed to have three guys in net who are just *slightly* more sociable and good-natured, like I said, there's only one guy who's won it all thus far. And that's why you want to be him. (Well, that and I couldn't think of anything to write about Frankie Pietrangelo. :P)

You noticed the "plastic rat's ass" line, right? (That was the one I was proudest of!)

[nofaves.livejournal.com]

I SO couldn't comment about the plastic rats. I have worked years to obliterate memories about that '96 series. I think that Game Seven was the toughest moment for me as a Pens fan. Ironically, my fave non-Pens goalie at that time was John Vanbiesbrouck.

I would think that Ty would have a ton of respect for a guy like Tommy. Off the top of my head, I can't think of any Pens' goalie since Tommy to have worn #35. Perhaps Ty was hoping for mojo ruboff!

[eggybread.livejournal.com]

The only memory I really have of '96 is "Are the Pens going to win a Stanley Cup again? Wait, they have hockey in Florida now??" So I guess 'now' would be less painful than then?

It's not off the top of your head; nobody period has worn it since. Who wouldn't want to puckhandle like he could? (Conks wasn't kidding; he really would step on somebody to get 48 points. :P But I'm glad he got Marc back into it as well.)