Every New Beginning comes from Some Other Beginning’s End

That’s how I have to look at it as Friday; 4/4/08 we all watched the final game of the NY Islanders 2007-2008 Season. Not quite the Easter Epic of ‘07, but a game that would not go quietly into the good night. A flurry of shots on Dubie, a yo-yo score that kept evening out, an overtime win that didn’t come, and just as last year, a shoot out decision. This year it meant nothing to the team in the standings. This year it was simply … who will return. There are those on that bench that were playing for jobs. There are those behind it that could be worrying about the same thing.

It must be very difficult to not know where you’ll work or if you’ll see your co-workers again. It’s always tough for the fans to let go of the season, but can you imagine how it is for the players? Sure. They have fabulous lives with houses in far-away places and are going to look forward to a little R&R. But many of the players on the Islanders that can do that already started their vacations early as many of them haven’t seen the ice in weeks. But what about those middle-of-the-road players and the young guns looking to make a name for themselves in the league? Friday they left a dressing room not knowing if and when they’d be back.

Thursday, after the last home game at the barn, when we were all huddled into the locker room waiting; one journalist commented “The smell of sweat.” which is considerably noticeable as soon as you hit the hallway. Islesblogger.com Mike retorted “That’s the smell of hockey.” Trying to be glib I shot back, “Much like the smell of your car.”

“I drive a truck.” he responded. But he knew what I meant since he currently PLAYS hockey. “I love it.” he admitted.

“Oddly… I don’t mind it.” I said as I looked around the room for the last time. “It doesn’t bother me.” Some nights I walked out of there and had that scent with me until I hit the Seaford Oyster Bay Expwy. And truthfully, I will probably miss it until I return in October. But you and I don’t walk out of a room one night and not know if we have a job. Nor do we have to wait for months to know the answer. I can’t imagine the mental gymnastics that go on during those weeks before finding out the answer. The families in limbo, the agents making deals that the fans don’t know about, the waiting game that is standard operating procedure for hockey’s off season.

What will happen these next few months? Who will return to the line up, and who will move on? Who of the youngsters will make the cut after camp? We don’t know, and we won’t know until it happens. Certainly we can all prophesize based on what we’ve seen the last few weeks of the season. But the uncertainty will haunt us for months.

Saturday was also the Leafs last game for the season. I wanted to watch it, but didn’t want to pay for Center Ice at this stage of the game just to see it.

“I’ll order it. If you really want it, give me the phone. I’ll call Cablevision; it’ll be on in three minutes. “ How sweet of the Big Angry Man to make such an offer to spend money on something so frivolous. But then I looked at the brand new Guild Acoustic amplifier sitting in my living room that I didn’t know he was buying.

“No. It’s ok. I’ll go online later.” Which I did. But only after cooking up a storm, turning on a classic game from 1979 with the sound off, blaring REM through the house (since I had just scored Jones Beach tickets to see them) and matching B.A.M. shot for shot in the process. Yep. It was an odd night.

It’s also an odd feeling. Just like the one I’ve had since Midnight, Friday morning. I’ve been trying to write, trying to put it all down, and haven’t been able to. I’ve sat down three times, and three times, trashed the words on the page and closed the laptop. My kitchen calendar is now filled with Softball Tournaments and concerts, family gatherings and Fire Dept functions where previous months the word “GAME” in big letters appeared every few days like a religious ritual.

I’ll pencil in the NHL Events such as Draft Day and FA Day as if they are something I should attend, but I know they will go on and I will hardly be a spectator much like my Brother in Florida’s birthday. There are the playoffs and the final round to look forward to but they don’t make the calendar. I think it’s funny I can always remember the last possible day the Stanley Cup can be awarded is… June 9th. That one IS on the calendar. It’s also my husband’s birthday and a few times he’s spent it with me glued to a Big Screen in a New Hampshire bar. And always as the celebration ends my daughter will turn to me and say, “HOCKEY’S OVER! What will you do now? No… REALLY… WHAT will YOU do NOW?”

Oh, the uncertainty of it all. Its all how you approach it I guess. The finality gives rise to starts not previously imagined. So this “off-season” I vow to make it different, to plan correctly and work hard to achieve ultimate goals. I’m already lining up interviews and writing down topics I am looking to investigate to keep myself occupied and the blog continuing. With any luck, Garth Snow had the same epiphany over the weekend. Maybe I should have invited him to dinner and he could have done shots with us.

So, it’s on to the playoffs, without the Islanders this year, but just wait till next year, that should change!

To the Hockey Gods today I pray…Let the Devils beat the Rangers and give Islander Country at least a little something to be thankful for. Amen.