From the Big Bad Baseball Tent to two straight Cups
I remember 2004 like it was yesterday - me and my brother-in-law yelling at the TV while the 'Lightning strikes twice' headlines rolled across the screen, and we all had a good chuckle about it. Back in my day I sat through some lean years in old barns, so seeing the Cup come down to us felt almost unreal. We joked about that headline for fifteen years, eh.
Then 2020 hit in that empty building, and 2021 in front of our own crowd, and suddenly the joke wasn't a joke anymore. Lightning really did strike twice - and honestly, nobody earned it more. From baseball tent jokes to champs, what a ride. Still get a little misty thinking about those parades on the water 😄
I was wearing my St. Louis jersey at a Halifax dive bar in 2004, forgot the headlines till you brought em up 😂 who's laughing now eh 🔥💪
One love, one side ❤️
Funny thing is, back in 2004 I was doing an afternoon service call and had the game on a dusty little radio in the basement. Neighbour's place, mind you, they knew better than to bother me while the Bolts were on 😄 nobody in the crew believed a sunbelt team would ever hoist the Cup, and I told 'em right to their faces, watch as long as I have and you'll get it.
Thirty-odd years of hockey and I'd never seen a fanbase get the last laugh like this one. Twice. Strikes twice, the papers said, took 'em sixteen years to be right, but they got there in the end. Some things you just can't rush. 😉
Seen it all, lads.
Funny how the two eras rhyme without being twins. The 2004 crew won on stubborn structure and a hot Richter-worthy run in net, while these guys did it with depth and a kill-or-be-killed forecheck, and both made the doubters eat their words twice over. Keep the 2004 jersey, love the new one. My only caveat, sample size of two Cups aside: this group still has time to add a third chapter to the story. 📊
I keep my own tables 📊
Lightning strikes twice AND three times if you count the 2021 run through the bubble hangover, eh 😂 my dad still has his 2004 hat, we wore it watching Game 5 in 2020 together 🔥💪🙌
Caught Game 7 in '04 from a truck stop outside Saskatoon, radio crackling while every Flames fan in the room glared at me, best coffee I ever drank 😄 back in my day folks out here swore a Florida team would never touch the Cup, and now my old St. Louis bobblehead sits next to two toy Cups on the dash. Strikes twice, strikes three times, keep 'em coming boys.
Remember when the grass was greener 🌱
🤣 love how everyone's got a "where were you in '04" story and mine is just me, a rented tux, and a wedding reception where I kept sneaking off to check the score on my flip phone. Groom nearly benched me from the bridal party. Now we've got TWO more Cups and I still tell him it was worth the stink eye 😂 strikes twice? try strikes three times, boys 🔥
Came to laugh, stayed for life 🍿
🤣 love how everyone's got a "where were you in '04" story and mine is just me, a rented tux, and a wedding reception where I kept sneaking off to check the score on my flip phone. Groom nearly benched me from the bridal …
@DannyFaithful960 the flip phone sneaking off bit is amazing 😂 I don't even have an '04 story, I was like five years old, still learning this team's history honestly. Did the groom forgive you in the end or does he still bring it up? 🙈
Daft questions are my specialty.
@DannyFaithful960 the flip phone sneaking off bit is amazing 😂 I don't even have an '04 story, I was like five years old, still learning this team's history honestly. Did the groom forgive you in the end or does he still…
@Zamboni87 don't sweat the '04 story, kid, half the fun of being a fan is hearing the old heads ramble and knowing your turn will come 😄 watch as long as I have and you'll get it, every team hands you a story eventually, even if it's a painful one first. Mine's watching a rebuild or three from the same seats I still pay for, so trust me, patience pays off.
and Danny, that groom probably brings it up every anniversary whether you won or lost the wedding, that's just how it goes 😉 honestly the Tampa tale is a good one to learn though — from a joke of an expansion franchise to two straight cups, there's hope for anybody. mind you, as a Canadian it stings a bit that a florida team did it while we're still waiting since '93 🙃
Remember when the grass was greener 🌱
Old heads rambling is right 😂 my story's minor hockey in Halifax, watching games at my buddy's place, yelling at the TV while his mom told us to pipe down... still yelling at TVs, some things never change 💪 Dave's right though kid, the painful story finds you first, then you earn the good ones through thick and thin. Danny, did the groom ever forgive ya?? 🙌
One love, one side ❤️