I was in the Forum for Game 2 of the Finals in 1993. Standing room. We were down 2-1 for much of the 2nd and 3rd period, already down 0-1 in the series and facing the bleak possibility of flying to LA down 0-2. We were generating nothing. I remember being struck by the realization that, even though we were the Montreal Canadiens, the script might not come true…we might actually lose this Cup, the one Cup of my adult life. Midway through the third, with the arena dead silent and the French guy next to me slumped in drunken despair, I yelled out, “where are the ghosts?? Rocket Richard?? Howie Morenz?? Guy Lalfeur?? WHERE ARE THE GHOSTS??”
Then the McSorley illegal stick got called with two minutes left, and in an unbelievably ballsy bit of coaching Demers pulled Roy for a two-man advantage. Eric Desjardins scored to tie it up on that blast that shook the world, the entire place went insane: the French guy shrieking and hugging me, lunatics running up and down the aisle, beer flying everywhere - never had so many had such a radical mood swing from complete despair to total ecstasy in so short a time.
Amidst the bedlam, my buddy tapped me on the shoulder and said: “there’s your ghosts.” 😉