Muscial Montage

Saturday, February 16, 2008

I’ve missed the Dunkin’ Donuts Musical Montage—the between-period, set-to-music Bruins’ highlight reel—tonight but won’t miss the final frame, when I expect the Bs to sustain or increase their 2–1 lead over the Leafs in Toronto.

While I wait for the third period to commence, I present a soundtrack for the last few days. Rewind to Thursday morning: As my Avalanche teammates prepared for the third period against the Capitals, my defensive partner pounded the metal support column, painted white, to his right.

“Bodies on the floor. Bodies on the floor,” Bill Chioffi chanted in his best monster truck rally voice, repeating the lines from some heavy metal song (he thinks it’s Metallica, but I can't verify that. Anyone?) as he pounded out the beat.

I don’t know if Chioffi’s charades pumped up Andy “Zach” Zacharakis, but the goggled warrior scored a late goal to give us a 5–4 victory. This pleased our goalie, Kenny “KISS Fan” Tarr because if the game had gone into OT and the Panthers had scored, Kenny’s GAA would have taken a hit.

Kenny and his wife sat in Section L at Conte Forum at Boston College on Friday night. My wife and I sat a few rows back. The Eagles struggled against the underdog UMass Lowell River Hawks, but BC’s pep band tried to jack up the home team and its fans with Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’” and the Sport Chant Remix in Zombie Nation’s “Kernkraft 400”. Neither the band nor the person who selects music for the PA system chose KISS, but Kenny was content with AC/DC.

And I was happy to tap my toes to a tune by Gloria Estefan and the Miami Sound Machine as Baldwin the Eagle (or was it Baldwin Jr. ?) skated around the rink, chucking sponge pucks into the crowds of kids gathered behind the Plexiglas. The youngsters were ultimately disappointed because the Eagles succumbed to the River Hawks, 1–3.

Saturday morning, I opened the CD my wife had bought for me, Anne Murray Duets: Friends & Legends. I read the inserted booklet containing the stories behind the songs—from “Danny’s Song” to “Si Jamais Je Te Revois” (If I Ever See You Again), sung with the likes of Martina McBride and Isabelle Boulay —all the while thinking about Glen Murray, who like Anne, is from Nova Scotia. What’s his favorite song by Anne Murray? “Daydream Believer” or “Snowbird”?

Muzz scored a goal against the Leafs, but the Bs bungle a 2–1 lead in third and then lose in OT. My quick-thinking wife changes the channel before the last Bruin exits the ice. We watch the last half of Miracle, and I enjoy the goose pimples I get when Eruzione scores his goal and then does his dance. After the victory over Finland and then the gold medal ceremony, I read the where-are-they-now updates flashing on the tube as Aerosmith’s “Dream On” stokes my core.