Ahhhh...Christmas. Time for cozy fires, turkey dinners, magical winter nights and....hockey.
That's right - any true Canadian hockey fan spends the Christmas holidays glued to the TV watching one of the most exciting sporting events of the year - The World Junior Hockey Championship.
Only the best of the best up-and-coming young hockey stars are invited to play in such a prestigious sporting event, so when Evan Lindsay, aged 18 and sporting an impressive fro of gingery curls received the invite to try out for the Canadian World Junior Hockey Team in 1997, we were all pretty damn excited!
Evan was traded to the Prince Albert Raiders at aged 17 with the intent of backing up the Raiders experienced older goaltender, Blaine Russel. However, everything changed suddenly when Russel suffered a broken leg halfway through the season, forcing a young and inexperienced Evan into the top spot.
Although Ev had a shaky start (first game losing 14 to 2 - eeks!), he quickly stepped up his game and became one of the top goalies in the league. By February of that year, he received the "rookie of the month" award for the Canadian Hockey League. The team exceeded expectations and made play-offs that year, with Evan been touted as "the one to watch."
That summer, Ev was drafted 32nd overall in the second round of the NHL draft to the Calgary Flames. Ev was in good company with Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau, and the renowned young goalie from Quebec who was drafted 4th overall, Roberto Luongo.
Side note: Coincidentally, or not so coincidentally, Ev's rise to fame coincided with the beginning of our epic love story, so you know - I do have to take some credit for Ev's sudden success. ;)
We were all pretty pumped when Evan received an invitation to try out for the Canadian World Junior Hockey Team in Fall 1997. He was scheduled to fly to Kitchener, Ontario for the week-long try outs. Four goalies in total were invited, including Matthew Garon, Patrick Derochers, and Ev's draft buddy, Roberto Luongo - you may or may not have heard of those guys if you follow NHL hockey.
Now I'm not sure if perhaps Ev was feeling the nerves or if his raging 17 year old hormones were causing him to make terrible decisions, but about 4 days before try-outs, Ev instigated a fight with another goalie, who, unbeknownst to Ev, was nicknamed "The Cuban Assassin."
The Raiders were not having a stellar game in Brandon and were losing 7 to 2 to the Wheat Kings, while being outshot 55 to 18. Ev was pissed off. It was apparent that the team had given up and left Ev in net to deal with the onslaught of shots. Tempers were high and a line brawl erupted. As the crowd went crazy jeering on players as they threw punches, Ev looked down the ice at the opposing goaltender and motioned, "Let's go." Brandon's goalie initially didn't have much interest in fighting, but once Ev angrily shot the puck directly at him, he threw off his gloves, indicating that he was game, and the two goaltenders lumbered to center ice to "settle the score" (as you recall it was 7 to 2!)
Long story short, Ev quickly learned that one should not fight a young man who holds the title of "Cuban Assassin."
Ev threw a few punches, but eventually ended up on the ice where he separated his shoulder, lost a little blood, and earned a legit black eye. Watch the fight here.
Heading into world Junior try-outs with a separated shoulder and black eye is not ideal - I mean, Ev looked "tough" I suppose, but typically world-class goaltenders don't sport black eyes. With a shiner and shoulder shot full of cortisone, Ev made the trip to Kitchener, Ontario.
Evan says now that as soon as he arrived at World Junior Try-outs it was very apparent that the invited players were next level. He noticed immediately that the other goalies had much larger pads and their equipment was far superior to his. Initially, he rationalized that Luongo was playing better due to the larger pads and expensive gear, but Ev admits now that as he watched Luongo move in net, it was apparent that he possessed a very special talent.
Despite the separated shoulder and black eye, Ev faired well. The try-outs consisted mainly of intersquad exhibition games. Because there were 4 goaltenders, 2 would play half a game and then switch out so the other 2 goalies would play the next. By the second game, Ev was feeling pretty good. Letting in only 1 goal on 21 shots in half a game, Ev skated back to the bench feeling as though he had "won" against Luongo, whose stats were not quite as stellar as his at the other end of the ice.
As Ev stood behind the boards next to Luongo, watching the second half of the game unfold, he could see that Defenseman, Mike Van Ryan was about to clear the puck out of the zone. Ev knew this particular player had a bit of a wild shot under pressure, and Ev could predict that things were about to go sideways. Leaning over the boards, Ev carefully tracked the puck as it sailed directly toward the players bench.
Ev leaned his body further over the boards, directly blocking Luongo's line of vision. Ev waited. And waited...and timing everything just perfectly, quickly jerked his head back just as the puck collided directly with Luongo's face.
Roberto Luongo fell to the ground and the medical team quickly rushed in to assess the situation. This was their star. He was going to win the championship for Team Canada! Everything had to be done to ensure Luongo was ok.
Ev recalls watching as the Luongo lay motionless on the ground. He also recalls silently chanting in his head, "Please don't get up please don't get up." Deep down inside, Ev knew that Luongo was a better goalie, and Ev's chances of making the team would significantly increase if Luongo was rendered blind.
Luongo eventually stood up and proclaimed that he was fine. The medical team quickly stitched up his eye, and with blood dripping down his face, he went out to play the next game where he effortlessly stopped every puck that came his way.
At that point, not only was Luongo proving himself a world class goaltender, but he was a world class goaltender that persevered with blood dripping down his face and limited vision in one eye.
Sadly, Ev was cut from the team the very next day.
Luongo went on to play 19 seasons in the NHL where he earned a career total of 107+ million dollars.
To this day, Ev insists he promoted Luongo's resiliency, basically making Luongo's career. ;)
I, for one, firmly believe this is why Ev is such an incredible business coach today!
So...Cheers to Roberto Luongo and Evan Lindsay for the assist!
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