Check that Dream

He still couldn't shake the previous night's dream. Every night of the playoffs had resulted in a different nightmare for New York's left wing, Simon LaRoy. LaRoy was in his eighteenth season as a starter for New York and although he had broken just about every offensive record in club history, the one thing that evaded him had been a championship trophy.

As a young lad in Toronto, Simon LaRoy had been skating with dreams of winning a World Hockey Championship before he could even mutter the word, "eh." In his self-proclaimed final season as a professional hockey player, LaRoy knew that this was his final opportunity to put that exclamation point on his career.

LaRoy's subconscious was aware of this as well and it had been playing games with him for the entire post season. During the first round of the playoffs, LaRoy dreamt that he had gone out onto the ice with sneakers instead of hockey skates. During the second round, he dreamt that during a shootout the ice beneath him had melted, causing him to fall and miss the potential game-winning shot. Last night's dream, however, had been more real and much more disturbing.

It was Game 7 of the championship series. After sweeping their way through the first three rounds of the playoffs, New York had met their match in the finals. LaRoy had lead his team to victory at home in the first game of the series, but had then given up three of the next four games. Down three games to two, LaRoy's hat trick in Detroit brought the series back home for a decisive Game 7 that would once again be in LaRoy's hands.

LaRoy assisted the game's first goal two minutes into the first period. Six minutes and seventeen seconds later, Hanz Vielman, New York's second-leading scorer, left the game with an ankle injury after a viscous slash by Detroit henchman, Andy Liechman. LaRoy appeared to take advantage of the power play putting the puck in the net with only five seconds left, but the goal was called back after instant replay revealed that LaRoy had crossed the blue line a half a step before the puck and he was called for offside. New York's inability to capitalize on the power play seemed to propel Detroit.

Detroit owned the second period, tying the game on a power play goal, but more importantly controlling the puck for fourteen out of twenty minutes and taking twenty-two shots on goal. The Motor City's dominance continued in the third period as they took ten shots in the first five minutes and then watched their eleventh shot hit the back of the net for the lead.

With Vielman sidelined, Detroit was able to double-team LaRoy and he had been essentially taken out of the game, until the final minutes. With six minutes left, LaRoy had come off for a line change when Coach Red Yieks grabbed him by the back of the neck and screamed, "Eighteen years don't mean a darn thing if you don't make something happen in the next five minutes!" Yieks told LaRoy that once he went back on the ice, he wasn't coming off again until the game was over.

The clock hit four minutes and LaRoy shot back onto the ice. He furiously skated towards Liechman who was slowly moving the puck up ice in an effort to kill the clock. LaRoy checked Liechman into the boards, stealing the puck and raced towards Detroit's goal. With no defender to beat, he passed the blue line, drew the goalie out, faked left, and put the puck in the upper ninety of the right hand side of the goal.

Winded after racing the length of the ice, LaRoy stayed on the ice, putting the pressure on Detroit and waiting for opportunity to score the game-winning goal. That opportunity came with twelve seconds left as he glided down the left side of the ice needing only to beat, once again, Andy Liechman. LaRoy faked left and went right, but Liechman didn't bite and laid him into the boards, taking the puck and passing it up. Lying on his back, a dizzy LaRoy heard a loud buzzing noise before watching a blurry two underneath the visitor block of the scoreboard transform into a three. The arena was silent as LaRoy drifted out of consciousness.

LaRoy replayed this dream in his mind over and over again until he felt himself break into a heavy sweat. With his heart racing, LaRoy rolled over and reached for the light switch. After flicking his wrist three times without turning on his bedroom light, LaRoy finally felt his right elbow brush against the metal arm of a hospital bed.