Earlier this week, I came across this tweet:

Taylor Raddysh left side has the hot stick gives to Darryn Raddysh the older brother Debrincat on the right side gives up to Strome out in front Cirelli Anthony Cirelli and you should see me in a crown the @ErieOtters are Ontario Hockey League champions 2017 #280Characters

— blum (@theblumandonly) November 8, 2017

To most, this just seems like a list of random words and names.  To me, it is a vivid memory.  As I read along, I could see the play being described in my head like a movie clip.  I could see the puck slide off of Anthony Cirelli’s stick and into the back of the goal, ending the game in sudden death overtime.  I heard the goal horn and the screams of the fans.  I could see the entire team jumping from the bench, sticks and gloves flying in the air as they piled into the boards to celebrate together.  The insanity that followed for the next hour and a half is permanently etched in my brain.  And I wouldn’t want it any other way.

Though I had never actually heard the radio broadcast from this night, I could hear our announcer’s voice in my head as I read those words.  I had a visceral emotional response when I saw it, with goosebumps running up my arms and a smile breaking across my face.  In those documented seconds from May, we finally accomplished the goal that was four years coming.  We had finally done it.  The Erie Otters had finally won the OHL Championship.

After four seasons of being so close always conference champions or runner ups, it was amazing to finally be the big winners.  Every year, my dad told the stories of our first championship win in 2002.  He said that the noise and the atmosphere was like nothing else he had ever experienced.  The stories always ended with him looking back at me with a special sparkle in his eye and saying “I hope you get to experience it, Jess. It’s amazing.”

And this year I finally did.  In the minutes after, there was screaming, crying (yes, I will admit that I cried), and hugging.  I wanted to describe exactly what happened after and how I felt, but the words are impossible to find.  There is no way to describe the immense pride and happiness I felt on this day.  I still get a weird, tingling feeling in my stomach when I think about it.  Especially with a local team, there is this intense passion that OHL die-hard fans have, and the arena exploded with it that night.  And I realize that to outsiders, we must seem ridiculous.  But on the inside, there is no better feeling.  We watched as our boys celebrated with their friends and family.  And we got to celebrate with them.  It was an amazing shared experience, especially near the end of the night when most had left.  The was nothing like celebrating with your team and the other fans who had been with them since the beginning.

The timing of our win as perfect.  I was getting ready to leave for college, an last season is quite possibly the last full season I will ever have in Erie.  The team I had watched since I was in the 5th grade finally won the championship as I got ready to graduate high school.  It was the perfect end of an era.