The Canadian honored the 1993 team, the final Stanley Cup winners, on Thursday night at the Bell Centre during a benefit gala. While the players appeared content with their reunion, former defender Éric Desjardins acknowledged that the fans might not be as happy.
“It’s undeniable that our reunion is wonderful, but thirty years without a Stanley Cup is not enjoyable for Canadian and American fans alike,” Desjardins acknowledged on Thursday night. I am an elder now, but I’m also on your side. I’m eager to see the cup in Montreal or elsewhere in Canada once more.
Over the past 20 years, more visible in Montreal than Desjardins, the team captain in 1993, Guy Carbonneau noted that since 2003, when the food shortage began, he had been asked about it every five years. only ten years.
Being the last captain to win was easy at first. However, I think it’s long here,” he said.
The Canadian had some successful postseason runs in the 2010s following the difficult years at the start of the new millennium. Then, in 2021, during the season that was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic, he made it to the grand final for the first time since 1993.
A whole generation of hockey fans in Quebec has not yet witnessed the festivities surrounding a Stanley Cup on Sainte-Catherine Street.
“As a Quebecer, I think there’s no better place to win it,” stated Desjardins, who scored a hat trick in the second final game against the Los Angeles Kings. “I didn’t have the chance to win it elsewhere.” It was a dream to have this opportunity.”I still recall winning and raising the cup on the ice during the parade.” In his 17-year career, he continued, “I have forgotten a lot, but I will never forget that.”
Robust connections
The Canadian of spring 1993, led by an imperial Patrick Roy, broke all the predictions. He defeated the Quebec Nordiques, swept the Buffalo Sabres, and then dispatched Wayne Gretzky’s Kings and the New York Islanders in a flash.
Throughout his career, he only lost four games. And when games went into overtime, he won ten straight times.
“I felt confident and content every time we arrived for overtime. Patrice Brisebois, the defender, insisted, “I knew we were going to win.” That was how I felt, but it’s easy to say now that we know the outcome. The other teams thought that Patrick was the best goalkeeper. Although I was unsure of the winner, I knew it would be someone from our locker room.
Out of all the players, only Rob Ramage was older than thirty. Kirk Muller and Vincent Damphousse were at the top of their offensive game, while Carbonneau was in charge of the support group.
Desjardins stated, “Everyone had a role and responsibilities, and did the work that was asked of them.”
Before his career ended, Carbonneau won another Stanley Cup with the Dallas Stars in 1999. He was also present when the Canadian team won in 1986.
He acknowledges that he had a special bond with the players he won major awards.
“I have friends in the league who I will always be friends with, but winning with someone is something special,” he said. You endure a great deal. Not that the season is typical, but as the playoffs near their conclusion, most players are sidelined. You see the struggles that everyone faces.
This is what was so enjoyable about the group’s reunion. The players attended the benefit gala on Thursday, which also served as a memorial to Doctor David Mulder, who retired after 60 years of service to the Canadiens organization and had dinner together on Wednesday.
Desjardins remarked, “There are some that I haven’t seen in probably twenty years, but it seems like we just finished training the day before and we found the gang.” The characters don’t change—we’re just older and have more white in our hair! The majority are parents or grandparents. Observing the dynamic is humorous. The most serious comics continue to be the most serious comics.