A Piece of History: Flyers/Rangers 9/20/01

It had been nine days since the world had changed. Nine days since many people of the world who thought no evil like the one the saw on September 11, 2001 had that thought shattered by random acts of terrorism carried out against Americans, where over 2000 innocent people lost their lives. Nine days for people to attempt to get their lives back on track. Professional hockey players included.

I had no knowledge of this before today, as I found this on a Rangers message board I frequent. What I found was nothing much, but it spoke volumes to me. On September 20, 2001, the Rangers and Flyers held an exhibition game. The game was tied 2-2 headed into the 3rd period, and it would end in a tie. Not because the players could not score, they elected not to play.

The 3rd period never began, because President George W. Bush was delivering a speech to the people of America informing them of what has been happening in the past few days. What plans of action are going to be taken, and to reassure the American people that there will be brighter days in the future. There were some current players on the ice for this game. For the Flyers, you can see a recently retired Marc Recchi standing next to a young Brian Boucher at the goal, and on the bench were Ruslan Fedotenko, Simon Gagne, and Justin Williams. And for the Rangers, players like Mikael Samuelsson, Tom Poti, Jason LaBarbera, and Manny Malhotra were possibly on the bench that day. All in the name of getting back to the normal way of life. After the speech was delivered, the players no longer wished to continue the 3rd period. So, they shook hands, and skated back to their dressing rooms, ending the game. Here they were, men making millions of dollars to smack a rubber puck around on skates, and not even they were immune to the reality that was taking place all around the world. Men who were suppose to hate each other because of their long history of combatting on the NHL stage for decades, showing their humanity and civility in the hard times following the 9/11 attacks. It did not even matter that most of the players on those Rangers and Flyers lineup weren't American. They most likely knew what was happening, simply by being members of a civil free world. A world where people can strive like they do to play a children's game for a living. A world where people can go out and buy a jersey with their name and number on them just because you wear a certain color with a certain logo on it. A world where people will spend hundreds of dollars just to watch them glide across ice for 60 minutes, and dedicate countless evenings to watching them on television. That doesn't just show what it means to be an American, it shows what it means to be free. 

On today, the 11th anniversary of the September 11th attacks, the Clinic would like to extend its gratitude to all who fight for us, keep us safe and peaceful here in the free world. You will never be forgotten, or neglected.

(sorry about the really big paragraph, the article would only post that way for some reason)