The Shot Heard Around The World

Gage Ahearn – 11th Grade Honorable Mention

Sports are not just games. They are more than entertainment. They are history, triumph, devastation, memory, miracle, division, and unification. Sports are the art of the human mind, and a testament to human ability. As recently as two days before writing this, my father and I witnessed history being made.

With a single goal lead over the Canucks, the Boston Bruins aimed to continue their triumphant season. With just over fifty seconds remaining in the game, the puck came rolling in towards the goalie, Linus Ullmark. With the puck on his stick and his eyes down the ice, the soon-to-be Vezina winner launched the puck into the air.

By the time that Ullmark’s rocket trickled its way into the empty Vancouver net, my dad and I had already launched ourselves from our seats, arms in the air. The two of us have watched almost every Bruins game this year, but this moment will never leave me. I’ll never forget the way that he and I – and of course, Jack Edwards – lost our minds.

It was poetic that the goalie who deserved it most, who had unexpectedly become completely unconscious, was able to join a miniscule club of scoring goaltenders. I wonder if he even thought about that as he glided down the fist-bump line at the bench or when he prepared for the biggest bear hug in his career.

The effect it had on my father and myself was absolutely huge, but it goes further than that, further than the team, further than Boston itself. One look online, and I saw the effect that sports had on the internet.

It is undeniable that many NHL fans have a strong dislike for the Bruins. People hate it when other teams are good, and the Bruins consistently are. I realized quickly that at the time, no one hated Boston. There were no fans of other teams who were bitter or jealous at the year the Bruins are having. There was simply one league, a collective of hockey fans who were appreciating and celebrating an achievement of an amazing goalie.

Hockey fans certainly do not lack pride. Each comment I saw of the countless posted videos of the goal was signed with the team the commenter was loyal to, Western conference, Eastern conference, all different teams, new ones and old ones. Yet their messages were all the same. They all cheered for the Bruins’ goaltender who had shut many of their teams down.

Sometimes all it takes is a single great thing, and everyone comes together. That is the true nature of sports.