Philadelphia
Inquirer - May 26, 1997
Philadelphia
Inquirer - May 26, 1997
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Brind'Amour walked quickly through the locker room on the toes of his
sweat-soaked socks and was shuttled from camera to flash to
microphone.
``It's great. Thank you. It's great,'' he kept saying, smiling hard enough to twist his nose that has caught too many pucks, punches, sticks and blades. Crooked and bulbous, the proboscis meanders from between his eyes of blue-gray steel to his lips.
The bruise, the purple-tinged rim beneath his right eye, curled around Brind'Amour's cheek when he talked about having a chance to play in his first Stanley Cup.
It's hard to believe this will be his first final, since he seems to have been around forever, his name brought up in trade rumors, and his face, pale and jagged, speaks of all the rinks in which he has skated and fought and bled.
It was Brind'Amour who scored the goal that sent the Flyers past the New York Rangers, the goal that gave the Flyers the 3-2 edge in their 4-2 win of Game 5 of the Eastern Conference finals, and the goal that advanced the Flyers to the Stanley Cup finals.
He got the puck from Chris Therien and took his precious time, pushing it and shoving it, and got Mike Richter to watch every little move, every little threat. He waited, aimed, and fired a backhand between the split legs of the Rangers goalie for what would become the third and series-winning goal with 53.4 seconds left in the first period.
``I had been playing awful to this point and Chris Therien just pushed it ahead and they all missed it,'' Brind'Amour said. ``I made a little move, and it just went through Richter's legs.''
The finesse shot, off a bobbled feed from Therien, was unexpected from Brind'Amour, the quintessential grinder, the ice warrior, the player who seems to move pucks more with brawn than grace. But he would be the one.
He fired his 10th goal of this playoffs in the third period to give the Flyers a 4-2 cushion, again off a pass from Therien, again on a backhand and again through the shadow of a fooled Richter. He is second in playoff scoring to Eric Lindros (11 goals).
``It doesn't even seem real right now,'' Brind'Amour, 26, said smiling with boyish amusement. ``As a kid growing up, going to the Stanley Cup is all you could wish for.''
He wears his uniform's shorts, padded throughout, high above his waist -- like Wayne Gretzky -- so that part of his No. 17 is tucked in. He spun sitting on the ice yesterday, swinging his stick wildly to keep the puck out of the claws of Jeff Beukeboom and Adam Graves, who circled like buzzards waiting to pick him apart with their beaks. They battered him, and he jumped to his blades and tore back. He crushed his body so hard against the boards that his helmet at times lifted off his head because a Ranger shoved his face so hard against the glass.
For much of this season, Brind'Amour wished to center a line. He remained a winger until the start of the Buffalo series when an injury to Vaclav Prospal provided the opportunity. Brind'Amour said playing center is ``more natural'' for him. Yesterday, he centered the second line, flanked by Mikael Renberg and Dale Hawerchuk, who offered to play wing.
``I feel like we're just beginning,'' Brind'Amour said. ``I'm just beginning.''