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The final minutes of Game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals between the Edmonton Oilers and Florida Panthers were as intense as anything I have ever witnessed in sports.
The Oilers, needing just one goal to force overtime, were firing shot after shot at the net, while the Panthers and their goalie, Sergei "Bob" Bobrovsky, were throwing their sticks, pads and bodies everywhere to keep the puck out of the goal.
I was sitting behind the Panthers net, and for an instant the puck just sat motionless, hidden in clean sight, inches from the goal-line, while the 12 players were hitting, pushing and shoving each other -- with some, like Bob, lying on the ice flailing their arms, legs and sticks.
The fate of two cities, careers, legacies were dependent on whether the small puck crossed the goal-line before the clock struck 0:00.
As the seconds counted down, the arena was like a volcano, as every fan was screaming louder and louder.
In the final seconds, the puck was trapped under a sea of bodies behind the Panthers' net, and when the loudest horn in the world blew, the Panther fans erupted in joy and threw thousands of plastic rats on the ice as the Panthers, after 30 seasons, finally secured their first Stanley Cup.
I attended all four Stanley Cup final games in Sunrise, Florida -- a town north of Miami and west of Ft. Lauderdale -- located next to the Sawgrass Mills shopping mall.
While there is no atmosphere outside the stadium -- one of the easiest get in/outs -- the scene inside the arena is electric.
Almost every single Panther fan wears a jersey to the game, and even though the distance between Florida and Edmonton is by far the greatest between any North American sports team (2600 miles), thousands of Edmonton fans were at each game -- all wearing jerseys.
Before each game, I would go down to the ice, right on the glass, behind the nets, to watch the warmups.
Unlike any other league or sport, the NHL permits fans, no matter where their seats are in the stadium, to watch the warmups at the glass. In comparison, at NBA games most ushers, if your seats are in row 8, won't even let you go to row 6 to take a picture.
Nothing compares to NHL warmups. While at NBA games, the players casually jog out and softly throw up half-hearted attempts at layups, the NHL players fly out of the locker room skating super fast, and race to the empty net firing 80 mph shots.
The pucks that miss the net hit the glass so hard that you can feel the impact on the other side of the glass. Then the goalie gets in the net, and with superhuman instincts and quickness, blocks the shots.
Watching the Oilers in warmups gave me a great chance to witness the best player in hockey, Connor McDavid, up close.
McDavid won the Conn-Smythe trophy for being the MVP of the playoffs (even though the Oilers lost), and in Game 5, he had one of the greatest games of all-time as he scored two goals and had two assists. It is easy to see why he is one of the all-time greats. He skates so fast that it looks like he is wearing motorized skates. He sees the plays unfold three steps before anyone else and literally places passes on his teammates sticks from across the ice.
He is like a combination of Magic (vision), Jordan (explosiveness), LeBron (power) and Curry (shot).
Every sport has a trophy celebration at the end of the championship game. None compare to the presentation of the Stanley Cup.
At the end of the game, the Stanley Cup was carried out by handlers wearing white gloves on a red carpet. It is the only trophy in team sports where all the players on past championship teams are engraved on the trophy.
Players in other sports lift trophies in the air standing behind a podium. Championship hockey players skate around the ice with the enormous trophy above their heads - passing it from player to player for a loop around the ice.
Words cannot describe how shiny and bright the silver trophy looks contrasted against the white ice.
Even days after Game 7, the media gives almost hourly updates on the location and activities of the trophy as each player gets to keep it for one day, and everywhere it appears is a huge celebration. It even went for a swim in the ocean.
From all appearances, the Stanley Cup is having a great time in South Florida.
Kaufman, an Altoona native and traveling sports fan, hosts IRA on Sports on trueoldiesfla.com on Monday night from 7-8 p.m. It is also available on Soundcloud & iTUNES, search Ira On Sports.