Quebec vs Vancouver (SNES A)

[The Deer]

Back to real league games against real SNES A players...........

The Quebec Nordiques were in action for the first time since an upset loss at the hands of Calgary. They had thought that they were in action with four games against Boston, but it turned out that the guy representing Boston wasn't really their SNES A League coach, so those were just ummmmmmm practice games I guess.

For the first time ever, including last season, Deer and Blazer hooked up for some SNES League action. Last year I had already played Dallas when they were being coached by Schwabe before Blazer took them over. In that game, Quebec scored possibly the craziest comeback in league history, scoring a 4-3 OT win despite heading into the final minute of regulation down 3-0. However, that comeback would at least get a run for its money today!

The first game was close throughout the first period, after which Quebec led 3-1. Vancouver scored early in the second to make it 3-2, but after that the Nordiques went absolutely insane, ripping the game wide open, and next thing you know they had a 9-2 second period lead. The blowout would continue, as the Nordiques would go on to win 14-3 and set a new standard for goals scored by one team in a single game for this SNES A season. The 14 goals also tied the all-time SNES record set by the94kid last year in a similar 14-3 win over the New York Islanders.

HOWEVER

The easy 14-3 win made Quebec a bit overconfident heading into the rematch at Pacific Coliseum. They played a pretty nonchalant first period, figuring the goals would start pouring in for them sooner or later, but the next thing they knew, Vancouver was all over them, and the score was 4-1 Canucks in the second period. A little nonchalance can go a long way in toppling a team, and it almost did for Quebec. Coach Pierre Page then called a timeout, and the Nords responded immediately with a pair of goals from Mats Sundin to cut the Canuck lead to 4-3 heading into the third.

Early in the third, Sundin scored yet again to tie the game up at 4-4. Figuring the momentum was totally back in their favour, Quebec started playing nonchalantly AGAIN, and just like the last time, they paid for it. Vancouver scored the next two goals to stake a 6-4 lead with under two minutes remaining, and it looked like the Nordiques were done.

Not so fast! The Owen Nolan show was about to begin. Nolan scored with 1:11 remaining to cut the score to 6-5, and suddenly the game that felt like it was over felt attainable again for Quebec. They still had trouble getting much going off the next faceoff, and the Canuck checking kept forcing them back into their own zone. It wasn't looking good at all, especially when Pavel Bure got a breakaway with 30 seconds left, only for Ron Hextall to make the game-saving stop. Finally, Nolan grabbed the puck, made a few really tight moves, including a few dead stops to allow Vancouver defenders to just miss him, and then fired home the tying goal with just 18 seconds left to play. The Nordique bench was jubilant, and this time was determined not to let the comeback be for naught. But there would be one final scare. Trevor Linden got a partial breakaway in the dying seconds, but Hextall stayed with him and the defender clawing away at Linden's back threw hiim off just enough to have his deke attempt glance off the side of the post. How many lives did Quebec have in this game?

We then went to OT, where the unstoppable Nolan saved the best for last. After a little over a minute of tense overtime action, Vancouver not wanting to lose after being up 4-1 and 6-4, and Quebec not wanting TWO major comebacks to go down the drain, Nolan used a couple of Vancouver defenders as a screen, and fired it low glove side past Kirk McLean for a very improbable 7-6 OT Quebec win.

Despite having won the game, Quebec knew they didn't deserve to, and that they relied on a last-minute panic that only works a very small percentage of the time to bail them out. Vancouver was the team that showed more hunger throughout much of this game and my hat is off to them for rebounding so well from a blowout loss the game before. The second game was definitely a reality check for me, and hopefully will go down as a lesson learned that you can't take an opponent lightly even if you pumped 14 goals by him the previous game.

After a loss in Calgary and that crazy scare in Vancouver, Quebec is happy to get the hell off of the West Coast with four points out of six.

These games have yet to be logged because Blazer had to go immediately after them. Here's hoping they're logged soon.