BOSTON — Prior to Friday's showdown with the Lightning, Bruins defenseman Andrew Ference revealed that the pressure of a Game 7 is far worse for the family members watching helplessly at home than it is on the players who at least have some control over the outcome.
"Our families hate them, probably more than us," Ference said just hours before the game. "All of our parents complain about the blood pressure."
Well, if an ordinary Game 7 can cause that kind of distress, one can only imagine what Friday's nail-biter did to the folks back home. It was a scoreless affair for more than 52 minutes before Nathan Horton scored the game's only goal, then the Bruins hung on for the 1-0 victory to put them in the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since 1990.
"I'm lucky with the time difference, so I can still call home and check in with my parents before it's too late," Ference said after the game. "I saw my wife up there, she looked pretty happy, so I think everyone's OK.
"It's so hard for them to watch," Ference added. "When you talk to them, you can just hear how hard it is for them to go through that."
It's not just family and friends that suffer helplessly as spectators. There are also the players not in the lineup who struggle to control their emotions when they're unable to help out on the ice.
"And not just [the family members], but all the guys like Thorty [Shawn Thornton] and Hnides [Shane Hnidy] and all the guys upstairs, the Black Aces that are watching, it's hard," Ference said. "It's a really hard thing to watch. I'm sure they're happy now, but it's tough for them."
Thornton certainly would agree to that, as he noted after the game that he spent more energy pacing in the press box than he would have used if he had played.
"I didn't need to work out tonight, that's for sure," Thornton said. "My heart was about 165 without doing anything. It was a nerve-wracking game. It's tough to watch. I'd rather play. It's tough to watch, a lot tougher to watch, I guess."
