Nathan Horton didn't get to participate in the Bruins' Cup-clinching win the way he wanted to, but there was no way he wasn't going to be on hand for the celebration.
Horton missed the final four games of the Stanley Cup Finals after suffering a severe concussion in Game 3, but he remained a significant presence on the team as the Bruins rallied around his loss.
Horton was recovered enough to accompany the team to Vancouver for Wednesday's Game 7 showdown, and was on the ice to take his turn raising the Cup after Boston's 4-0 victory.
"Obviously, I didn't feel too good [after the hit]," Horton said. "But I feel good now. As soon as I got out of the hospital I knew it was possible [to come to Vancouver]. I believe in my teammates, and everyone believes in each other. We play for each other. We're excited to play for each other and we have a great bunch of guys from the players, coaching staff, management, owners, everybody. Everyone cares about each other, and that's why we won the Stanley Cup tonight."
Horton even managed to do his part to help the Bruins overcome the Canucks' home-ice advantage. The home team had won each of the first six games of the series, but Horton helped counter that by pouring some water brought from Boston onto the Rogers Arena ice from the bench before warmups.
After that, all he could do was watch, which was no easy task, even with the Bruins in control most of the night.
"I was waiting in the dressing room watching it on TV, biting my nails," Horton said. "I made it out here, got dressed real quick. I'm so happy to be here. This is so special."
Horton was also still in awe of another special moment, when the Garden crowd erupted in a long and loud ovation for him when he was shown on the JumboTron waving a rally towel to urge on his teammates at the Garden in Game 6 on Monday.
"[That was] very special," Horton said. "Our fans are just unbelievable. You play for them all year and all through the playoffs, and to be able to do that means so much. It was very touching. I'm very happy to be a Boston Bruin and play for those fans."
That moment also helped make Horton determined not to miss the chance to be on hand when the club went for the Cup in Game 7.
"A couple of days ago," Horton said of when he knew he'd be able to come to Vancouver. "They never said I couldn't [fly], so it wasn't a hard choice for me. Even if I couldn't fly, I was going to fly somehow."
After the game, Horton was still flying high with the joy of his club's victory. Horton's rarely been seen without a broad smile plastered across his face since arriving in Boston in a trade from Florida last summer, but the ear-to-ear grin that came when he hoisted the Cup was by far his biggest smile.
"That was the greatest thing," Horton said of lifting the Cup. "That was my biggest smile for sure. Nobody can put into words [how that felt]. You can't explain the feeling. You work all year for that, and once it comes you can't describe it because it feels too good."
Horton had scored the game-winner in the two previous Game 7 wins the Bruins had on the way to the Finals, beating Montreal in overtime in the opening round and Tampa Bay 1-0 in the conference final. He didn't mind seeing someone else get to play the hero this time, though, as Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand each scored twice, with Bergeron's first-period strike standing up as the game-winner.
"It doesn't matter who scores," Horton said. "We won. That's all that matters. All the series, all the playoffs, all the games we've been through, none of that matters now. We won the Cup. That's all that matters. That's all that anyone is ever going to talk about now."
