TAMPA BAY, Fla. -- Semper Fidelis. Always faithful.
The motto of the United States Marine Corps, from the Halls of Montezuma to the shores of Tripoli. From the unadulterated hell of Iwo Jima in 1945 to a night of play in Tampa Bay in the National Hockey League.
Forever courageous. Always brave.
On the anniversary of the raising of the American flag atop Mount Surabachi seven decades past, there at center ice stood three Marine corporals and two NHL captains. On this night, the enlisted men outranked the officers.
Anthony Donofrio, Bill Baker, and John Residence, by the hand of God still with us, were among the fortunate few who saw Old Glory flying atop that Iwo flag pole and lived to tell about it.
Vincent Lecavalier and Shane Doan, representing their teams, the Lightning and Phoenix Coyotes, did so with a smile on their face and a gleam of respect in their eyes. Both know much about surviving with one team, thru unequal measures of fortune and adversity. Triumph and treason. Alliance and anarchy. And we're speaking only of a sport played on skates.
Now octogenarians, slowed only by time, the Iwo Jima veterans' uniform of the day offered red USMC Association hats and special Tampa Bay jerseys, their names in white above the number 45. Escorted to the face-off circle by a trio of dress-blue Sergeants Major (a higher life form, even generals agree). The ceremonial puck drop was preceded by a moment's conversation between Cpl. Residence and Captain Lecavalier.
"He leaned over and told me he watched me play," Lecavalier said. "It was hard to hear for the crowd, but he wished me well and told me to play hard."
May a Paris Island drill instructor be so inspiring.
It would be a five-point night for Lecavalier. One goal and four assists, as Vinny's team followed their leader in an 8-3 rout. He had never scored more points in a single outing. All 931 games of his record setting career. All in a Tampa Bay Lightning sweater.
From his teenage arrival into the chaos of coaching and front office crisis, to a Stanley Cup season, to the Rocket Richard Trophy, to the stormy seas of trade rumors and finally a comedy of management errors so egregious Commissioner Gary Bettman intervened.
Deus ex machina.
Finally, stability. New owner Jeff Vinik and General Manager Steve Yzerman marched thru the gates accompanied by dynamic head coach Guy Boucher. There is much to be said for a command structure. Someone's in charge. He has your back. The team's near the top of the Eastern Conference and it's late in the season.
The crowd's standing ovation was amplified by a percussion of hockey sticks beating on both benches, drumming along the side boards and across the ice. By so-called hardened hockey heroes, rising in their colors to recognize greatness. Not an ounce of false bravado in sight.
Doan is the personification of chivalry. How wonderfully fitting that on this night he established a team record, skating in his 1,099th contest, all with this one tumultuous franchise. No man had taken to competition more often for the Coyotes than Doan, albeit playing in two nations in two climates and for a still unresolved ownership.
Remember the Winnipeg Jets? Born into the World Hockey Association and named after "The Golden Jet" Bobby Hull, the club from frozen Manitoba franchise drafted the kid from Alberta in 1995, and moved a year later to the sweltering desert of Arizona.
The rest, as they say, is hysteria. From Teemu Salanne to Keith Tkachuk. Nicholai Khabibulin to Wayne Gretzky. Suffice to say, Mr. Bettman knows both the area code and the flight schedule in and out of Phoenix.
Modo mecum agere. Just sue me.
Doan has always been a calm amidst the franchise's logistical storms. But as a true testament to his gallantry, he concurrently thanks the team that has always supported him. "This organization has been very loyal to me through the years," Doan reflected before the swirl of ceremony. "I owe it so much. Everyone has stood by me."
If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs.
There were more than 20,000 entrenched Japanese defending the air strips on Iwo 66 years ago. A total of 216 survived. While Donofrio, Baker, and Residence were engaged on the South Pacific island,
26,038 Americans were recorded as casualties. 6,821 made the ultimate sacrifice. The three corporals knew so many, forever young and courageous. And now the three encountered two hockey stars in the prime of life, in a far different time, a far different place. The Few. The Proud.
As the guests of honor made their way from the bright lights, stepping thru the Lightning bench, the players continue to applaud. The game would wait. Boucher leaned over, drawing close to hear Cpl. Residence.
"Play hard."
Semper Fi.
