THN Archive: Reminiscing with Bill Lindsay about 1996 feature on his iconic playoff goal
Lindsay's highlight-reel goal during the 1996 Stanley Cup Playoffs was a seminal moment in Panthers franchise history
The Hockey News - THN Archive: Reminiscing with Bill Lindsay about 1996 feature on his iconic playoff goalIt was an amazing experience watching the Florida Panthers remarkable run to the Stanley Cup Final in just the team’s third year of existence.
The league’s newest and southernmost franchise shocked the world by marching through the Eastern Conference with a team full of hard-working, grinder-type players and lacking any true superstars.
They beat a few superstars en route to the Stanley Cup Final though.
Philadelphia had Eric Lindross and John LeClair, Pittsburgh boasted Mario Lemieux and Jaromir Jagr, and Boston had its own Hall of Famer in Ray Borque.
Interestingly enough, it would be a play involving Borque that would define the improbably exhilarating Final run.
Bill Lindsay’s diving, series-clinching goal during Game 5 of the opening round against Boston still makes the rounds on the highlight reel, nearly 30 years later.
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bTXVmaJr9Pw[/embed]
At the time, Lindsay’s goal was met with the appropriate amount of attention and replay treatment. It was one of the iconic moments of the 1996 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Watching a game on TV during those playoffs meant the extremely high likelihood you’d see the goal at least once over the course of the broadcast.
The Hockey News highlighted Lindsay's goal, and the Panthers ongoing playoff run, during its May 17, 1996 edition: Vol. 49, Issue 35.
In the decades since, the play remained one of, if not the most iconic moment in Panthers franchise history.
THN Florida caught up with Lindsay on Friday night before the Panthers hosted the Carolina Hurricanes and asked him not only about the goal and its longevity, but what it felt like for a young, barely proven Bill Lindsay to be a part of such a monumental play that has clearly stood the test of time.
THN Florida: What was 25-year-old Bill Lindsay thinking in these moments? You just scored the goal, The Hockey News is calling for an interview…
Bill Lindsay: I was just caught up in the whirlwind. I was trying to get into the NHL in 93-94, just get my feet wet, and then that run, we kind of exploded. The year before that, the lockout year, I'd had a pretty decent year. That's the first year that I felt okay, I belong in this league. And then coming into that 95-96 season, I was comfortable. I knew I had a role and that I could play in the league. I had my best year from start to end, as far as consistency, we got into the playoffs, and then that's when all the magic starts to happen, and that's what everyone talks about. So 96 Bill Lindsey was just kind of on this whirlwind tour of, well, I made it, but you want to make it to the NHL, and then you want to stay. And that was kind of the first time that I'm believing that I'm staying here, and now The Hockey News is calling me and we're doing stories. Now I feel I’ve got a chance here to stay here for a while, and with this run and the stuff that's happening, I’m thinking maybe we can make a career out of this. That's kind of what was special about it, being around those groups. When you're trying to get that foothold in the league, you’ve see all these kids called up here, and they all have different stories…that's what you're trying to grasp on to. You're trying to grasp on to that that NHL job, and that's why the playoffs are so important. If you piece together a stretch like that – if we're not in the playoffs, the goal doesn't happen, going to the Stanley Cup Championship doesn't happen. – you do something like that with a team like that, that's four or five more years, almost automatically. I remember in the summer, Brian Murray the Panthers GM at the time said, ‘You’ve got one year left on your deal. We're gonna rip it up. Let's get a four year deal.’ So I told my wife, ‘Wow, I'm gonna get a four year deal.’ So you're starting to feel, okay here comes some security, you're on a one-way deal and just starting to get noticed and put on and recognized I guess for the first time. Not only getting into the NHL, but getting some recognition as a player, as a team. That stuff to me…I was just soaking it all in, because that's all part of your dream when you're going up. Those are just stages along the way that are like, wow moments…this is actually happening now. It was all just, we're trying to make this happen and we're doing our best to make it happen and now it's finally happened, the Hockey News is calling, I remember doing radio interviews during that ‘96 run, so all that kind of stuff just added up.”
THN: What about now, 27 years later…knowing the longevity of that goal, not only around the Florida Panthers, but that video pops up every year when the playoffs arrive. Can you believe it’s still as big as it is?
BL: It was a thing. The playoffs last year was good to see some of the stuff (Matthew) Tkachuk did, and the OT goes by (Carter) Verhaeghe and Tkachuk, and getting back to the Stanley Cup Final, but to have (the goal) last that long, it was just one of those moments in time. It's why you play the sport. You put in all the hours off the ice. It's a moment that was mine. It was aided by coaches along the way, teammates along the way. It was never accomplished by myself, but the actual moment belonged to me at that moment, but there's so many people that helped me to actually get there and I guess that's what I'm most grateful for, and to have a last little bit. I look back, I don't know if regret is the right word, but I not winning a Stanley Cup hurts when you're done. When you're retired – because I’ve talked about all these dreams and all these goals – it's hard, even watching that celebration with Vegas last year, I had to turn my back. I just can't watch the celebration. So you're able to pick certain moments of your career, certain times, certain places that stick out, and that stood out for me for a long time. To be connected here with the fans, and be down here for almost 30 years now in some capacity, South Florida just became special. South Florida just became my home, and that goal was part of it. To live in the legacy with the Panther fans is probably why I’ve felt such a great connection with them.
THN Archive is an exclusive vault of 2,640 issues and more than 156,000 for subscribers, chronicling the complete history of The Hockey News from 1947 until today. Visit THN.com/archive and subscribe today at subscribe.thehockeynews.com
LATEST THN FLORIDA STORIES
