Unfinished business ...

Boston, bright & brisk

This has to be one of my favorite stories of 2010, and I aim to get a more in-depth piece written for one of the bigger players in the sports world. However, this short advance, done for New York Magazine (the online version is here), definitely should give you a flavor. The following is the original draft, which I think has a little more color.

The Best of Times, hockey-style

Remember "The Best of Times," the 1986 comedy with Robin Williams as an aging banker who couldn't forgive himself for dropping the touchdown pass (thrown perfectly by Kurt Russell, naturally) that cost his teammates, and town, bragging rights against their arch rival? Now combine it with Paul Newman's hockey classic, "Slap Shot," and you have an inkling of what Scott Williams was thinking when the light bulb went off.

Williams's inspiration, and persistence, has resulted to a truly unique athletic endeavor. On April 3, at the Mennen Arena in Morristown, NJ, former members of the Delbarton Green Wave and the St. Joseph's Green Knights from Montvale will face off against one another, 21 years after they were originally set to play for in the state hockey title game in 1989. Williams was a senior on that St. Joseph's squad that was one win away from being crowned the state champion that year. The key difference between the fictional football teams from "The Best of Times" and the members of the 1989 Delbarton and St. Joe's hockey teams, is that the latter never got to play their championship game.

In one of the strangest episodes in New Jersey high school sports history, a measles outbreak at Delbarton forced a cancellation of the 1989 finals. Which is a shame, because that championship game was shaping up to be a dandy. St. Joe's (24-2-1) and Debarton's Green Wave (24-3-2) were the two top ranked teams in the state, with two of the state's best players, St. Joe's Kenny Blum and Delbarton's Derek Maguire (both of whom would be drafted in the 9th round of the NHL draft that spring).

"Nobody believed it at first," says Williams, who heard the news from his coach, Ron Skibin. "Remember, there's no Internet, no cell phones. The grapevine had to work. Until we went to school that Monday, I don't think we all grasped what it meant. We were saying, 'Did this weekend just happen? Weren't we supposed to play the game?' And on Monday, it was over. That's it. The state couldn't pull that off today, because parents and lawyers would be all over them to reschedule it."

Instead, after the game was simply cancelled. The NJSIAA's executive committee declared the two teams co-champions, and the season was relegated to some dust-covered record book. Then, last March, the Star Ledger newspaper ran a story on the 20th anniversary of the championship game that never happened. The seed for Williams' brainstorm was planted when Delbarton's Mike Pendy, an assistant captain on the '89 team, was quoted as saying: "Maybe we could get all these guys together 20 years later, lace up the skates somewhere and play that game."

That comment got Pendy's former teammates talking, and joking, but not much more came of it. Williams, however, had other plans. He wanted to play the game. "I knew I just needed to get a hold of someone on Delbarton," he says. "Hockey in New Jersey is a small world, and someone said get in touch with Jim Olsen. We talked, hit it off, and said 'Let's do this.' The wheels got in motion, and before we knew it, it was on."

James Olsen, a former linemate of Pendy's at Delbarton, was initially unsure about staging the game, until Williams talked about earmarking the proceeds for cancer-related charities, including the NHL's Hockey Fights Cancer. That plan struck a nerve.

"Scott's mom was suffering from brain cancer, and he recently did a fundraiser for her to cover some medical bills. He said this could be a great story, and at the same time we could raise some money for charity and have a lot of fun and bring everybody together," says Olsen. "I just thought that was outstanding. Coincidentally, my father passed away from brain cancer five years ago. So I thought, this guy really wants to do a nice job with this. It could be really terrific."

Now, the game – dubbed the Frozen Flashback – is etched in stone, or at least on everyone's Blackberry calendar. "It's going to be a blast," says Olsen. "This is not going to be a nasty grudge match. We're going to play hard, and it's going to be competitive, but it's going to be clean." Or, as Maguire, who played at Harvard and now lives outside Boston, says: "I don't see the game getting out of hand. Heck, we're not high school kids anymore. We'll have our families – our wives and kids – in the stands."

Pendy says the fact that game actually came together is a testament to the two schools, and to the game itself. Almost 90 percent, or 40 or the original 46 players from 1989, are expected to suit up. Each team will be allowed five subs, to help offset roster shortfalls, provided they are alumni, and graduated prior to 1989. "Our entire team has been contacted, and the interest level is high," says Pendy. "Some guys have been playing, and some guys are running out to buy equipment."

The game, as Pendy predicted, is likely to be slower, and will also be less physical, thanks to the no-check rules that both sides have agreed to. But make no mistake; these guys still want to win. "From every aspect, and every angle, this is just setting up to be a home-run event," says Pendy. Or, to put it in the proper vernacular, an overtime winner. Which it might come down to, as no one will even consider the game ending in a draw.

"I don't think we can let it go," says Olsen, laughing. "We'll have to keep playing."

Blum, who played professionally until 2004, readily agrees that a tie won't work. "I don't think anybody would want that," he says. "Other than the charity part, that would be defeating the purpose."

That purpose, say the players, is to not only raise money for a worthwhile cause, but to put on a show for the 2,500 expected to be in attendance and, yes, to put the 1989 season to rest. "The great thing about playing at Mennen, is that the place was packed for our games," says Olsen. "It was a great experience, being on the ice in front of those crowds, and we have one more opportunity to do it."

For details on the April 3 game, or to contribute to the respective charities, visit FrozenFlashback.com.