I remember one game, the Kings were on the penalty kill, and Matti Norstrom was (obviously) out on the ice. He was checking his man on the left side of the ice when he took a shot right on the inside of the right knee. He went down for a moment and then used his stick to push himself back up and limped back into position. The Kings gathered the puck and Matti started shuffling over to the bench; however, when he was halfway back to the bench the Kings lost the puck and were still stuck in their own zone.
Matti had a choice: he could easily go back to his bench, change for a fresh player, or he could grit through the pain and stay on the ice for a little while longer. The former option must have been appealing: after all, Matti was in excruciating pain (a puck off the knee fucking hurts) and hey, no one would blame him if he took the easy way out. All he had to do was say, "You know what, I've done enough."
Matti never felt like he had done enough.
Matti got back into position, and, using his stick as a cane, gathered the puck and shot it down the ice. My favorite part of the story? After Matti changed, I'm pretty sure the other team came down and scored.
It's still probably the most heroic thing I've ever witnessed.
Prediction: Kings win, 3-2. Goals by Matt Greene, Willie Mitchell and Rob Scuderi.
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