Friday is a day that many hockey fans in Saint John and across southern New Brunswick will remember vividly.
It was on this day 20 years ago that the Saint John Flames won their first and only Calder Cup trophy at home.
Andy Campbell was one of the thousands of people in the arena on that historic night. He served as the team’s play-by-play announcer for two seasons.
Campbell recalls a sense of imminent accomplishment long before game six against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins on May 28, 2001.
“I remember being uptown and anybody and everybody really, whether it was near the market or in Brunswick Square, people wanted to know what I thought and were already talking about the game early that Monday morning,” Campbell said in a phone interview.
“They still remembered ’98 and the disappointment of getting to the final that year and losing and they knew that they had at least two chances and they knew that that night was going to be special and they certainly weren’t disappointed.”
Saint John had already beaten three other teams to make it to the American Hockey League championship in 2001: the Portland Pirates, Quebec Citadelles, and Providence Bruins.
The Flames had lost just two of the 13 games they played during the first three rounds of the post-season and were entering game six against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton with a 3-2 series lead.
When the doors opened at what was then known as Harbour Station that night, Campbell said people started to flood in as early as they could.
“There was just this sense of something about to happen,” he said.
The official attendance was 6,671 people, but Campbell said according to urban legend, there were as many as 7,500 people in the building.
As fans realized the Flames’ lone second-period goal was enough to win, Campbell said you could feel the roar of excitement in the arena.
That roar of excitement was taken to a whole other level once the final buzzer sounded at the end of 60 minutes.
“I remember looking down on this pandemonium on the ice, in the stands, people hugging, high-fiving, jumping up and down,” said Campbell.
“You could hear this roar that overtook anything that I was trying to say into the microphone, but more so you could actually feel Harbour Station vibrating. I remember that feeling coming up through my feet and I just had a moment where I’m like ‘is this place going to even be able to stand literally through the end of the evening’ because it was just such a moment.”
The celebration in the city continued for days after the Flames’ victory, he said.
Two decades after what Campbell describes as a “magical” night, he said he still feels incredibly proud to have played a small part.
“I remember people coming up to me and saying how great it was to be able to follow the team, specifically on the road,” he said. “For me to be able to, 20 years later, say ‘yeah, I had a small little role in all of that’ it’s incredibly meaningful to me still to this day.”
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