“For what has happened this year, and the way we started, the players deserve the comeback,” said Bob Plager, the great Blue, whose No. 5 hangs from the rafters. “But more than anything, look at the fans out there. Nobody wants to win more than myself – but it's for the people. Just listen to them. And I'm out with the people all the time, I've been with them for years. I'm so happy for them.”

Plager, 76, famously paces during home games, too nervous to lock in on the action. He's stupendously superstitious, too.

“I changed a little bit of my route tonight,” Plager shared, when asked about his location for the Maroon goal. “I was walking where the elevator is, the press elevator – just about two steps by that. I heard it all – and I rushed in to see it. I saw the ice and the celebration. So the next game, I'll spend a little more time walking by that spot.”

Asked if he was going to have a postgame beer, Plager said with a twinkle in his eye: “I had quit, but I have the odd one now and then. I might have the odd two now.”