It was a minute past midnight, yet a live sporting event kept much of New Jersey hockey nation in rapt attention. Marc and Anthony Del Gaizo (Basking Ridge, N.J.), the pride of the New Jersey Rockets, were playing in the Frozen Four semifinal for the University of Massachusetts, and their gripping semifinal had evolved into an overtime classic. Like so many epic matches, fans recalled exactly where they were when the winning blow was struck.
“My girlfriend and I missed our train back to New Jersey,” said former Cornell star Alex Rauter (Chatham, N.J.), “so we went to this little café in Penn Station and got them to put the game on.”
“I was sitting there watching it from my living room,” said New Jersey Hitmen president Jim Hunt (Ramsey, N.J.). “Everyone in the house was asleep by then.”
Over in Sea Bright, N.J., trainer Sean Cromarty’s wife, Kellie, was in the couple’s office with the game on, and shouted to Sean to come get out of the bedroom. “You won’t believe who just scored the game-winning goal!”
