In 1989, the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association decided not to play the Boys’ Ice Hockey State Tournament Final. The schools that were supposed to play, Delbarton School and St. Joseph Regional High School couldn’t play because 15 students at Delbarton came down with the measles.
Everybody on both teams has wondered what might have been ever since. To the extent that people involved in New Jersey hockey have come to know this game as “The Greatest Game Never Played”.
Twenty-one years later, the alumni from those teams will reunite to play the game at Mennen Arena in Morristown in what’s being called the Frozen Flashback. The game will be played on Saturday, April 3, at 2:00 pm, with proceeds going to charity.
This game has caught the interest of national media. It’s the subject of a Page One article in The Wall Street Journal, and an article in New York Magazine. It will be broadcast on MSG Varsity, a Cablevision network based in the New York Metropolitan Area.
I have no idea if I will be able to attend, but I’d love to go. I’d also like to see the NHL Network pick up this game. Who cares if the youngest guys in the game are 38 or 39? This kind of spirit is what hockey is all about.
Go to the game, and if you can’t go, make a donation.