Date: Dec. 31, 2013
Game: No. 42 of the regular season for Anaheim
Site: Honda Center
Result: Anaheim 6, San Jose 3
Three stars: 1) Anaheim C Ryan Getzlaf. 2) Anaheim G Jonas Hillier. 3) Anaheim D Ben Lovejoy
Ben Lovejoy always understood that he was a complementary piece, not the centerpiece, for his teams in the NHL. That he was a member of the supporting cast, not a headliner.
He focused on playing responsible, reliable defense, on blocking shots and killing penalties.
There was nothing spectacular about Lovejoy's style; it was just effective.
His diligence and commitment were rewarded with a career that spanned 11 seasons, highlighted by a Stanley Cup championship with the Penguins in 2016.
Still, while Lovejoy's game earned him a great deal of respect from his teammates, they didn't translate to much individual recognition.
"I played 544 NHL NHL games, regular-season games," he said. "And probably was a star of the game -- first, second or third star -- maybe five times."
He got into 76 more games during the playoffs, and wasn't exactly a fixture in the three-stars selection then, either.
That includes the Penguins' 3-1 victory at SAP Center that clinched the 2016 title and was the pinnacle of Lovejoy's career -- "That was obviously the best game, the best day," he said -- although another win against the Sharks remains equally unforgettable for him.
Never mind that it came in the middle of an 82-game regular season.
That Lovejoy didn't record a goal or assist in it.
Or that it wasn't even the most memorable thing that happened to him that week.
For while he was a plus-2 that night against the Sharks, what makes the day stand out is that Lovejoy and his wife, Avery, became a plus-1 a few hours before the opening faceoff, when their first child, Lila, was born.
She arrived, Lovejoy said, at 10:44 a.m., about six hours before the scheduled start of the San Jose game and roughly a day after the Lovejoys thought she was ready to appear.
"My wife came to me (Dec. 30) and was like, 'We have to go to the hospital. I'm not feeling well. We're going to have a baby,' " Lovejoy said.
He promptly texted Ducks coach Bruce Boudreau to let him know that he wouldn't make it to practice, then drove Avery to the hospital.
But not for long.
"It turned out that she was not ready," he said "First kid. We didn't know any better."
A day of walking around Newport Beach, Calif. "doing lunges and squats and just trying to induce labor" changed nothing, so Lovejoy, noting that the Sharks game was set for 5 p.m. the next day, went to bed, after giving some strict instructions.
"I said, 'Only wake me up if you're having a baby,' " he said. "At 1:30 (a.m.), she woke me up."
Lila was born about nine hours later and, after some early concern about fluid in her lungs, Lovejoy got the news for which he had been hoping.
"She came back (from the neonatal intensive care unit) about an hour later, completely fine," he said. "I told Avery, 'I've got a game. I've got to go.' "
After a quick lunch and a brief nap, he headed to the arena for a showdown between two of the top clubs in the Western Conference.
"It was a huge game for us," Lovejoy said.
And he played like it. Working alongside Cam Fowler on the Ducks' No. 1 defense pairing, he logged 16:28 of ice time and was credited with a pair of shot-blocks, one an exceptional stop on San Jose center Joe Thornton.
GETTY
Ben Lovejoy lunges to block a Joe Thornton shot at an empty net.
"There was a dumped-in puck going around the boards and (Anaheim goalie) Jonas Hiller went behind the net to stop it and it ricocheted in front of the net, onto Joe Thornton's stick," Lovejoy said.
Thornton's shot never made it to the vacated net, though, because Lovejoy was able to lunge and deflect it.
"I look like Superman diving," he said. "And I barely make a save."
Lovejoy's insipred play apparently made an impression on his teammates, as center Saku Koivu presented him with the Orange County Fire Dept. helmet that the Ducks used to recognize the team's most outstanding performance in a given game.
"After the game, we were all in the locker room. I was exhausted, but so happy," Lovejoy said. "Saku, all he said was, 'There are some things that are more important in life than hockey, and this is one of them.' "
But even though the game was over, Lovejoy's day was not.
"I drove back to hospital and held (Lila) for the first time," he said. "We spent New Year's Eve together. It was pretty cool."
Star-worthy, too.
