It's coming on nine years since Brad Marchand tried to climb the glass in Pardubice.
His excitement hijacking his ability to reason, Marchand hurled himself toward the fans after putting Canada up 4-0 on the United States late in the semifinal of the 2008 World Junior Championship. He lost his stick in the crowd during the minor melee, being forced to wait to join the conveyor belt of hand slaps as security retrieved and then dumped his weapon back over the glass.
This was an enduring moment for Marchand in a Canadian uniform, and very much a common trait for his career. There was good, a beautiful backhand deke to fool the American goaltender, and also a little bit of the unnecessary that has stayed with him throughout.
Tonight, he provided something else to remember.
In a best-on-best elimination game for the first time as a member of Canada's senior team, the pest who was never predicted to be in the position may have saved his country from an early exit at the World Cup of Hockey in Saturday's semifinal versus Russia.
After the Russians took the lead late in the second period in a game in which they were being severely outplayed, Marchand was responsible for ensuring the Canadians wouldn't enter the locker room at a deficit, sliding in a cross-slot pass from Sidney Crosby just a little over a minute after falling behind.
Then, 76 seconds after emerging from the tunnel for the third, Marchand collected a drop pass from Crosby, held the puck on his stick long enough to find an advantageous shooting lane, and beat Sergei Bobrovsky clean with a precise low wrist shot under the glove.
His goals in back-to-back shifts propelled Canada, which scored twice more and eventually won 5-3. The Boston Bruins' agitator, who had long justified his selection as part of the most dominant line at this event, had a national performance to savor for the rest of his life.
But just not right now.
"It's been a whirlwind here," Marchand told theScore. "Playing with a group like this and at this level has been special, but any time you play in a game of that magnitude, and you're able to win, it's an incredible feeling.
"I'm still trying to take in everything, and it's been a blast so far."
Understandably, Marchand hasn't fully unpacked the moment. He hadn't even had a chance to hit the showers yet. But coach Mike Babcock, he of immense international success, has had time to reflect on what the teams he's coached have done at this level.
So coach, when Marchand looks back on his performance, how much will this mean?
"Well, he's going to wonder why he didn’t shoot the third one into the empty net and get the trick for crying out loud."
Alright, coach, jokes aside.
"If you look back at when he enters the NHL, and he thinks (about playing) for Canada at the World Cup, he probably doesn't see it like that," he explained. "That's a lot of us. You know growing up in Saskatoon, and coaching at Red Deer College, you probably don't think you're going to coach Canada's Olympic team.
"It was a good night for him, but he's an important player on our team. That's been a real good line in the tournament to say the least."
Remaining nothing but true to form, Canada continues on with its blind focus, and will now take that mentality into a best-of-three final versus either Sweden or the European conglomerate.
Then, at some point after that, Marchand will uncover perspective from that night he helped rescue Canada.
