The night was November 3, 1999, and the final seconds were ticking down in a junior varsity hockey game between bitter local rivals, New Trier High School and Glenbrook North High School, at the Rinkside Sports Ice Arena in the Chicago suburb of Gurnee. New Trier was comfortably ahead, 7-4, in the teams' first encounter since Glenbrook North had edged them, 3-2, for the Illinois state junior varsity title a season earlier.[1] Junior varsity contests do not normally provide lasting memories in any sport, but this early-November game would be different.