Game 7

There's not much in sports that equals the excitement of a Game 7. The fact that this particular Game 7 is only the Conference Semifinals does not diminish anything.

Those that have watched these games know that the Sharks and Wings are playing at an extraordinary level. The margin of victory for all six games was razor thin. Despite the Wings dominating the shots in Game 6, the Sharks still had plenty of opportunities to win late in the 3rd period. Both Devin Setoguchi and Dan Boyle had excellent looks at the net from close range -- only to get foiled by a last-second poke check.

I've rarely seen two teams so evenly matched.

Since I wrote the Wings off for dead after Game 3, I probably have no reason to share in their recent success. I'm a sucker for math, and the percentages were extremely low for the Wings to even force a Game 6, let alone a Game 7. But they bucked the odds. Whatever happens tonight, I will always remember this team fondly for their never-say-die attitude.

In hindsight, I shouldn't be so surprised. I see teams saving their hide at the last second all the time. This is my favorite recent example:

(any chance to bring back that clip)

There's also this gem:

The Pistons ended up losing that game but winning the series and eventually the Championship. Those clips, of course, were just individual moments of excellence. The Red Wings need to string together four straight games of excellence. They've got three in the bag. One more to go.

History is against them, but many teams in recent memory won a Game 7 on the road. The Red Sox beat the Yankees in Game 7 at Yankee Stadium to take the ALCS and eventually the World Series in '04. Red Wing fans remember losing at home to the Penguins in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals. And, of course, the Red Wings themselves won a Game 7 on the road just last year against the Coyotes. It can be done.

In less pressing Hockey news...

News swirled out of Glendale yesterday that the Phoenix Coyotes will not move next season. The likely recipient of that franchise would've been Winnipeg. All is not lost for the Winnipegians. It's possible the Atlanta Thrashers may move there. While I hate to see any team move, the Thrashers are a pretty sad franchise. In eleven seasons, they've made the playoffs just once. Both the Coyotes and the Thrashers rank near the bottom in terms of attendance. At least the Coyotes have a reputable playoff history.

You may ask yourself, why should I care about this? Because if the Thrashers move to Winnipeg, the new Winnipeg team will join the Western Conference. This opens up a spot in the East for the Red Wings. The Wings would get to play traditional rivals like Toronto, Montreal, and Boston more than once every blue moon. They'd also get to play in the Eastern time zone. What's not to like?