Wings vs. Pens: A Season Boils Down to One Game
Hockey News - Craig Custance - SportingNews.com
Jun 12, 2009
DETROIT -- Brad Stuart guesses he was about 8 years old when he first imagined it. Sometimes Game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals took place in his driveway. Sometimes it was played in the rink across the street.
"I've played it out on the ice. I've played it in the driveway. I've played it out in the basement," said Stuart, a Detroit Red Wings defenseman. "Several places."
Friday, he gets to play it for real.
The back-and-forth Stanley Cup finals between the Penguins and Red Wings will be decided tonight at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit. And for as many times as this game might have been imagined by the players involved, it still will be a first for most of them.
Even a storied franchise like the Red Wings hasn't hosted a Game 7 in the Cup finals since 1955.
This, in fact, is just the 15th Stanley Cup finals to extend to seven games. So even in the midst of the pressure building for a game that will determine hockey's champion, those involved appreciate the opportunity.
"You can coach in this league forever and never get this opportunity," Red Wings coach Mike Babcock said. "So the same for the players. What a great thing to be able to share it with your family and your friends. It's fantastic."
The news gets better for Babcock. Home teams are a combined 12-2 in Game 7 situations. In this series, the home teams are a combined 6-0. The Red Wings have lost only once at Joe Louis Arena during these playoffs, and it took the Anaheim Ducks three overtimes to pull that off.
| How we got here | |
| Date | Recap/preview |
| May 30 | Red Wings 3, Penguins 1 |
| May 31 | Red Wings 3, Penguins 1 |
| June 2 | Penguins 4, Red Wings 2 |
| June 4 | Penguins 4, Red Wings 2 |
| June 6 | Red Wings 5, Penguins 0 |
| June 9 | Penguins 2, Red Wings 1 |
| June 12 | at Detroit, 8 p.m. ET |
"You're comfortable. This is where we work. This is where we live. It's our fans, it's our city," Babcock said, in explaining the success at home. "We're proud to be from Michigan and have the opportunity we do in front of our fans."
The Penguins won a Game 7 on the road earlier this postseason when they routed the Capitals to advance to the Eastern Conference finals. But there is much more on the line this time around. And it's against a much better team.
"I think we know what we have to do," Pittsburgh coach Dan Bylsma said on Thursday. "We know what the challenge is. We know the team we're facing and where we're playing the game and we know the stakes. The challenge is to make sure we're focused."
Each team has players who have competed in a Stanley Cup finals Game 7. Pittsburgh's Ruslan Fedotenko scored both Tampa Bay goals in helping the Lightning win the 2004 Stanley Cup. Brian Rafalski's New Jersey Devils beat an Anaheim Ducks team in seven games to win the 2003 Cup. Babcock coached that Ducks team, which also included Penguins forward Petr Sykora and Bylsma as a player.
Babcock asked Rafalski to address the team briefly on Thursday morning about his experience in winning a Game 7. But until they step on the ice, most of the players -- for either team -- won't know exactly how it feels.
"Until I go through the experience, I won't know what to expect," Stuart said. "This is one game, take all. This is the whole season down to one game."
This story appears in June 12's edition of Sporting News Today. If you are not receiving Sporting News Today, the only daily digital sports newspaper, sign up today.
Craig Custance is a writer for Sporting News. E-mail him at ccustance@sportingnews.com.
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