Sure, I do know what you’re pondering. The NHL Entry Draft is tonight. The day when franchises encourage hope with flashy draft picks, make important personnel adjustments, and look towards the longer term. Nevertheless, just some quick days in the past, all eyes within the hockey world had been on Amerant Financial institution Area in Dawn, FL. It was, after all, the crescendo of a Stanley Cup Closing that was as drama- and storyline-filled as a playoff sequence that we’ve seen in latest reminiscence. It wouldn’t be so daring to say that it was one of many largest video games performed within the historical past of the NHL, undoubtedly of latest generations. There have been quite a lot of causes for this, probably the most important of which was that it carried the potential to be the primary Stanley Cup victory since 1942 the place a workforce overcame a 3-0 deficit to win all of it. It nonetheless deserves to be talked about.
Sadly for Edmonton Oilers followers, and people unfold about Canada that needed to see the nation’s 30-plus season Stanley Cup drought finish, that didn’t occur. As Florida Panthers head coach Paul Maurice mentioned in his postgame interview on the ice, the workforce “wanted to lose three video games to discover ways to win 4.” They did simply that with a defense-first, smash-mouth model of recreation led by Sergei Bobrovsky, Aleksander Barkov, Sam Reinhart, Carter Verhaege, Sam Bennett, and others.
The sequence was enthralling, intense, and evenly contested, albeit in a bizarre approach. The high-end talent and stylistic matchup that it was arguably made it the very best Closing that we’ve seen in a very long time. So, it begs the query – how does it evaluate to different latest Sport 7s within the Stanley Cup Closing? Effectively, let’s have a look now, and rank it in opposition to its counterparts.
No. 5: St. Louis Blues Defeat Boston Bruins (2019)
Let’s preface this by saying that all Sport 7s are dramatic, thrilling, and nerve-wracking. That’s the fantastic thing about a winner-take-all situation. Rating them is like splitting hairs. However let’s interact within the train for the enjoyable of it, we could?
We’ll begin with the latest Sport 7 earlier than the 2024 version. The Boston Bruins got here out on the improper facet of a slim sequence loss after they fell to the upstart St. Louis Blues within the 2019 Stanley Cup Closing. A house-ice loss, in Boston no much less, is as gut-wrenching because it will get, and it was their second straight defeat within the championship spherical (2013) after clinching in 2011 with a Sport 7 victory of their very own (extra on that later).
The Blues resembled the 2024 Oilers in that they climbed out of an early season last-place gap to earn a playoff bid and fought their approach by 19 playoff video games to clinch a berth within the Closing. The Bruins, then again, cruised to a second-place end within the Atlantic Division and dispatched the Toronto Maple Leafs, Columbus Blue Jackets, and Carolina Hurricanes in 17 video games to succeed in the ultimate spherical. So, why does this matchup with the Bruins fall fifth of the 5 most up-to-date Sport 7s? For one, the sequence itself was a back-and-forth affair, with solely two one-goal video games between them. Video games 6 and seven led to 5-1 and 4-1 scores, respectively. Certain, one-sided affairs are nice if you’re a fan of the workforce, however for leisure worth, it doesn’t ship as a lot juice. Every workforce deserves their props for placing themselves ready to safe a championship, however in Sport 7, we would like drama, nail-biting motion. It is available in at quantity 5.
No. 4: Boston Bruins Defeat Vancouver Canucks in Wild, Penalty-Stuffed Sequence (2011)
Sport 7 of the 2011 Stanley Cup Closing, a 4-0 victory by the Bruins over the Vancouver Canucks, was the fruits of an absolute gong present of a playoff sequence. Premier NHL agitators and hard guys littered each rosters, together with Brad Marchand, Shawn Thornton, Zdeno Chara, Andrew Ference, and Milan Lucic for the Bruins, and Ryan Kesler, Alex Burrows, Max Lapierre, Kevin Bieksa, and Raffi Torres for the Canucks. You can virtually create an entire roster of gamers you hated taking part in in opposition to however little question beloved having in your workforce. To not point out, highly-skilled gamers comparable to Patrice Bergeron, Tyler Seguin, David Krejci, Daniel and Henrik Sedin, and Roberto Luongo had been all around the ice and featured elements of the sport plan on each side.
This recipe made for an ideal sequence, riveting in its physicality, depth, and talent. The Bruins, nonetheless, dominated Sport 7 and cruised to a victory and due to this fact their first championship in 39 years, which set off a sequence of infamous riots within the streets of Vancouver following the sport. This recreation falls in at quantity 4 just because it didn’t dwell as much as the drama, high quality, and expectation established by the earlier six video games.
No. 3: Hurricanes Defeat Oilers in First Cup Closing Following Lockout (2006)
The 2005-06 season ushered in a brand new, post-lockout period of hockey, and culminated in an exhilarating Stanley Cup Closing between the Carolina Hurricanes and Oilers. Like many sequence that got here earlier than (and after), it featured generations previous and new, with guys like Ryan Smyth, Chris Pronger, Doug Weight, Glen Wesley, Dwayne Roloson, and Rod Brind’Amour sharing the ice with Eric Staal, Cam Ward, Andrew Ladd, Jarret Stoll, Ales Hemsky, and different younger gamers. As we speak’s recreation was a unique model of hockey than that of 2006, and the sequence was bodily, and slower-paced, however nonetheless contained loads of offense.
Sport 7 of this sequence was notable from the standpoint that the Oilers roared again from a 3-1 sequence deficit to drive the winner-take-all recreation. That was a hardly ever seen feat in hockey, not to mention in sports activities, which raised the stakes significantly and paved the best way for an epic deciding recreation, and it delivered. The Hurricanes constructed a 2-0 lead heading into the third interval, however an early third-period aim by Fernando Pisani lower that lead in half and led to a razor-thin, intense ultimate 19 minutes. The Hurricanes, after all, held on and secured their first Stanley Cup championship and the primary of a brand new period within the NHL. The sport famously was Pronger’s final in an Oilers uniform and was traded to the Anaheim Geese that summer season, the place he would win a Cup of his personal the very subsequent season.
No. 2: Pittsburgh Penguins Avenge Sequence Loss in SCF Rematch With Purple Wings (2009)
This sequence, in comparable methods to the 2024 Closing, carried a load of exterior components and storylines. It was a rematch of the championship spherical from the earlier season. Sidney Crosby, 21 years previous and already the very best participant within the recreation on the time, Evgeni Malkin, and Marc-Andre Fleury, the younger core that they had been, tried to recover from the hump in opposition to a veteran, defensively minded workforce. They pressured a Sport 7 by holding off a Purple Wings cost in a 2-1 Sport 6 victory.
Associated: High 10 Memorable Video games of the Crosby Period
Sport 7 adopted an analogous script to Sport 6 in that it was an in depth, defensive effort on each side with minimal offensive exchanges. As is the usual in playoff hockey, heroics usually come from sources you wouldn’t anticipate, and this recreation was no totally different. Maxime Talbot produced each targets within the recreation for the Penguins, which they might find yourself profitable 2-1, after as soon as once more holding off a late-third interval cost by the Purple Wings. After overcoming sequence deficits of 2-0 and 3-2, Crosby and firm received their candy revenge and first Cup by delivering a back-and-forth, entertaining Sport 7 victory in opposition to an Unique Six franchise. It ranks because the second-best Stanley Cup Closing Sport 7 since 2006 in my ebook. Much more spectacular? Crosby missed many of the recreation with an harm.
No. 1: Panthers Narrowly Keep away from Historic Comeback Bid by Oilers to Win in 7 (2024)
It’s actually troublesome to argue in opposition to this previous Monday’s Sport 7 as being the very best of its form within the final 20 or so years. A number of of the matchups we mentioned at the moment featured the sport’s finest participant on the time. Nevertheless, this time round, not solely was the very best participant within the recreation, maybe sooner or later the very best of all time, the primary attraction however there was most likely extra expertise on these rosters than any earlier Closing.
The matchup storylines and questions had been infinite. Would the dynamic offense of the Oilers, one of the harmful in latest historical past, maintain up in opposition to a bodily, hard-nosed, defense-first Panthers protection? Would Bobrovsky, who has performed higher hockey than anybody these earlier two playoff seasons, stand tall in opposition to Connor McDavid, Leon Draisatl, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, and Zach Hyman? Let’s not neglect {that a} championship was on the road for a Canadian franchise as soon as once more, a rustic that has starved for a championship for over 30 years.
Recency bias is definitely an actual factor, however this sequence delivered from each potential angle. Depth? Examine. Drama? Examine. Ability, finesse, and physicality? Sure, sure, and sure. You identify it, and this sequence had it. What initially regarded like a sequence that may finish in an underwhelming whimper turned out to be one of the entertaining and evenly contested sequence we’ve seen in a Stanley Cup Closing in a while. Sport 7 ended up a microcosm of the sequence as an entire: intense, back-and-forth, and razor-thin.
No Sport 7 Is the Identical…and That’s a Lovely Factor
Let’s be actual: Sport 7s in sports activities are a deal with to make sure, however as we are able to see, not all are created equal. In 2006, 2009, and 2024, we had been handled to video games that had been shut, intense, and true nail-biters. In 2011 and 2019, not a lot. If we return only a bit additional to 2003, when the Anaheim Geese and New Jersey Devils performed a Sport 7 within the Closing, then we see that generally, they aren’t aggressive. Generally a workforce simply runs out of fuel, is outmatched, or simply doesn’t have sufficient to get the fourth win. For good purpose, Sport 7 is often known as the best two phrases in sports activities. They’re the final word drama, and hockey followers have been handled to a number of nice ones within the final handful of years.
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