While I would love to write a 50,000 word post about how the Orlando Magic choked away the NBA Finals last night to the Lakers, I will instead focus on the the positives of the sports world. Tonight features the greatest moment in sports, Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals.
As I have posted before I think the NHL playoffs are the greatest playoffs in sports due to the grueling games and the physical abuse that a team must go through in order to hoist Lord Stanley's Cup. The best event in any sport is a Game 7 so naturally when the you get a Game 7 to decide the Stanley Cup Finals, it could easily be considered the best event in all of sports.
I am downright giddy at the prospects of this game. You have the old guard Red Wings trying to add another Cup to their dynasty. On the other hand you have the never say die, young guns Pittsburgh Penguins trying to establish themselves as the new team to beat. You have a series that the home team has held serve throughout the series going back to one of the greatest hockey atmospheres left in the NHL.
You have two great sports cities vying for a title. The downtrodden city of Detroit who has suffered so much economy wise, infrastructure wise, and sports wise. A Red Wings title will not fix their problems but will take some sting out of the Pistons collapse and the 0-16 Lions season. You have Pittsburgh who is trying to continue one of the greatest sports seasons in the city's history. A Steelers Super Bowl win, and University of Pittsburgh run in the NCAA tournament add a Stanley Cup Title and maybe the Pirates season does not look as bad.
You have some of the greatest players in the league taking the ice tonight. Crosby, Malkin, Zetterberg, and Datsyuk. You have Marion Hossa who left the Pens after last year's defeat to go to the Red Wings just because he wanted to win a Cup. You have two goalies trying to prove themselves for different reasons. Chris Osgood, who is looking for his 3rd Cup as the starting goalie, which would elevate him to HOF status and eliminate the questions about his ability. Marc Andre Fleury, who is trying to win his first Cup, and wants to firmly establish himself as a premier goalie in the league.
Finally, there is the great unknown of Game 7 in the NHL, which is that anyone can be the hero. It could be the 3rd line winger or the 2nd line defense man. This is why Game 7's in the NHL are so amazing. There is not tomorrow so every player will be going for broke on every shift. If we are really lucky it will be tied going into the last 8 minutes and that's when the real fun begins. Every shot could be the shot that wins the Cup.
In the greatest of scenarios we could see overtime, and at that point everything goes out the window. You will see stars double shifting and role players delivering huge hits and any bounce or deflection could lift either city to total jubilation while plummeting the other into a crushing defeat.
My prediction Red Wings win 3-2 in overtime. Detroit needs this badly and I am just hoping for a great game.
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