Rite of Spring 2013 (NHL Playoffs): "You have no fear of the underdog, that's why you will not survive."

[Sodboy13]

Game 7 is gonna be fun if you don't have a rooting interest in either Detroit or Chicago.

As for me, probably gonna die.

[Kramerica Industries]

Writing off the Red Wings too soon here, fellas.

I want the Blackhawks to win, because I want a Kings/Blackhawks Conference Finals series (which means, if LA loses tomorrow night, I couldn't care less on Wednesday). But we've seen teams drop 3-1 series leads before, have to go on the road for Game 7, and bounce back and salvage the series victory. The 2009 ECSF series between Carolina and Boston has some conspicuous similarities to the developments of this series. At the end of the day, though, you have to favour the 'Hawks, who have finally found something of a gameplan and are using their considerable strengths to their advantage now.

[The_Admiral]

It would be so Red Wings for everyone to be like COULD THE BLACKHAWKS COMPLETE THIS MAGICAL COMEBACK AND BE THE FRANCHISE THAT SAVED HOCKEY ALL OVER AGAIN??? and then lol no

[ninersdd]

It would be weird if it was a DET vs SJ conference final this year after all those years of them being high seeds and this year it would 6 seed vs a 7 seed.

[CS85]

My brain is broken.

[drdougfresh]

Unless we take a 7 goal lead into the 3rd, I don't see the Wings winning game 7 in Chicago.

It's like they forget how to play in the third. 20 GA in the third, vs 12 in the first and second. I don't get it.

[The_Admiral]

Their defensemen aren't good and their top six is sort of old, so breakdowns ahoy.

If the refs call a tight game and the Hawks play disciplined, they should have it. The more statistical noise is allowed, the better Detroit will do, which runs counter to everything we've ever known about the Red Wings for the past 20 years but attests to the cleverness of their coaching and management. I'll be a nervous wreck for sure.

[BigEd76]

we've seen teams drop 3-1 series leads before, have to go on the road for Game 7, and bounce back and salvage the series victory

Besides the series you mentioned, 2008 Flyers vs Capitals is the only other time it happened in the last 10 years, and that game 7 ended in OT too

[Kramerica Industries]

Well, yeah, that one too.

Not a common occurrence, of course, but much more likely to occur in hockey than in basketball, that's for certain. I probably can never recall an identical basketball situation where the lower seed managed to win Game 7 on the road. Hockey, especially in this golden age of parity, is ripe for these situations.

Those are two squads with champions all over their rosters. Detroit won't be fazed with a road Game 7, and Chicago knows not to take Detroit for granted.

[zpqmaowl]

I just hope tonight's gane is out of hand early, à la Game 6 of the finals.

[JQK]

I just hope tonight's gane is out of hand early, à la Game 6 of the finals.

If the refs f*** the Sharks over like they did the Devils in game 6 last year, it may be...

[The_Admiral]

Harrison Mooney is bitching about the penalty shot the Hawks got hahaha of course he is. Guy writes for like three outlets and it's the same crap in all three.

[Kevin W.]

The Wings' fans' grip on reality seems to be slipping. The rule book cannot be any clearer: that was the right call by the refs.

[The_Admiral]

Mooney is a Canucks fan; he's just rooting against the Blackhawks. Which is fine, I guess, I'm glad the rivalry is there, but he's insufferable nonetheless.

[Kevin W.]

I was just speaking in generalities. Every Wings fan is bitching about that one shot and saying nothing about all of the missed penalties and the Toews headhunting in the first five games.

[ninersdd]

we've seen teams drop 3-1 series leads before, have to go on the road for Game 7, and bounce back and salvage the series victory

Besides the series you mentioned, 2008 Flyers vs Capitals is the only other time it happened in the last 10 years, and that game 7 ended in OT too

The last time before that was 2000 Sharks over Blues.

Tonight who will be the hero? Who will follow in the line of Jamie Baker, Ray Whitney, Owen Nolan, Jeremy Roenick, and Patrick Marleau, all Sharks Game 7 heroes.

[GFB]

I was just speaking in generalities. Every Wings fan is bitching about that one shot and saying nothing about all of the missed penalties and the Toews headhunting in the first five games.

I find it funny that Blackhawks fans are saying that Wings fans are endlessly complaining about the officials (I must have missed those posts in this thread) but they have no right because the Blackhawks are the ones who should be (and are) complaining about bad calls. Hypocrisy at its finest. Either way, I'd rather it be the fans doing the complaining than the coach or captain of my team... Speaking of which, whatever happened to those "the refs won't take any more crap from players" misconduct penalties, as Toews has received ALOT of leeway from the refs with his tirades on the way to the box multiple times a game? Yzerman was ejected from a playoff game for less.

Also, by my count, the Wings are 0-2 since Morgo put his Wings avatar back up. C'mon, man.

[The_Admiral]

They haven't been endlessly complaining. It's really just been in the wake of the penalty shot.

[sportstar1212]

I just realized that if the Kings and Hawks advance, then it will be the last 4 champions in the final four.

[GFB]

They haven't been endlessly complaining. It's really just been in the wake of the penalty shot.

So like Hawk fans after game 3 and the goalie interference then...? Of course I thought the penalty shot was weak (almost as bad as the Toews one from a few years back), but I'm more pissed my team played like crap in their biggest 3rd period of the season.

I also have no pity for Blackhawk fans whining about clutching and grabbing after Wings fans did the exact same for 15 years, only to receive a giant middle-finger from the league and had to play through it... Hell, the reason it got so much attention to begin with is that Eddie Olczyk and the rest of "Team Blackhawks" NBC announcing crew point it out at every little occurrence... God, do I miss Gary Thorne.