GO
OILERS GO!!! – Our Videos
Dan
Barnes, Edmonton Journal
An ode to Game 7 penned only by the victor would be a vapid transit of hockey’s highest plane.
An ode to Game 7 penned only by the victor would be a vapid transit of hockey’s highest plane.
For the vanquished, Game 7 is a
brick wall, a broken heart, the last stop. Their pain is integral to the
mythology. It’s also the strangest part of the reality.
Because the Game 7s played on your
cul-de-sac, back yard rink, in the alley, the tennis court, the boulevard, you
never lost any of them. You were Bobby Orr, horizontal. You were Wayne Gretzky
or Stevie Y letting fly down the wing. Your arms were always raised, teammates
always mobbed you, the crowd chanted your name.
“You always win. It’s funny the way
that happens when it’s going on in your head,” then-Oiler Chris Pronger said in
2006, on the eve of Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final.
Precious few of these Edmonton
Oilers have turned their boyhood Game 7 dream into either version of the adult
reality. Matt Benning, Drake Caggiula, Jordan Eberle, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins,
Darnell Nurse and others are all new to it, notwithstanding the fact they just
won an elimination game.
Milan Lucic has Game 7 experiences
good and bad. Patrick Maroon has played and Todd McLellan coached in the
pressure-cooker of a Game 7. They’re not looking backward or telling old tales
to the fresh faces in the Oilers room.
Griffin Reinhart #8 of the Edmonton
Oilers hits Chris Wagner #21 of the Anaheim Ducks in Game Six of the Western
Conference Second Round during the 2017 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Rogers
Place on May 7, 2017 in Edmonton. Codie McLachlan / Getty Images
“If you think any of us are standing
up on a soap box and telling the inexperienced people, ‘I’ve been here before,
listen to me,’ it doesn’t happen that way,” said McLellan. “We’ll talk about
our group and what opportunity we have moving forward as a group. We get to
make our own history. We don’t have to rely on another team’s.”
Before the puck drops on Wednesday,
Edmonton’s most recent and relevant Game 7 was played 11 years ago. Going in,
the 2006 Oilers had the dream. Pronger won every Game 7 he played on St.
Charles St. in Dryden, Ont. Shawn Horcoff did the same in Castlegar, B.C. And
Fernando Pisani in his Castledowns crescent.
Until June 19, 2006. In the Stanley
Cup Final.
Related
- Ducks insist they're not thinking of recent Game 7 failures
- Barnes: Draisaitl leads Oilers to convincing Game 6 win
- Jones: Young Oilers maturing rapidly over NHL playoffs
“To lose in Game 7 in the first
round, it’s disheartening. To lose in Game 7 in the Final, that’s just
heartbreaking,” Pisani said recently. “There’s a difference. I just remember
that feeling when that final buzzer went in Carolina, that’s the most
gut-wrenching feeling you’ll ever have as a player.
“Looking back, you don’t get a lot
of opportunities as a player to make it that far. To come that far and come up
empty-handed, it’s probably the toughest thing to get over. And you know what,
I don’t think you ever get over it, just because it’s always, ‘we were that
close.’”
Close enough to watch the Hurricanes
raise the Cup. Close enough to hurt.
The 2017 Oilers aren’t that close.
But there is a Game 7 to play on Wednesday in Anaheim. Passage to the Western
Conference Final awaits the victor, an off-season of regret or perhaps
reflection for the vanquished.
Anaheim Ducks’ Corey Perry (10)
tries to screen the net as Edmonton Oilers’ goalie Cam Talbot (33) makes the
save during the third period in game six of a second-round NHL hockey Stanley
Cup playoff series in Edmonton on May 7, 2017. JASON FRANSON / THE CANADIAN
PRESS
These Oilers are treading in largely
uncharted water. They will have to be careful, but not too careful. That’s the
advice from a few old Game 7 pros with Edmonton ties.
“You have to play exactly the same
as regular season. In the playoffs, you can’t get nervous. I loved to play
those games because every one of them counts,” said Esa Tikkanen.
Play the simple game. Stay on the
right side of the puck. Don’t make the one mistake that turns the game and
haunts your dreams.
“You get into a Game 7, a lot of
times it comes down to one play, a bounce that goes your way,” said Horcoff.
“Those games are usually pretty simply played because no one wants to make that
mistake.”
In 2014, Jarret Stoll and the Los
Angeles Kings were down 2-0 early in Game 7 in Chicago, the crowd was going
nuts and it wasn’t looking good.
To lose in Game 7 in the first
round, it’s disheartening. To lose in Game 7 in the Final, that’s just
heartbreaking.
Fernando Pisani
“But you get a timely save, claw
your way back in and find a way to win the game,” Stoll said.
“You just play the game. You know
what’s on the line and you’ve just got to execute. The room for error is very
slim, for taking a bad penalty or for a goalie to give up a bad goal. Those are
things in a Game 7 that can’t happen. Those are the little things that add to
the pressure. But at the end of the day, you play the game and hope your
teammates are ready to go.”
The Kings won that Game 7 in
overtime and went on to take the Cup from New York. And it helped heal the pain
from 2006.
“We were playing for the City of
Edmonton and basically for all of Canada at that point, and you think of the
fans, the pride the city has in the Oilers,” Stoll said. “That would have been
special to win for the fans and the city.”
Today’s Oilers aren’t even close to
doing anything that special yet. There is a Game 7 to be played on Wednesday.
Win it, and be halfway to the dream. Lose it, and be wiser for the experience
on hockey’s highest plane.
Edmonton Journal-3 hours ago
How can the Edmonton Oilers be
one win from the Western Conference final when Jordan Eberle and Ryan
Nugent-Hopkins have 52 shots ...
Oilers ticket holders
could lose seats if caught trying to scalp
CBC.ca-1 hour ago
CBC.ca-1 hour ago
Oilers expect Klefbom in
lineup for Game 7
Opinion-TSN-8 hours ago
Opinion-TSN-8 hours ago
Unheralded Mark Letestu becomes a force for the Oilers
In-Depth-The Globe and Mail-2 hours ago
In-Depth-The Globe and Mail-2 hours ago
Anaheim Ducks vs. Edmonton Oilers in NHL playoffs
Game 7: Time ...
Live Updating-OregonLive.com-1 hour ago
Live Updating-OregonLive.com-1 hour ago
How the Ducks-Oilers Game 7 impacts the upcoming
Stars' draft
Blog-Dallas News (blog)-20 minutes ago
Blog-Dallas News (blog)-20 minutes ago
No comments:
Post a Comment