Many young hockey players across the globe have dreams of scoring the Stanley Cup winning goal in game 7. Game 7s are nerve-racking for both players and fans. One win away from ultimate glory, but one goal away from bitter defeat.
Mark Messier. Jari Kurri. Henri Richard. Jean Beliveau. Andy Bathgate. Gordie Howe. Hall of Famers; also players scoring the game winning goal in a Stanley Cup game 7. But, the list isn’t limited to stars. Max Talbot, Frantisek Kaberle, Ruslan Fedotenko and Mike Rupp are also on that list. But Hall of Famer or not, the player who scores the Cup clinching goal is etched into the minds of their fans forever. He’s a hero, regardless if he is a first liner or fourth liner.
Some kids carried their dream further and dreamed about scoring a game 7 winner in overtime, but that does not happen in the NHL too often. The last time the Stanley Cup was won in overtime in a game 7 was 1954 by Detroit’s Tony Leswick. Leswick dumped the puck into the Canadiens’ zone, where it deflected off a defenseman and into the net. He did not even realize he had scored until he saw his teammates celebrating.
So who scores the Cup clincher tonight? Twitterers threw in their opinions.
The popular choice was Ryan Kesler, who @Mfreys, @DurtyPuckhead, @lyssaaaah and @TheNatch_ picked despite not having a goal in this series. @MattyTets picked Alex Burrows based on the fact that he’s been “clutch all postseason.” Burrows has 9 playoff goals, 2 of them winners, including Vancouver’s game 2 win. @Shmermel and @AngrytownsMayor chose unsung heroes, going with Jannik Hansen and Tanner Glass respectively. @Pucktacular went with the man who eliminated the Sharks, Kevin Bieska. @Mtrible and @JoeyHurricane chose game 1′s hero, Raffi Torres.
The Bruins got some love, though. @PhillyReign_MD said Johnny Boychuk “burns one in the twine” in the second overtime. @ActiveStick_44 picked Mark Recchi because “experience is nothing to undervalue. Recchi has it and he has all the determination in the world to come out and play like it’s his last shot at ever hoisting the Stanley Cup again. He has been in a game 7 in the Stanley Cup Final before [2006 with Carolina]. In games like these it’s not the star players that create a great story. Recchi is not one of the superstars in this series, but you can expect him to come up huge tonight.” @RobDickinsonAB went along with the non-star theory and chose Brad Marchand. @Puremetal33 picked playoff scoring leader, David Krejci (12 goals, 23 points).
Who do I pick? Torn between my head (Daniel Sedin) and my heart (Manny Malhotra). I think it would be a great story if Malhotra ended up scoring the Cup clincher after the rocky season he’s had. But I’m going with my head and picking Daniel Sedin.
