Red Wings/Sharks Game 7 – The most epic game

BREAKING NEWS as of 8:07 pm: Johan Franzen is out of the lineup tonight. Kris Draper will be in his spot instead. Source is the Red Wings’ pregame show on FS Detroit..

BREAKING NEWS as of 8:49 pm: According to TSN, Ryane Clowe will be playing for San Jose.

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In all my years of watching Red Wings hockey, I have never seen this before. My Red Wings have forced a Game 7, coming back with three straight wins after dropping the first three games. As Ansar Khan of MLive.com put it…

The Detroit Red Wings have just about done it all during a two-decade run of excellence that has included 14 division titles, 15 100-point seasons, six Presidents’ Trophies and four Stanley Cups.

Now they have a chance to accomplish something even this storied franchise has never done — battle back from a 3-0 deficit to win a playoff series.

As a hockey fan, one can see something unique every game. Anything can happen. And, despite so many great playoff moments…Red Wings fans haven’t seen the potential for this since 1945. Simply amazing.

Obviously, tonight is not the usual game to preview. With that in mind, here’s a ton of random news, notes and minutia on tonight’s historic matchup.
Both Johan Franzen and Ryane Clowe will be game-time decisions tonight, as injury concerns get outweighed by the situation of Game 7.

Johan Franzen has struggled all series and sat out Game 6, but the Mule has always been an amazing playoff performer. It’s a feast or famine type of situation, but the Wings did win Game 6 without him.

Per Fox Sports Detroit, and the top of this post…Kris Draper is playing tonight, as Johan Franzen is out. So, don’t worry about the italicized stuff.

Ryane Clowe has an upper-body injury from Game 5, which kept him out of Game 6. The likely culprit of that is a massive hit from Niklas Kronwall on Clowe. Although Clowe is one of San Jose’s biggest playoff scorers, the Wings have held him goalless in the series.

I think that both players will want to play, even if it’s against their best interests, because it’s playoff hockey and all. This decision will come down to the coaches, as the short-tern risk will have to be balanced against potential gains later on in the playoffs.

Since 1995, the Red Wings’ Game 7′s have been as follows:

1996 Western Conference Semifinals, St. Louis – In Detroit, the Red Wings won 1-0 on Stevie Yzerman’s iconic shot from just inside the blueline. One of the biggest goals in Red Wings history.

2002 Western Conference Finals, Colorado – The Red Wings blew out Colorado 7-0, in one of the most memorable games of recent Red Wings history. The Wings came out hot and never looked back, getting Patrick Roy pulled after six Red Wing goals.

2009 Western Conference Semifinals, Anaheim – Dan Cleary’s goal with a couple minutes left won the game and the series for the Red Wings. A pass in front led to Cleary swatting the puck out of the air, and then pushing the puck into the net, along with Ducks goalie Jonas Hiller’s pad. Although the Ducks disputed the play, the Wings held on for the win.

2009 Stanley Cup Finals, Pittsburgh – I don’t think much needs to be said about this game. I’m sure you can see the ending to this one on any of the NHL’s commercials running throughout the playoffs.

2010 Western Conference Quarterfinals, Phoenix – After a very even series, the Red Wings crushed Phoenix 6-1. Pavel Datsyuk scored a pair of goals in about two minutes, and Jimmy Howard had a great game despite earlier lapses in the series.

While every game 7 is unique, the Red Wings have typically found ways to win, despite some very evenly matched series. This is definitely a good sign for tonight, especially since San Jose has the opposite kind of resume.
Seven other teams have gone down 3-0 and forced a Game 7. The 1st, 3rd, 5th, and 7th teams lost their final game, the 2nd, 4th, and 6th teams won and advanced.

The Red Wings are the 8th team to do this.

Not only do we have the numbers on our side, but number 8? An octopus does have eight legs, after all….

Gordie Howe is predicting a win. Check that article out here, from the Detroit News. If Gordie Howe says it’ll be a win, it will be a win.

And with that, I’ll predict a Red Wings victory as well. Detroit will win tonight, with both Gordons in unison. Time to make and watch history, Detroit. Go Red Wings.