The NHL has a rare chance for a much-needed “signature moment” Friday night in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals. Think back through all the defining Stanley Cup moments of your lifetime and you’d be hard-pressed to think of many freeze frames that stand frozen in time. To say they are few and far between would be a gross understatement.
You say Ray Bourque finally holding the Stanley Cup over his head in 2001. I say, great, but that was after the game concluded.
You say Bob Nystrom scoring the Cup-winning goal in overtime in 1980. I say okay, but that was only Game 6 of the series and is probably not even recalled by casual fans.
You say Bobby Orr flying through the Garden air after winning the 1970 Stanley Cup in overtime. I say it was Game 4 of the series and the Blues were basically an expansion team, not to mention that was almost 40 years ago.
Other than those, I can’t think of many other modern Stanley Cup moments that are forever etched in the minds of hockey fans. Friday’s Game 7, however, has the ingredients to provide one of those rare, memorable moments badly needed to help promote and market the game going forward and one player in particular has the potential and ability to make that moment happen——- Sidney Crosby. Crosby entered the league as the newest “Next Great One” and has lived up to the enormous expectations but has been hearing, if not seeing, the footsteps of Alexander Ovechkin the past couple of regular seasons. Game 7 gives Crosby the chance to distance himself from Ovechkin and truly make his North American face the undisputed face of the league, much to the delight of the NHL league offices.
The 1950 Detroit Red Wings were the last team to win the Stanley Cup in overtime of Game 7. Imagine it’s overtime of this year’s Game 7 and Crosby gatheres the puck in the neutral zone, dekes a defenseman and performs an acrobatic move to slide the puck past Chris Osgood, winning the Stanley Cup over the hearty defending champions. A mega-star would be born and the NHL’s marketing division would immediately cancel all summer vacations.
The sport desperately has been awaiting a magical moment. What do you say, Sid?
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ozzy 06.11.09 at 4:56 am
The replay, complete with Dan Kelly’s great call of the Orr goal is shown more than any in the sport. And you’d have to say that the photo of him flying through the air is the most iconic in hockey. Overall, I agree though. Crosby with a rink long rush followed by a top corner goal would be good for the sport.