CALGARY — Jarome Iginla was talking about the value, importance and history of seventh games, but on this subject, the Calgary Flames' captain deferred to a couple of teammates — Alex Tanguay and Stephane Yelle — for one very good reason.
The Flames will play a seventh game against the Sharks in San Jose Tuesday night to decide who wins their best-of-seven Western Conference quarter-final series.
But back in 2001, Tanguay and Yelle were members of the Colorado Avalanche team that won the Stanley Cup in seven games over the New Jersey Devils. Everybody remembers Joe Sakic handing the Stanley Cup to Ray Bourque that season; and Patrick Roy receiving the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP for a record third time in his career.
Easier to overlook was the fact that in that deciding game, the kid that had spent the previous year, his rookie season, living in Roy's basement scored two goals and added one assist in a pressure-packed 3-1 win. That'd be Tanguay, of course.
Craig Conroy of the Calgary Flames is run over by Douglas Murray #3 of the San Jose Sharks during Game 6 of the 2008 NHL Western Conference Quarterfinals at Pengrowth Saddledome in Calgary on Sunday. (Mike Ridewood/Getty Images)
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- Colorado Avalanche
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- Mike Grier
- Jarome Iginla
- Joe Sakic
- Alex Tanguay
- Jim Vandermeer
- Stephane Yelle
Iginla put it this way Monday:
"Going into games like this, we've got a lot of guys who've been in positive situations and won Stanley Cups. Tangs and Yeller have been in Game 7s in the Stanley Cup final and Tangs had two goals and an assist.
"So you draw on those things. Guys shared some of those stories and you just get good vibes going."
Even with his previous Game 7 experience, Tanguay says he still gets nervous.
"Definitely — it's one of the games where, you're anxious for the game to getting going the night before," said Tanguay. "You lie in bed and think about the outcome and the possibilities that can happen. Those are fun. As a hockey player, those are the ones you want to be playing in. Hopefully, by the end of the game, you're on the good side of it."
So far, Tanguay has four assists, but no goals thus far in the series against the Sharks. A seventh game might be just the right time to break out.
"You don't want to go in thinking, 'Oh my god, what if we lose?' You have to be thinking, 'if I get into position, I'm going to put the puck in.' Positive thoughts are always helpful throughout the season and it's no different in a Game 7
"This series has been so tight that inches can make a difference," said Tanguay. "We can't control inches and bounces, but we can control things like discipline and work ethic. That's really what our focus should be on.
"We know the task at hand is going to be tough, but we're going to try our best."
Both the Flames and Sharks were busy, trying to suggest the other team was under the most pressure, with their respective seasons on the line, but Flames' defenceman/forward Jim Vandermeer was perhaps the most honest when he suggested there was equal pressure on both teams.
"That's what I think," said Vandermeer. "Both teams are playing for the Stanley Cup. Both teams want to move on. Both teams have to win. So the pressure's equal. You can say they're the higher seed and they're at home and blah, blah, blah, but bottom line is, we've both got to win."
As for the Sharks, forward Mike Grier thought the return home, where San Jose has won two out of three games in the series, would give them a boost. On Sunday night, prior to leaving for home, Grier calmly stated:
"We expect to win the series. I don't think there's any [other] expectation. Hopefully we can do what they did — they fed off the crowd at times when we started to come. They took the energy from the crowd. I'm sure our building will be loud and our fans will be into it and hopefully, we can take some energy from that."
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