Since the NHL season started on October 7th there have been 1,318 games played.
Game 1,319 takes place Wednesday night in Vancouver and it is the most important one of the season.
Tomorrow night the legacy of Boston & Vancouver will be written for the 2010-2011 season. Either the Bruins will win their 1st cup in 39 years or the Canucks will end the 40th NHL season with their 1st Stanley Cup.
But the legacies of each teams aren't only at stake. What happens tomorrow night will define how we view coaches & players for now & years to come.
Here are some key figures from each team that have the most to gain or lose in Game 7.
Zdeno Chara:
Chara signed a five year deal worth $37.5 million back in the summer of 2006. After he signed Boston named him team captain filling the void left when Joe Thornton was traded to San Jose.
When I think of team captains I think of guys like Messier, Yzerman, & Sakic. Players who just by their mere presence willed their teams and found ways to win.
I have never gotten that impression watching Chara play.
To me Chara is a guy that was given the "C" because there was an opening and he was the highest paid player on the roster. I questioned his leadership skills last summer when the Flyers rallied down three games to none to win the series over Boston.
I guarantee a leader like Messeir, Yzerman, or Sakic would have never let that happen.
Right now I don't believe in Chara as a captain. If the Bruins win tomorrow night I'll have to give him his due.
The Sedin Twins:
The Sedin Twins were drafted 2nd & 3rd overall by Vancouver in the 1999 NHL Entry Draft.
Vancouver had missed the playoffs three years in a row and were rebuilding when GM Brian Burke swung a deal on draft day to acquire the Sedin Twins hoping they would be the foundation for the Canucks to build upon.
The Sedin Twins helped the Canucks to their 1st playoff berth in four years in 2001 and have lead Vancouver to the playoffs eight times in their 10 years in the NHL.
Last year Henrik won the Hart Trophy for NHL MVP while Daniel is a nominee for the award this season.
While both have been very good in the NHL I have always felt that they are very good as complementary players but not players that can lead their team to a Stanley Cup.
To me Henrik's role as team captain is similar to that of Chara where the Canucks needed a captain and they gave it to their best player.
Personally I think Ryan Kesler would make a better choice as captain of the Canucks but that's just my opinion.
Either way if Vancouver wins Game 7 the Sedin Twins become more than just two great NHL players. They prove Brian Burke knew what he was doing when he drafted them to rebuild the Canucks.
Claude Julien:
Anyone who knows me knows I'm not a big fan of Claude Julien as a head coach.
I think he's stubborn to a fault for his unwillingness to adjust in game situations. He doesn't trust his best players in key situations (Ex: Use of Tyler Seguin on the Power Play)
There are times I look at him behind the bench and he seems completely lost. I'm convinced that the main job of his assistants are to let him know there is a hockey game going on.
Last year I called for Julien to be fired after Boston lost their playoff series to Philadelphia. Boston GM Peter Chiarelli was more patient than I was and decided to bring him back. Now he is one game away from winning the Stanley Cup.
If Julien wins tomorrow night I'll have to reconsider how I view him as a head coach. He'll never be a Scotty Bowman. But he will be mentioned in the same breath as Mike Keenan & Joel Quennville, Two coaches who came in and ended long droughts leading an Original six franchise to a Stanley Cup.
That's not bad company to be in.
Tim Thomas:
Don't get me wrong here. Tim Thomas has already proven this year he is a top notch NHL goaltender. He leads the playoffs with a .937 save percentage and a GAA of 2.06.
Win or lose tomorrow night he is the odds on favorite to win the Conn Smythe Award.
What's at stake here is how we remember Tim Thomas after tomorrow night.
Thomas is 37 years old and only has a few more years left as a NHL goaltender. This may be the closest he ever gets to being a Stanley Cup champion.
If he wins tomorrow night he'll be remembered as one of if not the most underrated player in the NHL history to win the Stanley Cup.
If he loses but wins the Conn Smythe his playoff run will be remembered like Ron Hextall's was back in 1987. A spectacular run but with an empty feeling in the end.
Nobody wants to be like Hextall.
Roberto Luongo:
Nobody in this series has been more Jekyll & Hyde than Roberto Luongo.
Drafted 4th overall in the 1997 NHL Entry draft Luongo's credentials they speak for themselves. He is a 4 time all star. He's won A IIHF
When you watch him play in Games 1, 2, & 5 you wonder why he isn't mentioned in the same breaths as Patrick Roy & Martin Brodeur.
When you watch Games 3, 4, & 6 you realize why that is.
When Luongo is good he is spectacular. When he is bad he is Florida Panthers bad.
Nobody has more at stake tomorrow night than Luongo. He has proven he can come up big in international play facing the best players in the World.
Winning the Stanley Cup is a totally different animal to tame.
I don't think he's in the same boat as Roy or Brodeur but if he wins tomorrow night he can put himself in the same company as Mike Richter, Domink Hasek & Ed Belfour.
If he doesn't win he will be at a career crossroads and it will make for a long summer in Vancouver.
Either way no matter what happens tomorrow night the perception of everyone involved changes after Game 7.
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