Wednesday, June 10, 2009

A Tale Of Two Decades

When it comes to Game 7s in the Stanley Cup Finals, the last two decades bear very little resemblance to each other. For the 10 playoff years between 1990 and 1999 (inclusive), there was just one Game 7 in the Finals (one of the greatest Game 7s ever):

1994: New York Rangers defeat Vancouver Canucks

And yet for the 9 playoff years between 2000 and 2009 (inclusive, minus 2005 when the lockout canceled the end of the regular season and entirety of the postseason), we've seen a plethora of Finals Game 7s:

2001: Colorado Avalanche defeat New Jersey Devils
2003: New Jersey Devils defeat Anaheim Mighty Ducks
2004: Tampa Bay Lightning defeat Calgary Flames
2006: Carolina Hurricanes defeat Edmonton Oilers
2009: Detroit Red Wings and Pittsburgh Penguins battle it out


After only 1/10th of the Finals went the distance in the 90s, more than 1/2 of them did so in the current decade. Quite the contrast!

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