The Duality of Game 7

Over the weekend, to end the 1st round of playoffs for the NBA & NHL, we were lucky enough to get four combined Game 7s. This is a treat in itself, yes. But the quality of these games? Vastly opposite. Two straight nights with the NBA & NHL showing a Game 7 in similar time slots...and the NHL blasted the NBA. Yet again, it’s the year of the NHL, as the quality of the game ran circles around the NBA.

While the NBA delivered two very meh games, the NHL threw at us drama, former stars (seriously no pun intended) beating old teams, and buzzer beaters!

On Saturday night, well to start this off I had one major complaint: for some reason, two teams from the same market played basically 30 minutes apart. Colorado teams usually pull fans from Wyoming, Idaho, the Dakotas, and Nebraska too. So by doing that, you just hurt your ratings, maybe, but mostly the people who don’t have two screens! But as always, Big Cat is right: you need to have two screens for these situations.

Alright, now onto the actual games. With the two competing directly against each other, it looked like a comfortable Colorado sweep, as the Denver Nuggets led by 30 and won by 20, a complete snooze fest. Meanwhile, in Dallas, the Avalanche didn’t seem distracted like Twitter was… iykyk. They took a 2-0 lead into the 3rd period and THEN the storylines hit. The Dallas Stars had not overcome a 2-goal deficit in the 3rd period all year.

In comes the former Av, Mikko Rantanen, the forgotten star, willing his NEW team back from nowhere! His 4-point, 3-goal third period turned the game upside down, shocking all NHL fans by sending the Dallas Stars, in regulation which in the 3rd period had to be an insane live bet, to the 2nd round. So while the NBA game was a turn-off midway through the 3rd quarter, the NHL gave us a must-see classic, leaving our jaws on the floor. They do always say a 2-goal lead is the most dangerous in hockey, and the Stars proved it in a win-or-go-home instance.

We then got a Sunday repeat.... yes two more Game 7s. How did we get so lucky?! Expectations were high for the NBA series between the Golden State Warriors and Houston Rockets, as it had been a dogfight all series, inlcuding a blow up in game 6, leaving us excited for what could come in the finale. Instead, yet again, the NBA pretty much flopped. This one wasn’t as bad on the scoreboard like the night before, but as sports fans, we develop a sort of intuition. And this one was sending off sirens of a "never in doubt" type of Warriors win.

First off though... dudes...the jerseys. what complete clownshow choices for a Game 7. Who thought of that? You have to go main jerseys for a win-or-go-home. Geez, NBA. Okay, next...yes, the game got kind of close a couple times, but the Warriors just very boringly stayed in control. Also, it was just a bad game of basketball: missed bunnies, open 3s, and just gross play overall. If the Warriors get to the WCF, they could be one of the worst teams ever to make it. After Curry & Butler, the team is gross.

So, as the snooze fest continued, the St. Louis Blues were on the road in Winnipeg trying to take down the top-seeded Jets, taking a pivotal 3-1 lead in the 3rd period, with goalie Jordan Binnington standing on his head. The dude loves the spotlight. But then outta nowhere a frantic comeback, capped by a goal from Cole Perfetti, his second of the game, with freakin 1.6 seconds left sent it into OT.

After nearly 100 minutes of hockey, in 2OT, with everyone’s legs basically bowls of jelly, the Jets got a big one from captain Adam Lowry to send them into the 2nd round! A shocking end, and another night where the NBA was left tipping their cap to another NHL masterclass. This has just been the year of the NHL. Time and time again, they’ve gone up against the NBA and bodied them in entertainment value. Of course, we still have 3 rounds of playoffs left, and the Pacers did take down the top-seeded Cavaliers in Game 1 on the road, so hope is there. But full body of work? Any sane sports fan can’t honestly argue NBA over NHL this year.

The product the NHL has put on the table has been historic...with the face of the league returning from a broken leg to break one of the “unbreakables” in sports, to a USA vs. Canada brawl in an All-Star event, to now Game 7s that leave you nothing short of stunned. This is all coming from a basketball coach who loves the game, and I can’t help but give a well-deserved round of applause to puck.