Cross-Checking Game Sevens: Wings Wake-Up Call, Cardiac 'Canes Do It Again

Those manic Hockeytowners have survived one more round. The defending champ Red Wings took out previous champ Anaheim in the West semis, but let their fans stew in self-doubt for 6 games and 57 minutes before advancing.

So the NHL Final Four is here, featuring four working-class cities synonymous with hockey: Detroit, Chicago, Boston, and Raleigh.

That's right, the Carolina Hurricanes, the 2006 Stanley Cup champs are back on the threshold after a second improbable series win.

The team that left broken hearts behind in Hartford continue to succeed in the 919, and are getting downright dramatic about it. In the opening round, they were 80 seconds away from elimination in Newark, before scoring twice in regulation to stun Martin Brodeur, the Garden State faithful, and the hockey world.

Then in Round 2, the Hurricanes blew a 3-1 series lead and had to go back to Boston to win a Game 7 against a hostile crowd. They had to beat Goalie Tim Thomas, who was often "standing on his head" and had to overcome the mojo of our favorite hockey fan:

The Hurricanes finally beat Thomas on a rebound toward the end of the first extra session. Bruins fans still saluted their team after their best season in a long time.

But Boston faithful don't get much of a breather after the Bs were eliminated. The Cs host Orlando on Sunday night and it will be the 3rd Game Seven at the New Boston Garden in a fortnight.

In fact, there will be two Game Sevens in the NBA on Sunday, including the bi-polar Lakers taking on the under-manned, over-compensating Houston Rockets. More appointment viewing ahead this weekend.

Cross-Checking Game Sevens: Penguins March past Washington

Usually, Game Seven of a Stanley Cup Playoff series is pro sports' most enjoyable theater. It's when the stakes are highest and emotion, pressure, attrition, and desperation all reach a crescendo, especially if you reach a gut-wrenching overtime period (or two).

I remember driving through the midwest late at night in May of 1993, hitting seek on my AM radio. I remember being captivated by an OT Game 7 between the Detroit Red Wings and Toronto Maple Leafs. Toronto upset the heavily-favored Wings, and I heard two stunned radio announcers say goodbye to each other for the off-season before they signed off. Talk about finality.

So I put Tuesday's Yankees-Blue Jays game on the back burner for what I was hoping would be one of the great TV events of the year.

Last night's Game 7 didn't provide that type of drama. By the middle of the 2nd period the Pittsburgh Penguins were blowing up the Washington Capitals 5-0 before cruising to victory. The defending Eastern Conference champs served some serious notice with this road thrashing, in a game that they didn't commit a single penalty.

Sidney Crosby, the Pens' 21-year old mega-star, won the showdown with the other "best player in hockey," the Caps' Alexander Ovechkin. And Crosby did it big time with 8 goals in the series, 6 on the road, and a pair in the clincher.

The Penguins seem on track to return to the Cup Finals. And it's an underdog story since they were languishing around the .500 mark in mid-February and summarily fired their coach. But at this moment, only the defending-champ Red Wings are favored ahead of them in Vegas to win it all. And Detroit has their own Game 7 tonight against Anaheim.

In fact there are two Game Sevens tonight. Might just have to put the seat belt back on. Ducks/Red Wings is at 7PM on Versus. Hurricanes/Bruins is at 8 PM on ???? People always argue that hockey isn't a TV sport. Well it might be if you could find it on TV.