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While the Canucks carry baggage with them, Blackhawks face first Game 7 since 1995

Patrick Kane, Corey Crawford, Patrick Sharp

Chicago Blackhawks’ Patrick Kane, left, Corey Crawford and Patrick Sharp, right, celebrate their 5-0 win over the Vancouver Canucks during game 5 of an NHL Western Conference quarterfinal Stanley Cup playoff hockey series in Vancouver, Canada on Thursday April 21, 2011. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Darryl Dyck)

AP

When it comes down to tonight’s two Game 7 matches, the Chicago Blackhawks share some things in common with the Buffalo Sabres. Along with being a lower seed playing this decisive game on the road, they also somehow go into this contest with far less controversy and confusion surrounding their team.

The Canucks face questions about the psyche of their franchise goalie Roberto Luongo, their killer instinct after dropping three straight games and criticism for their GM’s penalty-related complaints.

It’s pretty strange that the defending Stanley Cup champions go into a Game 7 with a relatively clean slate, but that seems to be the case. Here’s the interesting thing, though: the team actually never faced the do-or-die pressure of a Game 7 in last year’s playoffs. That probably underscores just how dominant they were in their Cup run in 2010, but it shows that Vancouver isn’t the only team under the microscope.

In fact, Chicago hasn’t played in a Game 7 since 1995, when the team beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 5-2. The Blackhawks and Leafs would need to meet in the Stanley Cup finals for such an event to happen again.

Chicago’s all-time record in Game 7 contests: 5-4

Vancouver’s all-time record in Game 7 contests: 5-4 as well, with their most recent game being a 4-1 win against the Dallas Stars in 2007.

For all the well-deserved criticism sent the Canucks’ way, young players like Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews have never played in a Game 7 before in their NHL careers. Kane can only look to his experiences in the minors and maybe that 2010 gold medal game he played against his current teammate for comparable feelings of mutual desperation. He still thinks the heat is on the Canucks, though.

“It was in the OHL,” Kane said of an Ontario Hockey League showdown when he was playing for the London Knights. “We were actually up 3-0 on the Soo Greyhounds, and they came back 3-3 and we ended up winning at home. It was a pretty fun game to be a part of.”

(snip)

“I still feel all the pressure’s on them,” Kane said. “They’re the ones who were up 3-0, they’re the first seed in the West, they were kind of predicted to win the Cup this year and go really far.”

Kane’s probably right, but this young group’s first Game 7 provides a nice little wrinkle to all the Canucks-centric hysteria. It just proves that Chicago faces pressure as well, even if they probably don’t need to worry about being the laughing stock of the hockey world in defeat.