Skip navigation
Favorites
Sign up to follow your favorites on all your devices.
Sign up

Red Wings and Sharks will look to history to provide inspiration tonight

San Jose Sharks v Detroit Red Wings - Game Six

DETROIT - MAY 10: Nicklas Lidstrom #5 of the Detroit Red Wings battles for position with Joe Thornton #19 of the San Jose Sharks during the third period in Game Six of the Western Conference Semifinals during the 2011 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs on May 10, 2011 at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Nicklas Lidstrom; Joe Thornton

Gregory Shamus

For the eighth time in NHL history a team has forced a Game 7 after being down 0-3 in the series. Detroit will attempt to be the fourth team to come all the way back after being put on the brink of elimination. While it’s incredible that they could swing the percentages of teams that come back from being down so badly to win to 50% should they pull it off.

While the Sharks will look to the Vancouver Canucks from this year’s playoffs for inspiration on how to get things done in Game 7, the Red Wings will be taking a look back through history both recent and distant for inspiration.

The 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs were down 0-3 to the Detroit Red Wings in the Stanley Cup finals that season. Thanks to the goaltending of Turk Broda, the heroics of Don Metz, and the leadership of Syl Apps the Leafs were able to accomplish the feat for the only time it would happen in the Cup-deciding series. While those days saw just a small handful of teams in the NHL, roaring back from the brink of defeat was still a rarity and the guts of that Leafs team set the example for future teams on how to get things done. Broda earned a shutout in Game 6 of that series while Metz earned a hat trick in Game 4 to light the spark for the comeback.

The 1975 New York Islanders weren’t one of the heroic Stanley Cup winners that made the Isles famous, but that team was loaded with guys who would eventually become legends on the Island and their comeback from 3-0 down against the Pittsburgh Penguins proved to be a rallying point for legends like Denis Potvin, Bob Nystrom, Clark Gillies, and Bob Bourne. While goaltender Billy Smith is the name guy on that team, the man who sparked things for them that year was current Devils broadcaster Glenn “Chico” Resch who coach Al Arbour put in to shake the team up. It worked as Resch led the Islanders the rest of the way through the series as the Isles dominated play on the way to delivering heartbreak to the Penguins.

Last season we all remember for the Flyers remarkable comeback that saw them roar back from down 3-0 in the series to beat the Bruins in seven games. Making that series all the more fascinating is how Game 7 itself played out. At one point the Bruins led the final game 3-0 only to see the Flyers roar back one more time and break the Bruins hearts all over again with it all starting with a James van Riemsdyk goal late in the first to quell the B’s momentum. The rest was history as the Flyers would chip away and win 4-3 in the game and the series.

For Detroit, should they get down early against San Jose tonight looking to last year would be ideal. Of course, Detroit has yet to show any signs of ever giving up in this series when they’ve fallen behind. The Sharks are more than aware of that now and they don’t need history from last year or even 60 years ago to teach them that.

While we don’t know what we’re in store for tonight, history shows us that anything can happen and if you’re someone that believes in things balancing out overall, you’re leaning on the Red Wings. If you’re a believer that the better team will win out, you might be leaning towards the Sharks. If the Sharks don’t clean things up a bit after sloppy play in Games 5 and 6, they’ll have an agonizing summer to think things over. Either way, the drama is set to be sky high tonight.