Things haven’t been great for the Anaheim Ducks in Game 7s the past couple seasons.
In 2013, they lost in the first round to the seventh-seeded Detroit Red Wings in seven games. This past season saw them lose in seven to the eventual Stanley Cup Champions, the Los Angeles Kings, again in seven games.
While you might think Game 7 losses might be ruinous to a team, defenseman Cam Fowler thinks otherwise as he said in an interview on the Ducks’ website.
“The biggest thing was experiencing something like that,” Fowler said. “We had a pretty young team, aside from guys like Teemu [Selanne] and Saku [Koivu] – guys who had been in situations like that. For the rest of us, that was our first Game 7 besides when we lost to Detroit the season prior.
“Just being in that situation, a game away from the Conference Finals, we now have that experience as a team. We know what it takes. That was the main difference. LA had a more experienced group and they knew what that situation was like. That’s why you saw the result you saw. We have that to lean back on. If we get that opportunity again, we’ll know how to approach it.”
The possibility of that happening again is strong in the Western Conference, especially in the Pacific Division. With the Ducks, Kings, San Jose Sharks, Vancouver Canucks, and Arizona Coyotes it’s going to be a brutal run to the postseason.
Should the Ducks find themselves in another Game 7, having Ryan Kesler on the roster may help give them an edge and not just to match up against the other beastly centers in the West.