Lucky #7

It could be Seventh Heaven for Canucks' fans tonight. Or the 'Nucks could commit the Seventh deadly sin in a series in which they've been fatally flawed on a number of occasions.

But here's the thing; outside of injuries, I'm convinced that none of the previous six games have anything to do with game 7.

Because for every argument you can make, there is a valid counter-argument. For example:

1. Dallas has all of the momentum. True. Having won games 5 and 6, the Stars should be confident heading into Game 7. But a similar momentum didn't result in a Canucks' win last Thursday when the locals had their first opportunity to clinch the series. And it didn't help the Canucks back in '04 after winning a triple-overtime thriller in Cowtown. They still lost Game 7.

2. Marty Turco has been unbeatable. Looks that way doesn't it? Turco has 3 shutouts this series (tying an NHL playoff record for a 7 game set) and he may actually have been better in the games in which he allowed goals. But Luongo has been as good or better than Turco and here's an interesting stat to consider. The Stars have not won a game in which the Canucks have scored. Will Turco shut them out again? Maybe, but I'm guessing no.

3. The Stars have shone in Vancouver. Dallas has won 2 of the 3 games in Vancity and narrowly missed winning the third as well. Plus the Canucks have dropped the last two game 7's they've played at the Garage. But history tells us that home is generally sweet. In fact, home teams have won around 64% of seventh games in the NHL playoffs.

You get the picture. So much happens over a seven-game series that when the 7th game evetually rolls around, you can make an argument for either team based on what has happened to this point. But the beauty of the playoffs is that it doesnt matter what you've done. It only matters what you do tonight. If the Canucks advance, do you really think people will harp on the fact that the Sedins have been invisible too often or that the powerplay is 1-for-28 in the first 6 games? Those stats and arguments are for teams that lose. And you can expect to hear them a lot if Vancouver bows out.