Avalanche vs Wild, game 7 hits the ice tonight at 9:30 PM Eastern Standard Time – 8:30 for Wild fans watching from Minnesota and 7:30 for Avs fans watching the Wild vs Avalanche game from Colorado. Look for both teams to leave everything on the ice in tonight’s do-or-die game 7 of the Avalanche vs Wild opening series of the NHL playoffs .
Nothing beats a game 7 in NHL playoff hockey. Colorado Avalanche’s first year head coach Patrick Roy knows that as well as anyone. The former Montreal Canadiens and Colorado Avalanche net minder – and arch nemesis of the Red Wings teams in the early years of their 23-year-and-counting playoff appearance streak – has been here before. According to a Yahoo! Sports report , Roy has been between the pipes for 13 game 7s in his storied NHL career. This will, of course, be the first time that Roy wears a suit and tie to the game 7.
Roy had this to say after the Minnesota Wild defeated his team to force a game 7 in the Avalanche vs Wild playoff series and when reminded that Colorado’s last game 7 – also Roy’s last game as a professional goaltender, in 2003 – was a loss to the Minnesota Wild:
“How good is this? They’re (Colorado players) excited about it and they should be. We’re playing Game 7 in our building, in front of our fans… That’s (the loss in 2003 with Roy in net) not going to have a big effect on our team, because there are not that many players from then that are still with us.”
Coach Yeo of the Minnesota Wild had this to say headed into Game 7 in Colorado:
“Game 7s are the best and also the worst. You have so much on the line… the players laying it all out there, the passion and the energy of the building and the fans. There’s just so much at stake.”
He’s right, of course. There is a lot at stake, both in the Wild vs Avalanche game 7 and in the two other game 7s being played tonight – Los Angeles Kings vs San Jose Sharks and New York Rangers vs Philadelphia Flyers . Whichever team wins tonight moves on to face the Chicago Blackhawks in round two of the 2014 Stanley Cup playoffs.
You won’t want to miss any of the action in tonight’s game 7 in the Wild vs Avalanche series. If you find yourself away from the TV or somewhere that the game isn’t being covered, you can watch the whole Avalanche vs Wild game streaming online live here .
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