Se7en

"7's the key number here. Think about it. 7-Elevens. 7 Dwarfs. 7, man, that's the number. 7 chipmunks twirlin' on a branch, eatin' lots of sunflowers on my uncle's ranch. You know that old children's tale from the sea. It's like you're dreamin' about Gorgonzola cheese when it's clearly Brie time, baby. Step into my office."
"Why?"
"'Cause you're f-in' fired! "

How do you top a come-from-behind OT winner in the opening game of the playoffs? Or a season-saving goal with under 3 minutes to play? And do so by a long, long way? Even with the distinct possibility of handshakes last night, I didn't think there was any way I'd walk out of that stadium thinking I'd seen a game every bit as intense and dramatic as all the other Hawks playoff games combined.

Yet that's what happened at the UC last night. I saw seven different incredibly exhilarating goals, each spread out enough to not have bled into any of the others, and every single one of them appearing to be a major game- and series-changing score. So why don't we relish this moment by walking through each one:

6:47 left in the 1st, down 1-0

The replays focused on the goal itself - which was impressive - but watching the play unfold, if you were paying close attention you saw that the real accomplishment was the way Kane absolutely pantsed the Canuck defender at the blue line. Against this kind of defense, in this type of game, you just don't see that happen. As the defender came over to block Kane's path by stepping in front of him against the boards - a move the Canucks have used successfully all series - Kane combined his stellar quickness and agility to slide around the blueliner, creating a ton of space to work with as he continue into the Canuck zone.

From there, Kane showed aggressiveness in taking the puck to the net, putting a sweet shot on goal that beat Luongo and tied the game up. Given how the Hawks had out-played the Canucks until that point and yet were down 1-0, this was much-needed to keep both the team and the crowd feeling it.

16:06 left in the 2nd, tied 1-1

Rick Rypien had just really laid out Eager, something countless players have attempted but few have succeeded at. Worse yet, it didn't seem like the Hawks would make him pay, as less than 30-seconds remained on the resulting power play. But that's when Versteeg did what Versteeg always does - combined his hockey smarts, his grit, and his talent to make multiple big plays. Buff and another Hawks forward were battling behind the Vancouver net to gain control of the boards, when Versteeg used that uncanny sixth sense of his to see exactly how the play would unfold.

So he abandons his responsibility out in front of the net to go to the exact spot where the puck scoots free and then doesn't waste a second before firing a no-look pass out to Seabrook on the point. With the Canucks having collapsed down to win the battle along the boards, Seabrook was wide open to create a great chance.

That move alone would have been a beauty, but it wasn't enough for Versteeg, who then circles around, comes off the boards, takes the pass back from Seabrook, finds an impossible angle for both himself and his shot, and buries it behind one of the best goalies in hockey. The Hawks now have their first lead of the night and one of their earliest leads of the series.

9:43 left in the 2nd, up 2-1

The Hawks wasted little time extending their lead and even less taking advantage of a great hustle play by Ladd to draw a penalty on the Canucks best killer, Willie Mitchell. Just 14-seconds into the power play, after some great cycling by Havlat and Barker up top, Toews finds himself with the puck and a lot of space in one of his favorite spots - just outside of the goal, a step or two off the goal line. He skates in, puts a shot on, and then follows up to score on his own rebound.

You kids at home, remember those two lessons well and you'll find yourself on the scoresheet in many a game. First - put the puck on net when you have a chance. Take a split second to get off a good shot, but don't wait around for that perfect angle, that sure-thing opportunity. Instead, if you've got a clear look at the goaltender, put it on him. And second - follow up those shots, be them yours or someone else's. Especially with your own shot - often times the defender is positioned to block your shot, but not in a good place to keep you from getting free and banging back the rebound. That's what happened with Toews, as he walked in free and clear and put his own rebound past Luongo, giving the Hawks what looked like a commanding two-goal lead.

14:19 left in the 3rd, down 4-3

In the playoffs you need to get contributions from everyone, including your 4th liners. Mostly that means some grit, energy, and solid defense. But every once in a while you like to see them score, especially in a key situation. It just totally changes the feel of the game when a shift that shouldn't have lead to much instead results in a momentum-changing score.

That's what happened when Burish found paydirt in the third. So much had been going on in the game, the momentum had swung so far, so quickly, that it wasn't clear what the Hawks had gotten themselves into before Burish scored. Leading 3-1 at the halfway point of the contest, the Hawks had just given up three straight goals late in the game. That's something they hadn't done all post-season. Most of the scoring flurries they had weathered came early, allowing them time to rebound.

But here the Hawks were, a half-game away from an improbable Western Conference Finals birth, defending a two-goal lead in front of some of the most rabid fans in sport, and they proceeded to cough up three straight goals in less than a period.

Thanks to Burish, I didn't have time to register the magnitude of the letdown the Hawks had just suffered. There's always that instant defensive response to a goal, that initial thought about how you can get it back with a bit of work and luck. Generally the game continues for a few minutes and the reality of how tough it is to score sets in, upping the nervousness and concern.

Here, a great shift by everyone on the ice erased the Canucks' lead before it really registered. Despite losing the draw, both Eager and HJ do yeoman's work along the boards to keep the play in the Vancouver end. Then Burish jumps about a foot into the air to knock a puck down with his mitt, Eager cycles it down to Sharp, who continued to flash his under-appreciated playmaking skills by beating the defender in the corner before coming out from behind the net for a chance.

When the puck sneaks off of Sharp's stick, Burish is in perfect position coming in towards the play at the net (see what I mean - crash the net and good things will come), snags a perfect unintentional pass and takes advantage of the traffic in front of the net to beat Luongo, evening the score at 4 a piece.

7:00 left in the 3rd, down 5-4

I could pretty much just copy the paragraphs above about not having time to fully realize the severity of the situation. With under 8-minutes to go in a hard-fought game, the Hawks again give the momentum back to the Canucks and look to be letting the series slip away. Again though, before you can comprehend what happened, the Hawks erase it.

Campbell gets credit for starting the chance, highlighting the impressive way he's stepped up his game in every way when it matters most. He takes a puck in the neutral zone and skates hard into the Canucks zone, getting all the way below the goal line before coughing it up around the boards.

Kaner is in the right spot to tip it back around the net toward Brouwer, who can't quite handle it but, like Campbell, shows how he's raised his game when the team needs it. Brouwer hustles hard after the puck and rotates it back down behind the net. Again - kids, learn from this - Brouwer didn't have much for options, so he cycles it down low, knowing it gives his team that much more of a chance to make a play and keep it in the zone.

Guess what - that's exactly what happens. A Canuck blueliner easily gets Brouwers dump behind the net, but then he inexplicably dilly-dallies rather than skating up the open lane. That mistake allows Kane to pick his pocket behind the net, then bounce a wrap-around in off of Luongo to once again destroy what should be significant Vancouver momentum before it gets going.

6:11 left in the 3rd, tied 5-5

I sound like a broken record here, but when you score this many goals, you're gonna get a lot of repeat occurrences. Plus, if you keep doing the small smart, hard-working hockey things, you're gonna keep getting goals. It's really that simple.

Again, Campbell is aggressive in the offensive zone and pushes the puck back behind the Vancouver net. Toews is behind the net on the other side to receive it and cycles it out to Havlat. Havlat gets it back to Toews, who is in his wheelhouse just over the goal line aside the net. And again - you put it on net, good things happen. Toews was trying to sneak it through the crease to Sharp, camping out in his favorite spot diagonal from the post. The puck never gets there though, as it bounces off a Canuck defender straight into the back of the goal.

Was it what Toews meant to do? Not specifically, no. But Toews definitely meant to put the puck on or around the net. To use a bastardization of a football cliche, Toews knew that three things could happen with that pass across the crease, and two of them were good (it gets through to a wide-open Sharp or takes a fortunate bounce as the pass is broken up).

This goal has epitomized what Toews brings to the table. It showed both his main goal-scoring skill (he's great around the net) and his playmaking skill (seeing Sharp across the way), but it also showed his incredible hockey sense. Much had been made of Toews not getting on the score sheet during the series, something the charitable fans wrote off to a flu. But sick or not, scoring or not, Toews was an impact player in this series even before he netted two last night.

That's what makes him special - he's that rare breed of scoring playmaker who also does the little things. He's one of the best face-off men of this playoffs. Despite limited minutes and being at less than full speed, Toews has made countless big little plays that go largely unnoticed. I can't tell you how many times I notice a forward come back to make a key play in the defensive zone - the kind that doesn't get attention - and then realized that it was Toews who had done it.

Locking up an open defender, bodying a guy around the net, stepping in front of a Canuck charging for a loose puck - the list of ways he's contributed goes on and on. That type of play from your leading goal-scorer, who also happens to be a second year, 21-year old kid playing in his first playoffs - that's unheard of.

3:43 left in the 3rd, up 6-5

With all the scoring that had gone on, I actually felt more nervous after the Hawks had taken the lead this late than when they were down previously. The best comparison is one of those high-scoring back-and-forth football games where it becomes clear that the last team with the football is gonna win. There were 6 minutes left when Toews gave us our first lead of the third period - it just didn't seem like there was any way we were gonna make that hold up. Our salvation seemed to lie in another score.

Of course, with Kane already having a pair of goals, the idea of a hat trick to seal it was looming large (at the time, it wasn't clear to me that Toews scored the 6th goal, his second of the night, meaning he also had a shot at that dramatic clinching hatty). So when Kane picked yet another Canuck defender's pocket back at his own blue line to start a one-on-one rush, you were already kinda thinking hat trick.

But it wasn't a very good opportunity for Kane himself. The remaining defenseman was positioned perfectly in front of him and seemed more than up to the task. And behind him sat Luongo, who despite the barage, still had shown himself capable time and again of bigtime saves (his play early in the game has since been forgotten, but the reality is that the Hawks could have been up 3-0 after the first, no problem).

So while you were hoping Kane would somehow sneak one in, the reality is that the best chance at that 7th goal was probably in another Hawk skater following Kane in for a good pass or rebound. In fact, Toews was in just that situation, having hustled up ice to trail Kane. And if I can repeat myself again, Toews won't get much credit for it, but in skating hard to get in the play, he commanded the attention of the trailing defenders, which allowed Kane the small bit of room he needed to maneuver.

Know what? I still don't get how Kane did it. The defender played it just right, sticking in front of Kane the entire time. Kane made a nice move to go forehand to backhand, through the defender's skates, but the defender was absolutely right to ignore the puck and instead play the man (another lesson for you kids).

Didn't matter. Nor did the fact that Luongo had no one else to worry about (the hustling Toews was locked up by two different Canucks). Nor did the fact that Kane had no angle and that the beast-sized Luongo had closed down the entire half of the net that Kane had access to.

Nope, somehow Kane backhanded the puck with enough velocity that Luongo couldn't lunge back for it, yet with the pinpoint accuracy to sneak through the defenseman and find the farside of the net.

BEDLAM! Pure, unadulterated BEDLAM! As cavernous as the UC is (it holds 23,000 and features three different levels of sky boxes and three different levels of seating, all set back behind each other, making it one of the biggest arenas in the entire world), the place absolutely rocks during hockey games. Playoff or otherwise, Hawks fans are some of the best in the biz at making noise.

But in a clinching game, to get a hat trick from your beloved young star, the seventh "big" goal of the night, to seal the series and put you into an improbable conference finals? Now that's a level of noise and commotion rarely experienced. Despite already celebrating six different scores already - complete with bear hugs, non-stop high fives, and a stellar yell-along rendition of "Chelsea Dagger" (by the Fratellis) each and every time - there was no shortage of energy to celebrate the magical seventh.

And not just for your standard goal-celebrating period. No, we celebrated straight on through the entire process of littering the ice with hats and then cleaning those hats up. We rocked both "Chelsea Dagger" and "Rock You Like a Hurricane" (by the Scorpions), and then "Chelsea Dagger" one more time for good measure.


Yes my friends, last night the Hawks were seven times awesome. And that allowed me to roll out the classic There's Something About Mary hitchhiker rant about 7-minute abs. And of course to reach pure sports ecstasy seven different times during the game. But the reality is today's Commit 2 The Indian is not brought to you by the number seven. Nope, it's actually been brought to you by the number 8.

As in 8 more wins to the Cup.