Top-10: Why Cup Final Game Seven Owns The Superbowl
Hockey fans know that the greatest sporting event of the year happens in June, not February.
The following list is as biased towards hockey as you’ll find on the interwebs; we present you with 10 reasons why Game Seven of the Stanley Cup Final is better than the Superbowl.
10. People Don’t Bet On Who Wins the Opening Faceoff
The Superbowl, for many, is an excuse to bet on the tiniest details of a game. What colour sweater will Bill Belichick be wearing? Who will be the first player to step out of bounds? Bets surrounding Stanley Cup Game Seven mostly involve who wins and the final score.
9. No Halftime Show
The NHL doesn’t require a performance by The Who during second intermission to amp up a Game Seven.
8. The Vince Lombardi Trophy is Dinky; The Stanley Cup is Majestic
There’s no contest between the superiority of the Stanley Cup over the Lombardi Trophy, which is about as spectacular as a Tyke house-league championship hockey trophy. The Stanley Cup meanwhile — as even hockey haters will admit — is the sexiest of all trophies.
7. Not Everyone Pretends To Care About The Cup
For some reason, everyone tunes in for the Superbowl and everyone wants in on the conversation. For many, to watch the Superbowl is to stay “in the loop”. Sure, non-hockey fans tune in to Game Seven of the Stanley Cup Final, but its audience is formed of a higher percentage of actual fans than the Superbowl.
6. Played On Home or Enemy Territory, Not Neutral Ground
“Congratulations to the Detroit Red Wings. Nicklas Lidstrom, please come and accept the Stanley Cup!” As the defeated Pittsburgh Penguins look on, the fans in Nationwide Arena in Columbus don’t quite know how to react. The concept of playing a championship game on neutral soil is one of the most idiotic concepts in professional sports. How about rewarding home soil to the team with the better record? A hometown Stanley Cup presentation is one of the most exciting finishes in hockey.
5. You Can Name 90% of The Winning Roster
The NHL playoffs are a great time for learning about the lesser-known contributers on NHL clubs. Beyond the fact that there’s little time in the NFL playoffs to get fully acquainted with rosters, very few players per side are focused on. You’re guaranteed to know the names of six players during the Superbowl: Two QBs, two running backs, and two receivers. Can anyone tell me the name of the right guard for New Orleans?
4. Nobody “Takes a Knee” With 30 Seconds Left
Imagine this: last year’s Game Seven between the Pens and Wings, Marc-Andre Fleury gloves the puck with 30 seconds left, and calmly takes a knee while time runs down. Wow, what a dramatic finish to a championship. Sadly, football games end this way, as have many a Superbowl.
3. Because the Superbowl is a Football Game
If you’re reading this, you’re either a hardcore hockey fan, or a football fan who was directed here by another angry football fan who told you, “Look at what these idiots are saying about football! Stupid puck heads!” Greatest game on earth + winner-take-all culmination of grueling quest = The greatest spectacle in sports.
2. Game Seven Doesn’t Happen Every Year
When we’re lucky enough to see a Cup Final head to Game Seven, it’s a sure sign of an even match-up. You can’t squeak by in the NHL playoffs. When Game Seven happens, it’s unmistakably between the league’s two best teams.
1. The Road To Glory Is Long and Grueling
So the Indianapolis Colts have played two hours of playoff football on their way to Superbowl 44. Wow. Grueling. On their way to the Stanley Cup finals in the Spring of 2009, the Penguins played 17 hours of hockey. The harder the road, the sweeter the glory.
Some people say our Top-10 Archive should be given an award. We agree.
LeafGO on Sun, 7th Feb 2010 9:02 pm
You forgot that the captain is the first person to touch the cup! Not the old geezer team owner. Terrible. No drama at all.
hopelessbudfan on Mon, 8th Feb 2010 4:18 am
Hey you posted this before the superbowl was on? How did you know it would end with taking knees?!?!?!
Great piece! I actually agree with a lot of these points, including the one in the above comment.
Vir S. on Mon, 8th Feb 2010 5:07 pm
Re: Point #4. Valid, but also on the same notion that not all Stanley Cup Finals go to a game 7. There have been some epic finished in the Superbowl (note 2008 and 2009).
Re: Point #5. That's a virtue of the sport, not the championship game. Larger rosters, more substitutions, multiple defensive packages and offensive formations (some would argue this adds to the mental dexterity and complexity involved in both understanding and appreciating football) render the standard 11 man lineup a distant memory. Add to that, offensive lineman are the games unsung heroes, and rather than relying on names, use their performance as a unit for a cumulative yardstick for performance.
Re: Point #1. The violent nature of football restricts multiple game series, and also requires coaching staff, training staff, and players to prepare for 1 final deciding victory in every level of the playoffs. There are no second, third, or fourth chances, no "do-overs", no "mulligans", no "rough nights". If you play poorly, you lose. Prepare as if it was your only chance, simply because it is. In Essence, every game in the playoffs is a game 7.
Points 2,6,7,8,9 are all valid and clear advantages towards the Stanley Cup Finals. 6 can be debated, but I'll give the nod to you regardless.
Re: Point #10. Betting is central to sport, and for many (some may argue a large minority if not a small majority) a major factor in interest for games no featuring ones favourite team. A billion dollar industry can't easily be rule insignificant or a valid contributor to the experience of sport.
Re: #3. It seems you were running low on points. This one is far too subjective and easily ruled out by objective figures that show how dwarfed the finals are both from attendance and viewership (note Detroit's struggles to fill its stand in the playoffs, an original 6 team no less).
Anon on Mon, 8th Feb 2010 5:28 pm
RE: Re: Point #1.
The violent nature of football restricts multiple game series
Because hockey isn't violent at all!!
Rod Tidwell on Mon, 8th Feb 2010 8:40 pm
The point that makes it is #1… 2 hours of playing a sport vs. 17 hours of playing a sport. Didn't the Penguins sweep a series last playoffs too? Ofcourse sometimes its 20 plus games before game seven comes, 17 isn't the norm. These guys are warriors and theres no mistaking it.
canucklehead on Mon, 8th Feb 2010 10:41 pm
yeah seriously!
football players hit hard but imagine getting hit by someone flying at you on ice!
Speed = pain
Carmine on Fri, 12th Feb 2010 4:39 am
hockey > football
canucklehead on Mon, 15th Feb 2010 1:57 am
I read a stat that said there is only like 20 minutes of live action during a football game, the rest of the time is just the clock ticking down between plays…
I'd say point #1 gives hockey the win given that fact alone
RayBourque77 on Sun, 14th Mar 2010 2:03 pm
The cup goes to the CAPTAIN first…
The superbowl gets picked up by the old geezer texas oil barron team owner first, then after its covered in rich fingerprints it gets passed along in its smudgy glory to an actual football player after 5 minutes of photo ops with owner/coach/gm