Minnesota sports fans know about heartache. We don't need to detail that entire list here, but suffice to say we would need a rather large notebook.
But if this often tragic history is giving you any type of emotion beyond excitement for Wednesday night's Game 7 between the Wild and Avalanche -- fear, trepidation, etc. -- we are here to put your mind at ease with a reminder: it doesn't always turn out bad. As a matter of fact, in do-or-die Game 7s, Minnesota sports teams have actually fared quite well over the years.
Consider:
*The Twins, famously, won a pair of Game 7s at home to win both the 1987 and 1991 World Series. Even this generation of Twins has a win in their only winner-take-all game: Game 5 of the 2002 ALDS.
*Both times the Wild has made it to a Game 7 -- both on the road in 2003 -- Minnesota came away with a victory. The first, famously, ended Patrick Roy's goaltending career. Eleven years later, the Wild will attempt to end his first season of coaching.
*The Wolves have only played one Game 7 in their history -- the 2004 Western Conference semifinals, a victory over Sacramento.
*Even the old Minneapolis Lakers won Game 7s in the finals twice: 1952 and 1954.
We'll do a ranking of these (and perhaps other) Minnesota Game 7s in tomorrow's paper. Your thoughts are, as always, welcome in the comments. But for now, take heart: This is one type of history lesson that often ends well.
