It’s being thrown around all over NHL coverage. Pittsburgh or Detroit? Stats are flying left and right. The home team is 12-2 in the 14 game sevens Stanley Cup finals history. The last time the visiting team won a championship in game seven in the NHL was in 1971. In all of sports, it was the 1979 Pittsburgh Pirates (is that fate knocking that it was a Pittsburgh team?)

In the past nine years, five of the fourteen game sevens occurred. And it’s the first time in Red Wings history that they’ve played a game seven in the Cup final. All of it’s enough to make your head spin.

But, to answer the title question, who will win game seven is rather simple: the fans win. This playoff year has had it’s ups and downs, but to be treated to a game seven with these two teams is…well, words fail me.

Game six’s U.S. ratings were down slightly from last year (4.1 vs 4.4). Partly it was due to Detroit’s 5-0 decisive win over the Penguins in game five, but the broadcast was also in direct competition with game three of the NBA championship, and will do so again on Friday. Considering the NBA Finals can’t end, viewership for game seven should be up. It would be nice to break a 5.0 share.

But I can’t imagine a more fitting ending to the 2009 season. Will Sidney Crosby win his first Cup, or will Detroit win its fifth in twelve years? One thing’s for sure. The fans can’t lose.

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