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Stanley Cup Notebook Tanguay the unsung hero of Game 7
DENVER (AP) -- Alex Tanguay spent his NHL rookie season last year living in the basement of goaltender Patrick Roy's house. A year later, he was the star of Game 7 in the Stanley Cup finals. "There's no better feeling than this," Tanguay said. "As a kid, you always dream of being the one scoring goals in the Stanley Cup finals, but this is unreal. I am a very blessed kid, very fortunate." Tanguay, the youngest player on the Avalanche roster at 21, scored the only goal of the first period, then added another on a rebound of Joe Sakic's shot early in the second period. Moments later, he assisted on Sakic's power-play goal that gave Colorado a 3-0 lead. Asked what he felt while lifting the Stanley Cup on the ice after the game, Tanguay said, "How heavy that thing is. It's unbelievable. I never believed in seeing the Cup before I won it. I never saw it, I never touched it before tonight." Avalanche coach Bob Hartley said Tanguay "kind of hit the wall around Game 4. The more he was trying, the more he was getting away from our plan. We sat down with him, and he refocused. It wasn't the time to put the hammer to him or put him in the doghouse. We needed him. "He responded like Alex Tanguay can respond. He's such a talented hockey player. He's going to have a brilliant career in the NHL because he is so skilled and he loves competing under pressure."
Forgotten ForsbergAvalanche star forward Peter Forsberg, sidelined since having surgery to remove a ruptured spleen on May 10, joined his teammates on the bench near the end of the game and on the ice afterward."I could only watch the first 30 minutes," Forsberg said. "I was so nervous. Then I came to the locker room and took a shower. "It's been so hard for me the last few weeks to have to watch. When you're playing, you can try to help. But when you have to watch, it's awful."
Raining on Avs' paradeOn the eve of Game 7, Denver city officials quietly made tentative plans for a parade on Monday in the event the Colorado Avalanche won Saturday night.They weren't discreet enough, however. The New Jersey Devils, who made similar tentative plans for their own parade before losing Game 6, got wind of the Colorado plan. "Anger isn't the word," Devils defenseman Ken Daneyko said Saturday morning. "I think it's pretty funny, actually, I get a kick out of it. Nobody's won nothing yet. "There's still a hockey game to be played, and we're pretty excited about the opportunity to put a little bit of disruption in the parade plans the city has already made here." After the game, the Avalanche confirmed there would be a parade in downtown Denver at noon Monday.
Arnott improvingDevils center Jason Arnott pronounced himself almost 100-percent for Game 7."All the symptoms have pretty much gone away, and I'm feeling a lot better," he said Saturday morning. Arnott was hit by a puck in the left temple early in Game 4. He missed the rest of that game and Game 5 because of concussion-like symptoms that included headaches and dizziness, but he played 16 minutes in Game 6. "I took a few days off there, and when you do that it kind of hits you," he said. "It's nice to get a game under my belt before [Game 7]. Hopefully, I'll feel better on the ice than I did the last game and get my legs back a little bit more." Arnott played 18 minutes and had two shots on goal in Game 7.
Slap shotsHolik won't be receiving any Christmas cards from actor John Travolta. As many athletes do, he killed time Friday night at a movie theater, watching Travolta's latest, "Swordfish." Asked his impression, Holik said, "It occupied a couple of hours." ... Devils defenseman Sean O'Donnell returned to the lineup, replacing Ken Sutton. O'Donnell played in the first four games of the series but not the next two. ... Saturday night's game was the 100th Game 7 in the Stanley Cup playoffs since the best-of-seven format was introduced in 1939. The home team now has won 62 times.
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