Supriya Ghosh (Editor)

Game seven

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A game seven is the final game of a best of seven series. This game can occur in the postseasons for Major League Baseball (MLB) (League Championship Series and World Series), the National Basketball Association (NBA) (all rounds of the NBA playoffs), and the National Hockey League (NHL) (all rounds of the Stanley Cup playoffs).

Contents

The game is generally played at the site of the team holding the home advantage across the series.

The nature of a best-of-seven series requires that the series be tied at 3 games apiece going into Game Seven, such that either team can take the series (advancing further in the playoffs or winning the championship) by winning the game. Because of this decisive nature, game sevens add an element of drama to their sports.

Aside from North American sports leagues, game sevens are also a fixture in many other sports around the world, mostly in baseball, basketball, and ice hockey leagues. Most codes of football do not employ a best-of-seven series (or any best-of-x series in general), hence game sevens are not played in those leagues.

Some playoff rounds (such as MLB's current Division Series) are played in a best of five format, such that Game Five has similar qualities to those described above, though the suspense and drama have less time to build in a shorter series. Furthermore, the World Series of 1903, 1919, 1920, and 1921 were played in a best of nine format, though none of the four went to a decisive Game Nine.

The game seven is comparable to a final or to a single game in a single-elimination tournament or to a one-game playoff. The game is equivalent to the Super Bowl game in the National Football League in that the game's winner is the league's champion for the season.

Major League Baseball

In the MLB postseason, Game 7 can occur in the League Championship Series and the World Series (the divisional series are best of five). In the World Series, there have only been 38 decisive Game Sevens (of the four World Series that were contested on a best-of-nine basis, none went to a Game Nine, though all four included a non-decisive Game Seven).

World Series

World Series that were decided on a game seven: All extra inning game 7s involve three franchises each with two appearances, the New York/San Francisco Giants (losing both), the Washington Senators/Minnesota Twins (winning both) and the Cleveland Indians (losing both).

League Championship Series

The League Championship Series were originally decided best of five from 1969 until 1984. Since 1985 when both were expanded to best of seven contests, 15 series (6 American, 9 National) were decided in game seven.

League Championship Series that were decided on a game seven:

National Hockey League

In the NHL playoffs, Game 7 can occur in all playoff series. In the Stanley Cup Final, the NHL gained complete control of the Cup in 1926, and the league instituted the best-of-seven series starting in the 1938–39 season. No Stanley Cup Final game 7 ever ended with a 1-0 score.

The games seven where the Cup was awarded are:

National Basketball Association

All playoff rounds in the NBA are now in a best-of-seven series format so all rounds can have a maximum of seven games. The NBA Finals has been consistently played in a best-of-seven series format since its inception.

The games seven where the champions were awarded are:

Chinese Professional Baseball League

Taiwan Series that were decided on a game seven:

Comebacks

In only eight instances has a team been able to come back from being down 0–3 to win a series:

  • The Toronto Maple Leafs vs. the Detroit Red Wings in the 1942 Stanley Cup Finals
  • The New York Islanders vs. the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 1975 Stanley Cup Quarterfinals
  • The Boston Red Sox vs. the New York Yankees in the 2004 American League Championship Series
  • The Philadelphia Flyers vs. the Boston Bruins in the 2010 Stanley Cup Eastern Conference Semifinals
  • KalPa vs. the Espoo Blues in the 2012 Liiga playoffs
  • The Los Angeles Kings vs. the San Jose Sharks in the 2014 Stanley Cup Western Conference Quarterfinals
  • SKA St. Petersburg vs. CSKA Moscow in the 2015 Gagarin Cup Western Conference Finals
  • San Miguel Beermen vs. Alaska Aces in the 2015–16 PBA Philippine Cup Finals

    • Mike Richards and Jeff Carter are the only players to have been a part of two comebacks from being down 0-3, having played for both the 2010 Philadelphia Flyers and the 2014 Los Angeles Kings.

    Additionally, the following nine teams were able to force a seventh game in a series after being down 0–3, subsequently losing it:

  • The New York Rangers vs. the Boston Bruins in the 1939 Stanley Cup Semifinals
  • The Detroit Red Wings vs. the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 1945 Stanley Cup Finals
  • The New York Knicks vs. the Rochester Royals in the 1951 NBA Finals
  • The New York Islanders vs. the Philadelphia Flyers in the 1975 Stanley Cup Semifinals
  • The Denver Nuggets vs. the Utah Jazz in the 1994 NBA Western Conference Semifinals
  • The Portland Trail Blazers vs. the Dallas Mavericks in the 2003 NBA Western Conference First Round
  • The Chicago Blackhawks vs. the Vancouver Canucks in the 2011 Stanley Cup Western Conference Quarterfinals
  • The Detroit Red Wings vs. the San Jose Sharks in the 2011 Stanley Cup Western Conference Semifinals
  • The Toledo Walleye vs. the South Carolina Stingrays in the 2015 Kelly Cup Eastern Conference Finals

    • The Islanders are the only team to have forced two game sevens after falling behind 0-3 in a series in the same postseason.

    References

    Game seven Wikipedia
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