WEBVTT 00:00:00.480 --> 00:00:02.680 Welcome to the Deep Dive. If you're joining us 00:00:02.680 --> 00:00:04.759 today, you're probably someone who loves to unpack 00:00:04.759 --> 00:00:08.380 those specific pivotal moments where an entire 00:00:08.380 --> 00:00:10.759 landscape seems to shift all at once. Yeah, those 00:00:10.759 --> 00:00:13.880 really distinct turning points. Exactly. And 00:00:13.880 --> 00:00:17.039 today we are immersing ourselves in the 2006 00:00:17.039 --> 00:00:20.960 -2007 National Hockey League season. And our 00:00:20.960 --> 00:00:23.160 mission for you today, based on all the historical 00:00:23.160 --> 00:00:25.679 sources and stats we've gathered, is to explore 00:00:25.679 --> 00:00:29.039 why this specific window in time acts as the 00:00:29.039 --> 00:00:31.839 ultimate bridge between the old school grit of 00:00:31.839 --> 00:00:34.799 the NHL's past and the high -flying, skill -heavy 00:00:34.799 --> 00:00:38.039 game we know today. It really is a fascinating 00:00:38.039 --> 00:00:40.740 transitional year to analyze. When you look at 00:00:40.740 --> 00:00:43.240 the landscape of the league that season. You 00:00:43.240 --> 00:00:45.759 see these incredible, almost contradicting patterns 00:00:45.759 --> 00:00:48.259 happening all at once. Right. You have this huge 00:00:48.259 --> 00:00:51.179 influx of legendary veteran players hitting massive 00:00:51.179 --> 00:00:53.500 career milestones, and they're doing it right 00:00:53.500 --> 00:00:56.259 alongside this explosive youth movement that 00:00:56.259 --> 00:00:58.340 completely takes over the ice. And all of this 00:00:58.340 --> 00:01:00.380 is happening while the league itself is experiencing 00:01:00.380 --> 00:01:03.039 some major growing pains and successes, really 00:01:03.039 --> 00:01:06.019 in the new salary cap era. Precisely. It was 00:01:06.019 --> 00:01:08.719 a league trying to find its new identity. Let's 00:01:08.719 --> 00:01:10.900 jump right into the foundation of that season, 00:01:11.000 --> 00:01:13.480 because even before the puck dropped on opening 00:01:13.480 --> 00:01:15.920 night, the league was undergoing some pretty 00:01:15.920 --> 00:01:19.340 significant structural and cosmetic changes. 00:01:19.819 --> 00:01:23.340 We had the salary cap bumping up to $44 million 00:01:23.340 --> 00:01:26.280 per team. Which was a big increase for the time. 00:01:26.420 --> 00:01:29.640 Huge. And we had a flurry of arena name changes, 00:01:29.799 --> 00:01:32.859 too. The Savas Center became the Scottrade Center. 00:01:33.019 --> 00:01:37.909 The MCI Center became the Verizon Center. captured 00:01:37.909 --> 00:01:39.670 everyone's attention, happened out in California. 00:01:40.010 --> 00:01:42.709 The Mighty Ducks of Anaheim officially became 00:01:42.709 --> 00:01:45.269 just the Anaheim Ducks. And that wasn't just 00:01:45.269 --> 00:01:47.510 a simple marketing tweak, you know, just to sell 00:01:47.510 --> 00:01:49.689 some new jerseys. This was a complete franchise 00:01:49.689 --> 00:01:52.230 maturation. You have to remember, when the team 00:01:52.230 --> 00:01:54.930 was formed back in 1993, they were literally 00:01:54.930 --> 00:01:57.109 named after the Disney movie. Right, the Emilio 00:01:57.109 --> 00:01:58.909 Estevez movie. Exactly. They were owned by the 00:01:58.909 --> 00:02:01.129 Walt Disney Company. So dropping the Mighty and 00:02:01.129 --> 00:02:03.609 introducing a completely new logo and color scheme 00:02:03.609 --> 00:02:06.709 before the 06 -07 season was really the franchise. 00:02:06.989 --> 00:02:09.050 declaring a clean break from their original owners. 00:02:09.250 --> 00:02:10.990 They were stepping out of that Hollywood shadow. 00:02:11.270 --> 00:02:13.330 Yeah, they were demanding to be taken seriously 00:02:13.330 --> 00:02:16.009 as a traditional heavyweight hockey club. They 00:02:16.009 --> 00:02:19.930 completely shed that underdog movie script persona. 00:02:20.650 --> 00:02:23.789 And as we'll get into later, the timing of that 00:02:23.789 --> 00:02:26.310 rebrand could not have been more perfect. But 00:02:26.310 --> 00:02:27.729 before we get to the playoffs, I want to look 00:02:27.729 --> 00:02:29.569 at the actual mechanics of the gameplay that 00:02:29.569 --> 00:02:32.009 year. There were some really interesting statistical 00:02:32.009 --> 00:02:34.050 shifts happening on the ice. Oh, absolutely. 00:02:34.270 --> 00:02:36.530 The numbers from that year are fascinating. For 00:02:36.530 --> 00:02:38.830 one, there were far fewer penalties called compared 00:02:38.830 --> 00:02:41.409 to the previous year. It averaged out to about 00:02:41.409 --> 00:02:45.629 398 per team. But counterintuitively, overall 00:02:45.629 --> 00:02:48.949 goal scoring actually went down and shutout spiked 00:02:48.949 --> 00:02:52.099 to 150 for the year. Right. Yet at the exact 00:02:52.099 --> 00:02:55.620 same time, even strength goals went up to 4 ,715. 00:02:56.539 --> 00:02:59.000 So help me synthesize this. What was the actual 00:02:59.000 --> 00:03:00.960 product looking like for you if you were sitting 00:03:00.960 --> 00:03:02.919 in the arena? Well, you're looking at a game 00:03:02.919 --> 00:03:06.000 that is naturally recalibrating itself. The previous 00:03:06.000 --> 00:03:09.780 season, 2005 -2006, was the first one back after 00:03:09.780 --> 00:03:11.500 the lost lockout year. The year there was no 00:03:11.500 --> 00:03:13.900 hockey at all. Right. And when they came back, 00:03:14.080 --> 00:03:16.659 the league had cracked down incredibly hard on 00:03:16.659 --> 00:03:19.460 obstruction fouls. You know, hooking, holding, 00:03:19.620 --> 00:03:21.560 the clutching and grabbing that really bogged 00:03:21.560 --> 00:03:23.620 down the late 90s. It was basically a parade 00:03:23.620 --> 00:03:26.159 to the penalty box that first year back. It was. 00:03:27.060 --> 00:03:29.620 Because players weren't used to the strict enforcement, 00:03:29.819 --> 00:03:33.000 we saw a massive unnatural spike in power plays, 00:03:33.180 --> 00:03:36.479 which obviously inflated overall scoring. But 00:03:36.479 --> 00:03:40.020 by 06 -07, the players had adjusted. They weren't 00:03:40.020 --> 00:03:41.780 committing as many of those obstruction penalties. 00:03:42.080 --> 00:03:44.099 So fewer power plays means fewer total goals. 00:03:44.340 --> 00:03:46.650 Exactly. But because the game was still flowing 00:03:46.650 --> 00:03:49.330 freely without that old dead puck area interference, 00:03:49.710 --> 00:03:52.349 teams were generating much more offense during 00:03:52.349 --> 00:03:55.229 regular 5 -on -5 play. The speed was back. It 00:03:55.229 --> 00:03:57.409 was just a healthier, much more organic version 00:03:57.409 --> 00:03:59.430 of the sport. Yeah, defensemen were being forced 00:03:59.430 --> 00:04:01.430 to defend with their feet and their positioning 00:04:01.430 --> 00:04:03.729 rather than just, you know, water skiing behind 00:04:03.729 --> 00:04:06.310 forwards with their sticks. That increased 5 00:04:06.310 --> 00:04:08.969 -on -5 flow completely changes the rhythm for 00:04:08.969 --> 00:04:11.639 the guys in the crease, too. When you aren't 00:04:11.639 --> 00:04:13.539 constantly shifting between the penalty kill 00:04:13.539 --> 00:04:16.300 and the power play, goalies can actually settle 00:04:16.300 --> 00:04:19.500 into a groove. And with 150 shutouts across the 00:04:19.500 --> 00:04:22.939 league, they clearly figured something out. It 00:04:22.939 --> 00:04:24.860 felt like we were watching an absolute masterclass 00:04:24.860 --> 00:04:27.540 in goaltending that year. Specifically with that 00:04:27.540 --> 00:04:29.819 legendary duel for the Vizina Trophy between 00:04:29.819 --> 00:04:32.639 Martin Brodeur and Roberto Luongo. Oh, it's a 00:04:32.639 --> 00:04:35.139 dead heat between two absolute heavyweights in 00:04:35.139 --> 00:04:37.899 their prime. Both Berger in New Jersey and Luongo 00:04:37.899 --> 00:04:40.360 in Vancouver were putting together career -defining 00:04:40.360 --> 00:04:42.680 campaigns. And they weren't just battling each 00:04:42.680 --> 00:04:44.600 other. They were chasing a ghost. Bernie Parent. 00:04:44.800 --> 00:04:46.980 Bernie Parent. They were both closing in on his 00:04:46.980 --> 00:04:50.019 record of 47 wins in a single season, a record 00:04:50.019 --> 00:04:52.399 that had stood entirely untouched since 1974. 00:04:52.620 --> 00:04:55.620 Over three decades of hockey and nobody could 00:04:55.620 --> 00:04:58.600 touch 47 wins until this season where they both 00:04:58.600 --> 00:05:01.480 basically get there. Luongo finishes the year 00:05:01.480 --> 00:05:05.259 with a staggering 47 wins, tying parent, but 00:05:05.259 --> 00:05:07.620 Berdure just keeps going. He was on an absolute 00:05:07.620 --> 00:05:10.500 mission. On April 3rd, he ties it in a shootout 00:05:10.500 --> 00:05:13.220 against Ottawa. Two days later, he breaks it 00:05:13.220 --> 00:05:16.060 with his 48th win against the Flyers. Berdure 00:05:16.060 --> 00:05:19.860 takes the Vizina. Luongo is the runner -up. But 00:05:19.860 --> 00:05:21.680 looking at the data, the environment they were 00:05:21.680 --> 00:05:23.660 playing in was fundamentally different than the 00:05:23.660 --> 00:05:26.579 70s, right? How much of an asterisk goes next 00:05:26.579 --> 00:05:29.019 to that 48 -win mark? It's a massive contextual 00:05:29.019 --> 00:05:31.360 difference, and it completely changes how we 00:05:31.360 --> 00:05:34.980 evaluate eras. Bernie Parent got 47 wins in an 00:05:34.980 --> 00:05:37.560 era where if a regular season game was tied at 00:05:37.560 --> 00:05:40.139 the end of overtime, it just ended. Everyone 00:05:40.139 --> 00:05:42.500 went home with a tie. Right. But in the 2006 00:05:42.500 --> 00:05:46.160 -2007 season, the NHL had fully integrated the 00:05:46.160 --> 00:05:48.560 shootout. Every single game was forced to produce 00:05:48.560 --> 00:05:50.819 a winner and a loser. So those extra wins were 00:05:50.819 --> 00:05:52.879 essentially manufactured by eliminating ties 00:05:52.879 --> 00:05:56.120 altogether. Precisely. Brodeur had 43 regulation 00:05:56.120 --> 00:05:58.660 and overtime wins, plus five shootout wins to 00:05:58.660 --> 00:06:02.360 get to 48. Lurango had 47 total wins, also bolstered 00:06:02.360 --> 00:06:04.040 by the shootout. So it doesn't take away from 00:06:04.040 --> 00:06:06.399 the phenomenal, grueling seasons both men had. 00:06:06.620 --> 00:06:09.040 No, absolutely not. But when you compare 48 wins 00:06:09.040 --> 00:06:13.019 in 2007 to 47 wins in 1974, you have to acknowledge 00:06:13.019 --> 00:06:15.139 that Brodeur had a structural advantage the parents 00:06:15.139 --> 00:06:17.420 simply didn't have. It's a great reminder that 00:06:17.420 --> 00:06:20.519 statistics don't exist in a vacuum. But even 00:06:20.519 --> 00:06:22.639 without the shootout padding the stats, the sheer 00:06:22.639 --> 00:06:25.360 volume of career milestones this season is staggering. 00:06:25.759 --> 00:06:28.600 It felt like every week, a different legend was 00:06:28.600 --> 00:06:32.100 rewriting the history books. The 2006 -2007 season 00:06:32.100 --> 00:06:34.680 was essentially a victory lap for the generation 00:06:34.680 --> 00:06:37.819 of superstars who defined the 1990s. They were 00:06:37.819 --> 00:06:40.160 all cementing their legacies at exactly the same 00:06:40.160 --> 00:06:42.480 time. Just look at the 600 -goal club. Right. 00:06:42.540 --> 00:06:45.279 Going into the year, only 14 players in the entire 00:06:45.279 --> 00:06:47.639 history of the NHL had ever reached that mark. 00:06:47.740 --> 00:06:49.800 And Brendan Shanahan didn't even make us wait. 00:06:50.360 --> 00:06:53.579 Opening night, October 5th, his very first game 00:06:53.579 --> 00:06:55.879 debuting for the New York Rangers, he scores 00:06:55.879 --> 00:06:58.839 twice and becomes player number 15 to hit 600. 00:06:59.180 --> 00:07:01.899 And then, just over a month later, Jeremy Jagger 00:07:01.899 --> 00:07:05.019 hits 600 goals too, making them the first teammates 00:07:05.019 --> 00:07:07.860 in NHL history to reach the 600 -goal mark in 00:07:07.860 --> 00:07:10.620 the exact same season. And Jagger's milestones 00:07:10.620 --> 00:07:13.279 that year just kept compounding. He passed Jerry 00:07:13.279 --> 00:07:15.339 Curry for the most points by a European born 00:07:15.339 --> 00:07:17.819 player. He became the 12th player to score 1 00:07:17.819 --> 00:07:20.730 ,500 career points. He tied Mike Gartner's record 00:07:20.730 --> 00:07:22.649 for the most consecutive 30 -goal seasons at 00:07:22.649 --> 00:07:25.189 15. The sustained excellence required to put 00:07:25.189 --> 00:07:27.310 up those numbers in the clushing and grabbing 00:07:27.310 --> 00:07:30.569 90s and then still be dominating in the speed 00:07:30.569 --> 00:07:33.050 -driven post -lockout era is just incredible. 00:07:33.329 --> 00:07:35.430 And you also had Joe Sackett joining Shanahan 00:07:35.430 --> 00:07:37.930 and Jagger in the 600 -goal club later in the 00:07:37.930 --> 00:07:41.209 year while simultaneously hitting his own 1 ,500 00:07:41.209 --> 00:07:43.709 -point milestone. Three guys hitting 600 goals 00:07:43.709 --> 00:07:46.329 in one season is wild, but the 500 -goal club 00:07:46.329 --> 00:07:48.410 was basically a turnstile that year. It really 00:07:48.410 --> 00:07:51.449 was. Matt Sundin becomes the first Swede to hit 00:07:51.449 --> 00:07:54.829 .500. Timu Salan becomes the second Finnish player 00:07:54.829 --> 00:07:57.310 to hit it. Peter Bondra and Mark Recchi both 00:07:57.310 --> 00:08:00.149 cross the .500 mark. And then Mike Madano hits 00:08:00.149 --> 00:08:02.850 .500 in mid -March and four nights later scores 00:08:02.850 --> 00:08:06.189 his .503rd, officially passing Joe Mullen for 00:08:06.189 --> 00:08:08.389 the most goals ever scored by an American -born 00:08:08.389 --> 00:08:10.610 player. When you read that list of names, Shanahan, 00:08:10.850 --> 00:08:14.209 Jagger, Sackick, Sundin, Salan, Madano, it's 00:08:14.209 --> 00:08:16.910 royalty. But what makes this season so compelling? 00:08:17.310 --> 00:08:19.610 is the reality of it. The push and pull between 00:08:19.610 --> 00:08:21.829 the eras. Yes, because while the old guard was 00:08:21.829 --> 00:08:24.050 taking that victory lap, the foundation of the 00:08:24.050 --> 00:08:26.129 league was being completely taken over by a youth 00:08:26.129 --> 00:08:28.370 movement that refused to wait its turn. It was 00:08:28.370 --> 00:08:30.790 a total changing of the guard, spearheaded by 00:08:30.790 --> 00:08:33.789 a 19 -year -old Sidney Crosby. Crosby's sophomore 00:08:33.789 --> 00:08:36.009 campaign is one of the most paradigm -shifting 00:08:36.009 --> 00:08:38.750 seasons we've ever seen. Most 19 -year -olds 00:08:38.750 --> 00:08:41.730 in the NHL are highly protected. They play limited 00:08:41.730 --> 00:08:44.029 minutes against lower -tier competition while 00:08:44.029 --> 00:08:46.309 they physically mature. Crosby went out and put 00:08:46.309 --> 00:08:51.009 up 36 goals and 84 assists, 120 points. Becoming 00:08:51.009 --> 00:08:53.110 the youngest player in history to win the Art 00:08:53.110 --> 00:08:56.059 Ross. And passing Wayne Gretzky. to become the 00:08:56.059 --> 00:08:58.360 youngest to reach 200 career points. He just 00:08:58.360 --> 00:09:01.259 completely cleaned house at the NHL Awards, taking 00:09:01.259 --> 00:09:03.360 home the Hart and the Pearson alongside the Art 00:09:03.360 --> 00:09:07.000 Ross. But beyond the hardware, what did a teenager 00:09:07.000 --> 00:09:10.179 dominating to that degree do to the front offices 00:09:10.179 --> 00:09:12.519 around the league? It proved conclusively that 00:09:12.519 --> 00:09:15.519 the NHL was now a young man's game. Before the 00:09:15.519 --> 00:09:17.519 lockout, the prevailing wisdom was that you needed 00:09:17.519 --> 00:09:19.919 man strength to survive the grueling physical 00:09:19.919 --> 00:09:22.200 toll of the league. You didn't peak until you 00:09:22.200 --> 00:09:25.480 were 25 or 26. But the new rules completely opened 00:09:25.480 --> 00:09:28.120 up the ice for speed, agility, and pure skill. 00:09:28.620 --> 00:09:31.379 Suddenly, a teenager could dictate the pace of 00:09:31.379 --> 00:09:35.620 play. And crucially, in a salary cap world, teams 00:09:35.620 --> 00:09:38.120 realized they desperately needed entry -level 00:09:38.120 --> 00:09:41.049 contracts to compete. Getting elite production 00:09:41.049 --> 00:09:44.009 from guys making rookie money became the ultimate 00:09:44.009 --> 00:09:47.059 market inefficiency. And Pittsburgh hit the absolute 00:09:47.059 --> 00:09:49.340 jackpot with that because it wasn't just Crosby. 00:09:49.419 --> 00:09:51.940 You had Evgeny Malkin winning the Calder, becoming 00:09:51.940 --> 00:09:54.940 the first player in 89 years to score a goal 00:09:54.940 --> 00:09:57.899 in each of his first six games. You had 18 -year 00:09:57.899 --> 00:10:00.360 -old Jordan Stahl becoming the youngest player 00:10:00.360 --> 00:10:02.820 to ever record a hat -trick. And out in Colorado, 00:10:03.159 --> 00:10:05.860 Paul Stastny set a rookie record with a 20 -game 00:10:05.860 --> 00:10:08.379 point streak, breaking a record previously held 00:10:08.379 --> 00:10:11.090 by Timu Salam. Think about the poetry of that. 00:10:11.570 --> 00:10:14.210 Salan hits 500 goals in the exact same season 00:10:14.210 --> 00:10:16.429 that a rookie comes along and breaks his longstanding 00:10:16.429 --> 00:10:18.809 scoring streak record. It's the perfect passing 00:10:18.809 --> 00:10:20.710 of the torch. While the torch was being passed, 00:10:20.850 --> 00:10:23.149 the actual product on the ice was producing some 00:10:23.149 --> 00:10:26.470 incredibly bizarre, chaotic anomalies. Because 00:10:26.470 --> 00:10:28.590 while the skill level was through the roof, the 00:10:28.590 --> 00:10:30.950 grit certainly hadn't disappeared. Not at all. 00:10:31.129 --> 00:10:35.490 Let's look at February 22, 2007. Eight separate 00:10:35.490 --> 00:10:38.629 games went into overtime on the exact same night. 00:10:38.730 --> 00:10:41.769 Setting a single -day NHL record. And the intensity 00:10:41.769 --> 00:10:44.610 of those matchups was off the charts. Four of 00:10:44.610 --> 00:10:46.529 them went to shootouts, including a game between 00:10:46.529 --> 00:10:48.850 the Ottawa Senators and the Buffalo Sabres that 00:10:48.850 --> 00:10:51.070 is still talked about today. It was an absolute 00:10:51.070 --> 00:10:54.470 war that culminated in a massive line brawl following 00:10:54.470 --> 00:10:57.330 a late, controversial hit on Sabres co -captain 00:10:57.330 --> 00:11:00.679 Chris Drury. It resulted in 100 penalty minutes 00:11:00.679 --> 00:11:04.240 and three game misconduct ejections. So you have 00:11:04.240 --> 00:11:06.659 a game played with the utmost physical hostility, 00:11:06.779 --> 00:11:09.379 ultimately decided by the highly sanitized skill 00:11:09.379 --> 00:11:11.980 competition of a shootout. It perfectly encapsulates 00:11:11.980 --> 00:11:13.879 the identity crisis the league was navigating. 00:11:14.159 --> 00:11:16.740 And that tension between skill and violence came 00:11:16.740 --> 00:11:19.809 to a very dark head just a few weeks later. On 00:11:19.809 --> 00:11:21.970 March 11th, Chris Simon of the Islanders catches 00:11:21.970 --> 00:11:24.409 Rangers center Ryan Hallweg in the face with 00:11:24.409 --> 00:11:27.169 his stick, resulting in a 25 -game suspension. 00:11:27.509 --> 00:11:29.570 It was an NHL record suspension at the time, 00:11:29.590 --> 00:11:31.570 and it was a defining moment for league discipline. 00:11:31.830 --> 00:11:34.909 The front office was sending a very clear, unambiguous 00:11:34.909 --> 00:11:37.649 message. Which was what, exactly? We want a faster, 00:11:37.769 --> 00:11:40.169 highly skilled game, and we are going to severely 00:11:40.169 --> 00:11:42.730 punish reckless violence that crosses the line. 00:11:43.450 --> 00:11:45.889 Simon missed the end of the year. the playoffs, 00:11:46.110 --> 00:11:48.509 and the start of the following season. The league 00:11:48.509 --> 00:11:51.330 was drawing a line in the sand regarding player 00:11:51.330 --> 00:11:54.539 safety. When we zoom out and look at the standings 00:11:54.539 --> 00:11:57.080 as we approach the postseason, the parity created 00:11:57.080 --> 00:12:00.360 by that hard salary cap is just glaring. The 00:12:00.360 --> 00:12:02.179 year prior, the Stanley Cup final was Carolina 00:12:02.179 --> 00:12:05.919 against Edmonton. But in 06 -07, neither of those 00:12:05.919 --> 00:12:08.120 teams even qualified for the playoffs. The margin 00:12:08.120 --> 00:12:10.940 for error had just evaporated. Completely evaporated. 00:12:11.000 --> 00:12:13.240 The Carolina Hurricanes became the first defending 00:12:13.240 --> 00:12:15.820 champion to miss the playoffs entirely since 00:12:15.820 --> 00:12:19.120 the 95 -96 Devils. When you win the cup, your 00:12:19.120 --> 00:12:21.639 players' demand raises. In a cap system, you 00:12:21.639 --> 00:12:28.750 can't keep... And the Western Conference was 00:12:28.750 --> 00:12:31.350 just an absolute meat grinder. The Detroit Red 00:12:31.350 --> 00:12:33.950 Wings win the Central with 113 points, tying 00:12:33.950 --> 00:12:35.970 the Sabres for the league lead. You had four 00:12:35.970 --> 00:12:39.450 teams in the West with 107 points or more. And 00:12:39.450 --> 00:12:42.169 don't forget the Colorado Avalanche. They finished 00:12:42.169 --> 00:12:45.549 with 95 points, breaking a Montreal record from 00:12:45.549 --> 00:12:48.690 1970 for the most points by a team to miss the 00:12:48.690 --> 00:12:51.289 playoffs. 95 points and you're going golfing 00:12:51.289 --> 00:12:54.330 in April. Just brutal. It set the stage for a 00:12:54.330 --> 00:12:56.830 phenomenally grueling playoff tournament. Every 00:12:56.830 --> 00:12:59.070 single matchup in the West was a heavyweight 00:12:59.070 --> 00:13:01.649 bout. Which brings us to the first round, where 00:13:01.649 --> 00:13:03.750 Vancouver and Dallas play a game that refused 00:13:03.750 --> 00:13:08.169 to end. April 11th, Game 1. They go into a fourth 00:13:08.169 --> 00:13:10.549 overtime period before Vancouver finally ends 00:13:10.549 --> 00:13:13.879 it. the sixth longest game in NHL history. The 00:13:13.879 --> 00:13:16.039 physical and mental toll of a game like that 00:13:16.039 --> 00:13:19.240 is almost impossible to quantify. Four overtimes 00:13:19.240 --> 00:13:21.500 means they played the equivalent of more than 00:13:21.500 --> 00:13:24.299 two entire hockey games back to back. No long 00:13:24.299 --> 00:13:26.580 intermissions, just the constant suffocating 00:13:26.580 --> 00:13:28.960 pressure of sudden death hockey for hours on 00:13:28.960 --> 00:13:31.159 end. It's the ultimate test of conditioning and 00:13:31.159 --> 00:13:33.529 focus. But the team that really navigated that 00:13:33.529 --> 00:13:35.850 Western Conference gauntlet with efficiency was 00:13:35.850 --> 00:13:38.769 the newly minted Anaheim Ducks. They run through 00:13:38.769 --> 00:13:41.070 Minnesota, Vancouver, and Detroit to punch their 00:13:41.070 --> 00:13:43.210 ticket to the Stanley Cup final, meeting the 00:13:43.210 --> 00:13:46.230 Ottawa Senators from the east. And this matchup 00:13:46.230 --> 00:13:48.929 had so many layers of historical significance. 00:13:49.169 --> 00:13:52.309 You had an ascendant Sun Belt team taking on 00:13:52.309 --> 00:13:55.210 a traditional Canadian market, desperate to bring 00:13:55.210 --> 00:13:57.409 the Cup back north. But the historical detail 00:13:57.409 --> 00:14:00.309 that really stands out is that Game three of 00:14:00.309 --> 00:14:02.610 this series marked the return of the Stanley 00:14:02.610 --> 00:14:04.970 Cup final to the city of Ottawa for the first 00:14:04.970 --> 00:14:07.970 time in over 80 years. The last time Ottawa hosted 00:14:07.970 --> 00:14:12.789 a finals game was April 13th, 1927. Yes. Between 00:14:12.789 --> 00:14:15.549 the original Senators and the Bruins. And the 00:14:15.549 --> 00:14:17.830 sheer cosmic alignment of the universe here. 00:14:17.909 --> 00:14:20.330 There was a 99 -year -old man named Russell Williams 00:14:20.330 --> 00:14:22.970 in the building for that 2007 game who had actually 00:14:22.970 --> 00:14:25.029 been in attendance for that previous finals game 00:14:25.029 --> 00:14:27.549 80 years prior. It's one of those beautiful threads 00:14:27.549 --> 00:14:29.649 of continuity that makes sports so compelling. 00:14:30.090 --> 00:14:32.149 He spans almost the entire history of the NHL 00:14:32.149 --> 00:14:34.309 in one lifetime. And unfortunately for Russell 00:14:34.309 --> 00:14:36.850 and the Senators, while they did win that specific 00:14:36.850 --> 00:14:39.509 Game 3, they just couldn't overcome Anaheim's 00:14:39.509 --> 00:14:41.330 roster over the course of the series. No, the 00:14:41.330 --> 00:14:43.909 Ducks were simply too deep, too physically imposing, 00:14:44.090 --> 00:14:46.429 and too skilled. They took the series in five 00:14:46.429 --> 00:14:50.070 games. The Ducks hoist the Cup. The very first 00:14:50.070 --> 00:14:52.750 Stanley Cup victory for the franchise, and the 00:14:52.750 --> 00:14:54.870 first time a team from California ever won it 00:14:54.870 --> 00:14:58.169 all. Scott Niedermeyer takes home the Kahn -Smith. 00:14:58.669 --> 00:15:01.090 And you have that incredibly emotional moment 00:15:01.090 --> 00:15:04.710 of Timu Solan, after all those years and all 00:15:04.710 --> 00:15:07.370 those goals, finally getting to lift the cup. 00:15:07.409 --> 00:15:09.870 It was the absolute validation of everything 00:15:09.870 --> 00:15:13.149 Anaheim had built. It proved definitively that 00:15:13.149 --> 00:15:15.909 the NHL's southern expansion strategy could produce 00:15:15.909 --> 00:15:18.950 a genuine, sustainable powerhouse. You didn't 00:15:18.950 --> 00:15:20.929 just have to survive in a warm weather market. 00:15:20.990 --> 00:15:23.610 You could build a legacy there. The Anaheim rebrand, 00:15:23.789 --> 00:15:26.610 shedding the movie tie -in. building a heavy, 00:15:26.649 --> 00:15:29.470 dominant roster, it established a blueprint for 00:15:29.470 --> 00:15:31.350 nontraditional markets moving forward. And the 00:15:31.350 --> 00:15:33.330 entire season really was just vibrating with 00:15:33.330 --> 00:15:35.789 that kind of history, big and small. We saw the 00:15:35.789 --> 00:15:37.850 All -Star game return to Dallas after a two -year 00:15:37.850 --> 00:15:40.629 hiatus with Danny Breer taking MVP. We saw Tampa 00:15:40.629 --> 00:15:42.690 Bay teammates Vincent Lecavalier and Martin St. 00:15:42.769 --> 00:15:45.309 Louis both cross the 100 -point mark, with Lecavalier 00:15:45.309 --> 00:15:47.309 dropping 52 goals to win the Rocket Richard. 00:15:47.820 --> 00:15:50.120 We even had Guillaume La Tendresse in Montreal 00:15:50.120 --> 00:15:52.840 becoming the first player in NHL history to ever 00:15:52.840 --> 00:15:55.340 wear the number 84 in a regular season game. 00:15:55.500 --> 00:15:57.879 It's the perfect microcosm of the year. From 00:15:57.879 --> 00:16:00.460 New Jersey numbers to new franchise identities 00:16:00.460 --> 00:16:05.120 to new offensive paradigms. The 2006 -2007 season 00:16:05.120 --> 00:16:07.759 was the exact inflection point where the old 00:16:07.759 --> 00:16:09.860 guard handed the keys of the league over to the 00:16:09.860 --> 00:16:13.220 next generation. 48 wins by a goalie, 120 points 00:16:13.220 --> 00:16:15.620 from a teenager, an avalanche of 500 and 600 00:16:15.620 --> 00:16:18.179 goal milestones, and a Stanley Cup hoisted in 00:16:18.179 --> 00:16:20.830 the California sun. It really was the year the 00:16:20.830 --> 00:16:23.409 past and the future collided on the ice. It was. 00:16:23.750 --> 00:16:25.889 And when you look at how drastically the rule 00:16:25.889 --> 00:16:28.610 changes allowed teenagers to immediately dominate, 00:16:28.830 --> 00:16:31.409 it leaves you with a really provocative thought 00:16:31.409 --> 00:16:33.529 about the ripple effects on the sport as a whole. 00:16:33.690 --> 00:16:35.610 I am always here for a ripple effect. What are 00:16:35.610 --> 00:16:37.929 you thinking? We talked about how the removal 00:16:37.929 --> 00:16:40.830 of the clutching and grabbing allowed a 19 -year 00:16:40.830 --> 00:16:43.009 -old Sidney Crosby to thrive, proving it was 00:16:43.009 --> 00:16:45.950 a young man's game. But think about how that 00:16:45.950 --> 00:16:48.429 realization permanently altered youth hockey 00:16:48.429 --> 00:16:51.220 development in scouting. Right. If front offices 00:16:51.220 --> 00:16:53.500 suddenly realized they needed smaller, faster 00:16:53.500 --> 00:16:56.580 teenagers on entry -level contracts to win, the 00:16:56.580 --> 00:16:58.940 entire pipeline of the sport had to change. Exactly. 00:16:58.960 --> 00:17:01.519 It makes you wonder, did that shift toward optimizing 00:17:01.519 --> 00:17:04.099 kids for speed and specialized systems at age 00:17:04.099 --> 00:17:07.640 14 or 15 come at the cost of the raw physical 00:17:07.640 --> 00:17:11.400 creativity we saw from the 90s era players? We 00:17:11.400 --> 00:17:13.619 built a faster league, but did we inadvertently 00:17:13.619 --> 00:17:15.900 manufacture a more robotic pipeline of talent 00:17:15.900 --> 00:17:17.940 to feed it? Now there is a thought to mull over. 00:17:18.099 --> 00:17:20.160 Did the quest for speed fundamentally change 00:17:20.160 --> 00:17:21.859 how we build a hockey player from the ground 00:17:21.859 --> 00:17:24.460 up? That is all the time we have for today's 00:17:24.460 --> 00:17:26.319 Deep Dive. We've taken you through the milestones, 00:17:26.740 --> 00:17:29.420 the chaos, and the history of the 2006 -2007 00:17:29.420 --> 00:17:32.299 NHL season. Thanks for joining us and keep diving 00:17:32.299 --> 00:17:32.539 deep.