With three Game 7s tonight, NHL will show why its post season is best in all of sports

NEW YORK —

Three Game 7s tonight.

If you're a fan of hockey, it doesn't get much better than this. And it's nights like these that demonstrate just why the NHL's post season is better than any other sport's.

One of the games — Los Angeles at San Jose — has historical implications.

The Kings look to become only the fifth team in NHL history to overcome a 3-0 series deficit to win a series. It was last done in 2010 when the Flyers came back from 3-0 down to beat the Boston Bruins in the conference semis (the first time it had happened since the Isles overcame the deficit in 1975).

In Denver, we hope the Avalanche can pull off the Game 7 win at home because, quite frankly, we never want Zach Parise to ever win another playoff series the rest of his career.

We don't want this guy to get
another playoff-series win
ever again. Ever that is.

And of course, in New York, coming off a 5-2 win in Philly, one might expect this to be the Flyers' game to win — but as Kevin Cocca reminded me yesterday, Madison Square Garden puts an incredible fear into the Flyers. So this game may as well go to overtime.

Could you imagine that?

I get heart palpitations just thinking of it.

So while I hate predictions, here are mine

— Los Angeles wins in OT

— Colorado wins comfortably

— Rangers/Flyers go three OTs, and someone scores at the stroke of midnight.

NHL Attendance Watch for Monday, March 18, 2013

There were seven games in the NHL on Monday, March 18, 2013, and of them, three weren't sold out. The non-sellouts included:

• Calgary at Dallas — 16,057 — 86 percent full.

• Chicago at Colorado — 16,952 — 94 percent full.

• San Jose at Anaheim — 14,441 — 84 percent full.

Of note here, despite having the second-best record in the NHL, and despite having a no. 1 Power Ranking from many NHL writers, the Ducks cannot draw. An in-state rival couldn't even help get a decent crowd at the Honda Center. Reminds me of the glory days of our team when no matter how well they were playing in the regular season, they couldn't draw well. I wonder how much, if anything, this has to do with the lockout?

NHL Attendance Watch for Saturday, March 16, 2013

There were 13 games in the NHL on Saturday, March 16, 2013, and of them, three didn't sell out.

They were:

• Minnesota at Colorado — 17,708 — 98 percent full.

• Phoenix at Columbus — 14,231 — 78 percent full.

• Islanders at Florida — 17,627 — 91 percent full.

Meanwhile, despite yet another loss, the Devils sold out the Rock last night for the 13th time in 15 games. and for the 25th time in 27 games overall.

NHL Attendance Watch for Tuesday, March 13, 2013: More than half of games played aren't full

There were 11 games in the NHL on Tuesday, March 12, and of them, more than half were not sellouts.

The non-sellouts include:

• Vancouver at Columbus — 14,852 — 81 percent full.

• Tampa at Florida — 15,174 — 78 percent full.

• San Jose at St. Louis — 16,583 — 86 percent full.

• Nashville at Dallas — 15,661 — 84 percent full.

• Edmonton at Colorado — 14,360 — 79 percent full.

• Los Angeles at Phoenix — 15,075 — 85 percent full.

This marks the most non-sellouts on one day for the entire 2012-13 season (six).

Meanwhile, the Devils will have yet another sellout — their 12th in 14 games — tonight when Philly comes to town. What will be interesting is to see the number of Flyers fans in the building. Previously this season, there were minimal visiting fans in the building.

NHL Attendance Watch for Sunday, March 10

There were 10 games in the NHL on Sunday, March 10, 2013, and of them, just one wasn't a sellout.

The non-sellout was San Jose at Colorado, where a crowd of 16,040 (89 percent full) was on hand.

Among the sellouts was one in Anaheim, where the Ducks, who have struggled to draw, had a rare full house.

NHL Attendance Watch for Thursday, Feb. 28, 2013

There were 11 games in the NHL on Thursday, Feb. 28, 2013. Five weren't sold out and include:

• Minnesota at Phoenix — 11,547 — 67 percent full.

• Calgary at Colorado — 15,197 — 84 percent full.

• Edmonton at Dallas — 17,004 — 91 percent full.

• Buffalo at Florida — 15,672 — 81 percent full.

• Toronto at the Islanders — 9,222 — 56 percent full.

This is the most non-sellouts on a single night all season long.

NHL Attendance Watch for Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2013

There were three NHL games on Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2013, and of them, one wasn't a sellout.

St. Louis at Colorado drew 14,651 fans — and the arena was 81 percent full.

NHL Attendance Watch for Monday, Feb. 18, 2013: 3 non-sellouts

Here are your non-sellouts in the NHL for Monday, Feb. 18, 2013.

• Nashville at Colorado — 15,099  — 83 percent full.

• Toronto at Florida — 17,177 — 89 percent full.

• Columbus at Anaheim — 14,713 — 85 percent full.

There were two afternoon games on this holiday Monday, and both were sold out. The Devils had 17,625 on hand for a 2-1 loss to Ottawa, and surprisingly, the Islanders had 16,170 (this is a new capacity at Nassau Coliseum — some seats were removed after last season) on hand for a 7-0 loss to the Flyers.

For the Devs, it was sellout no. 8 of 9 home games. For the Islanders, it was sellout no. 2 — the other being Opening Night.

Also of note, the often-empty JoBing.com Arena was full last night for Calgary at the Coyotes. I'm wondering if there was some sort of ticket promo.

Devils fall a little short of NHL's all-time sellout streak

It's not Montreal.

It's not Toronto.

It's not Vancouver.

It's not even Detroit, or the Rangers or the Flyers.

The NHL's all-time sellout streak belongs to — get this — the Colorado Avalanche, who sold out 487 consecutive games in the '90s and and '00s. Ironically, they're struggling at the gate now — but when you win two cups in your first six seasons in a city — including the very first season — such a streak makes sense.

(The current streak belongs to Vancouver at 411).

While we're on the subject of attendance — which is one of the primary reasons FOR this website — the league's attendance numbers are often deceiving. Even if the Devils were to sell out every single home game in the league, given the teams that sell out all their games and building capacities, it would be next to impossible for the Devils to crack the top 15 league-wide.

Think of it like this — the Rangers' new capacity at Madison Square Garden is 17,200 — 1,000 less than it used to be. If they sell out every home game this year — and they likely will — they'll finish around 20th in the league in attendance.

Twentieth.

Here's something that always makes me laugh, too.

The Edmonton Oilers sell out nightly, but the capacity is 16,839.

League rank as of  today: 24th.

I've always believed attendance in the league should be measured by percent capacity — and not average crowds. But that's not the litmus test.

The stats are very skewed.

Oh, by the way, the Devils fell 471 games short of the record.

Attendance Watch for Wednesday, Feb. 6, 2013 —— 2 of 3 sell out

There were just three games in the NHL on Wednesday, Feb. 6, 2013, and of them, just one wasn't a sellout. A crowd of 13,776 (76 percent full), was on hand for the Ducks at Colorado. Boston at Montreal and Dallas at Edmonton were both sold out.

Attendance Watch for Saturday, Feb. 2, 2013: 3 of 11 don't sell out

With even more uncertainty over ownership of the Phoenix
Coyotes, small crowds like this should be the norm until
or if the Coyotes make the Stanley Cup playoffs in April.

There were 11 games on the NHL schedule Saturday, Feb. 2, 2013, and of them, three weren't sellouts.

• Edmonton at Colorado — 16,119 — 89 percent full.

• Detroit at Columbus — 17,612 — 97 percent full.

• Dallas at Phoenix — 12,151 — 71 percent full.