Game 7's Played with the Most Teams

[vikash1987]

I'm trying to figure out this Game 7 fact: which player suited up for a Game 7 with the greatest number of different teams?

I'm not 100% positive, but I think it was defenseman J.J. Daigneault, who played a Game 7 with five (5) different teams:

1. Philadelphia Flyers - 1987 (Game 7 @ EDM)
   
2. Montreal Canadiens - 1991 (Game 7 @ BOS), 1992 (Game 7 vs. HFD), 1994 (Game 7 @ BOS)
3. Pittsburgh Penguins - 1996 (Game 7 vs. FLA)
4. Mighty Ducks of Anaheim - 1997 (Game 7 vs. PHX)
5. Phoenix Coyotes - 1999 (Game 7 vs. STL)

Can anybody confirm: was it Daigneault, or was there another player with a higher count than five?

Click to read more...

 

[Doctor No]

Doing this coarsely by hand inspection, and I've only got data from 1968 onwards, but:

Goaltenders with more than five Games Seven:

Belfour 6
Brodeur 10
Fleury 6
Fuhr 6
Holtby 7
Joseph 9
Lundqvist 8
Osgood 6
Potvin 7
Roy 13
Tim Thomas 6

 

[Doctor No]

Ah - five different teams! I was trying to figure out the trick here.

I'll show myself out.

 

[vikash1987]

Haha, no worries. Thanks for trying. Just to reorient your list back to my original question, CuJo came close by playing in a Game 7 with four teams:

Belfour - 3 teams (Blackhawks, Stars, Maple Leafs)
Brodeur - 1 team (Devils)
Fleury - 1 team (Penguins)
Fuhr - 2 teams (Oilers, Blues)
Holtby - 1 team (Capitals)
Joseph - 4 teams (Blues, Oilers, Maple Leafs, Flames*) *came in relief of Kiprusoff
Lundqvist - 1 team (Rangers)
Osgood - 3 teams (Red Wings, Islanders, Blues)
Potvin - 2 teams (Maple Leafs, Kings)
Roy - 2 teams (Canadiens, Avalanche)
Tim Thomas - 1 team (Bruins)

 

[BigBadBruins7708]

Pronger is close with 4 teams (STL, EDM, ANA, PHI)


couple quirks in looking, Jagr only did it with 2 teams despite making the playoffs with 6

Chara only did it for 1 team (BOS), but has done it 12 times so far

 

[Super Fadio Bro]

Pronger is close with 4 teams (STL, EDM, ANA, PHI)


couple quirks in looking, Jagr only did it with 2 teams despite making the playoffs with 6

Chara only did it for 1 team (BOS), but has done it 12 times so far

Chara did it for two teams (Bruins and Sens).

 

[vikash1987]

Interesting. Yeah, I think there were a handful of players who did this with four teams. (Didn't Chara play in a couple of Game 7's with Ottawa in '03 &'04?)

Gilmour was another guy with four:

1. Blues in '84 (Game 7 @ MIN) and '86 (Game 7 vs. TOR, Game 7 @ CGY)
2. Flames in '89 (Game 7 vs. VAN) and '91 (Game 7 vs. EDM)
3. Leafs in '93 (Game 7 @ DET, Game 7 vs. STL, Game 7 vs. LA), '94 (Game 7 vs. SJ) and '95 (Game 7 @ CHI)
4. Sabres in '01 (Game 7 vs. PIT)

And Andreychuk with five, equaling Daigneault!

1. Sabres in '92 (Game 7 @ BOS) and '01 (Game 7 vs. PIT)
   
2. Leafs in '93 (Game 7 @ DET, Game 7 vs. STL, Game 7 vs. LA), '94 (Game 7 vs. SJ) and '95 (Game 7 @ CHI)
3. Devils in '99 (Game 7 vs. PIT)
4. Avalanche in '00 (Game 7 @ DAL)
5. Lightning in '04 (Game 7 vs. PHI, Game 7 vs. CGY)

 

[blood gin]

Ronnie Stern played in 4 game 7's between 89 and 95

1989 Canucks
1991 Flames
1994 Flames
1995 Flames

He lost all of them. In overtime

 

[vikash1987]

Ronnie Stern didn't play in Game 7 with Vancouver in '89 (sore neck). He only played in the first three games of that series. So that doesn't count.

He did, however, play in Game 7 with the Sharks in 2000, so he indeed played a Game 7 with two teams. Scored a huge goal in that Sharks game as well, as I remember vividly. (In fact, he also scored in two of his Game 7's with Calgary.)

 

[Robert Gordon Orr]

Bryan Smolinski appeared in Game 7's for six different teams

Boston 1994
Pittsburgh 1996
Los Angeles 2001 and 2002
Ottawa 2003 and 2004
Vancouver 2007
Montreal 2008

Some other guys who did it for four different teams includes Bobby Dollas, Brent Ashton, Jim Dowd, Sean O’Donnell and Gerald Diduck. I am sure there are a few more that you can add to the list.

 

[seventieslord]

Bryan Smolinski appeared in Game 7's for six different teams

Boston 1994
Pittsburgh 1996
Los Angeles 2001 and 2002
Ottawa 2003 and 2004
Vancouver 2007
Montreal 2008

Some other guys who did it for four different teams includes Bobby Dollas, Brent Ashton, Jim Dowd, Sean O’Donnell and Gerald Diduck. I am sure there are a few more that you can add to the list.

Nice one. I didn't think it should be that hard to find a guy with a lot.

Recchi was in game 7s for four teams - Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Boston and Carolina.

 

[seventieslord]

Claude Lemieux - Montreal, New Jersey, Colorado, Dallas.

 

[vikash1987]

Bryan Smolinski appeared in Game 7's for six different teams

Boston 1994
Pittsburgh 1996
Los Angeles 2001 and 2002
Ottawa 2003 and 2004
Vancouver 2007
Montreal 2008

Some other guys who did it for four different teams includes Bobby Dollas, Brent Ashton, Jim Dowd, Sean O’Donnell and Gerald Diduck. I am sure there are a few more that you can add to the list.

Great job with Smolinski! The game logs check out. I totally forgot that he played in Game 7's with Vancouver and Montreal at the end of his career.

So, I stand corrected (with pleasure). The mark is re-set at six teams.

Claude Lemieux - Montreal, New Jersey, Colorado, Dallas.

Lemieux never played in a Game 7 with Dallas

 

[The Panther]

Question: When we say 'game seven', are we also considering game five in best of fives, and game three in best of threes?

 

[Robert Gordon Orr]

Can anybody confirm: was it Daigneault, or was there another player with a higher count than five?

Steve Thomas is another guy who played game 7's for five different teams.

A few more that did it for four teams, Glenn Anderson, Joe Nieuwendyk, Mike Keane and "Mr. Game 7", Justin Williams

 

[vikash1987]

Question: When we say 'game seven', are we also considering game five in best of fives, and game three in best of threes?

For the sake of this thread, no. Just Game 7’s in best-of-7 series.

Steve Thomas is another guy who played game 7's for five different teams.

A few more that did it for four teams, Glenn Anderson, Joe Nieuwendyk, Mike Keane and "Mr. Game 7", Justin Williams

For Thomas, I’m only counting four: Hawks, Isles, Leafs and Ducks. Which one am I missing?

 

[Robert Gordon Orr]

For Thomas, I’m only counting four: Hawks, Isles, Leafs and Ducks. Which one am I missing?

Yes, you are right. It's only four teams. I for some reason had him with a game 7 with the Devils, but that obviously didn't happen.

 

[Tuna Tatarrrrrr]

Claude Lemieux - Montreal, New Jersey, Colorado, Dallas.

What?

 

[Big Phil]

Yeah, no one beats Smolinski here. That's 6 teams where you played a game 7. Pretty insane when you think of it. How many players even played for 6 teams let alone 6 that they got into the playoffs with?

I was just thinking of players who played on a lot of teams like Michel Petit or Mike Sillinger (11 and 12 respectively I believe). One single Game 7 between the two of them, Sillinger in 1992 with Detroit I believe he played in. But these guys were journeymen, not guys who made the playoffs much.

I thought Rick Tocchet, but he had just 4. Yeah, I am going to go on a limb and suggest Smolinski wins this one for sure. Or at least ties it. His was a name I would have never thought of and I think these are the names that would have these records.

 

[Iron Mike Sharpe]

Glenn Anderson 4 - Oilers, Leafs, Rangers, Blues

 

[VanIslander]

Playoff hero Jason Williams came to mind. But he has just 4 different cities:

• Game 7 in Philadelphia.
• Two Game 7s in Carolina Stanley Cup year
• Three Game 7s in L.A.'s second Stanley Cup victory
• Game 7 in Washington in loss to Penguins

 

[VanIslander]

I thought maybe Tikkanen, as he did in Edmonton, St. Louis and New York, but in Vancouver the Avs ended the series in 6 games and in Washington the Caps had an easy road to the Stanley Cup Finals, where they were then swept.

 

[VanIslander]

Mike Keane did it in 4 cities: Montreal, Dallas, Colorado and Vancouver.

Steve Thomas only in 4, not 5. He did not play any Game 7s in New Jersey or Detroit.

 

[vikash1987]

Cliff Ronning came close to playing in Game 7’s with 5 teams.

In ‘86, he was in the Monday Night Miracle game for St. Louis (even scored a goal) but was taken out of the lineup for Game 7.

In ‘02, he came back for Game 6 of LA’s series against Colorado, after sustaining a concussion earlier, but he was not in the lineup for Game 7.

He ended up actually playing in Game 7’s for Vancouver, Phoenix and Minnesota.

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

for a guy who played so long and on so many contenders and has multiple cups, matt cullen played in surprisingly few game sevens.