Judgement Day

And then there was one.

Tuesday, April 26th will mark Game 7 of a Western Conference Quarter Final that has had so many twists and turns that it's enough to make you wonder whether you are watching a hockey game or reading a thrilling mystery.

Gamesmanship and poker faces were on full display on Sunday evening as the Canucks pulled a bait and switch. All weekend long the mantra had been that "Luongo is our guy", only to say at the last second that rookie Cory Schneider was going in. Shocking.

For all intents and purposes, Schneider played splendidly in his first start. True that two of the Blackhawks' goals were a direct result of him misplaying the puck--first delivering a behind the net suicide pass to Dan Hamhuis, who was directly in the trolly tracks of a hard charging Dave Bolland. He then misplayed it again by giving the puck directly to Patrick Kane who passed to the open man in the slot, resulting in a goal.

When playing the puck, if we're honest, Schneider showed nerves.

But apart from that, he was quite solid. Particularly when he was stopping Patrick Kane cold on a breakaway out of the penalty box. He was forcing the Blackhawks to change their game plan. Right up until Michael Frolik's penalty shot when he went down with a lower body injury.

This is where you think we're reading a thriller--in came Roberto Luongo.

The game went to overtime and the Canucks were pressing and pressing hard. They came in waves at the Blackhawks and had numerous quality chances. I don't think it's absurd to say the Canucks were the better team in the 3rd period and in overtime.

But a funny thing about hockey is that the game can change on a whim, and change it did when Ben Smith was able to corral a Roberto Luongo rebound and put it upstairs to force this series to a seventh and deciding game.

And now this is what it will all come down to: Judgement Day in Vancouver. If the Blackhawks lose, it was a valiant effort that fell just short, and they have the not insignificant fact that they happened to win Lord Stanley's mug just last season as a consolation prize. If the Canucks lose, it will be an entirely different story, one that has had more than a few footnotes added to it by the surprising decision to insert Cory Schneider in Game 6. (Alain Vigneault, for his part, has said Schneider's injury is not serious and he could play Tuesday if necessary. We'll see.)

Make no mistake, the Canucks have an awful lot riding on Game 7 on Tuesday night. There will be a great many questions and not a lot of answers if the Canucks do lose, and there would almost certainly be some changes both on the ice and off it should that occur.

But I'm an optimist. And the optimist in me says "there's still hockey to be played".

And as the NHL might say, there's still history to be made.