from Katie Baker of Grantland,

If you're trying to get a friend or loved one into hockey, the conventional wisdom goes, there's no better way than taking them to see a live game. It's the only way to fully grok the sport's combination of speed and force, the crowds are always a trip, and even the newbiest of first-timers can usually follow the puck when they're in the same building. But if you're not someone who can just up and attend a game every time you feel like proselytizing about the NHL to a coworker or a buddy, I offer you a more value-oriented solution: Game 7 playoff hockey.

Two of the finest series of this NHL postseason will conclude in do-or-die fashion over the next two evenings, with the L.A. Kings and San Jose Sharks meeting tonight at Staples Center at 9 ET and the Chicago Blackhawks and Detroit Red Wings returning to the Windy City on Wednesday for their decisive 8 p.m. ET tilt.

As the winners-in-five Pittsburgh Penguins and Boston Bruins wait impatiently for the Eastern Conference finals to begin (I envision all the players from both teams spending a week idling in full pads and skates, nervously shifting their weight from side to side like they're lining up to listen to the national anthem), both Western Conference matchups have refused to go gently. The Blackhawks survived three straight losses at the hands of Detroit and now hope to rattle off three straight wins, while the Sharks came back from 2-0 and 3-2 series deficits to force a seventh game.

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