from Sportsnet,

MANY STANLEY CUP WINNERS SAY THERE ARE NO WORDS TO DESCRIBE THE FEELING OF TRIUMPH. LOSING GAME SEVEN OF A CUP FINAL, HOWEVER, IS A VERY DIFFERENT STORY. AS TOLD TO DAVE ZARUM

It doesn’t happen often. And maybe that’s why the sting of losing a Stanley Cup Final game seven lasts so long. Since 1994, seven teams have done it, and for that select group of players, it’s a struggle to balance the pride of reaching the biggest stage in the game with the crushing reality of falling just short when they get there. It’s something the men featured in this story know all too well. And while everybody deals with the pain differently—some philosophically, others with sorrow—they can all agree on one thing: Losing hurts. Bad.

CRAIG CONROY (2004 FLAMES) There was a game during the stretch run leading to the playoffs: We were in St. Louis, and we beat them. And we never beat St. Louis. I remember talking to some of the Blues guys after that, and they were saying, “Man, I think you guys are going to be tough in the playoffs. We wouldn’t want to play you.” That was interesting. Nobody ever said that about us—usually they’d want to. Once we got past Detroit in the second round, we said, “Maybe we can do this!” That’s when the belief started.

FERNANDO PISANI (2006 OILERS) The last two months of the season, we were already in playoff mode because we were fighting tooth and nail to solidify that last spot. Once we got into the playoffs, it was like a huge monkey off our backs. We just went out and played. We were confident, but nobody else gave us a chance against Detroit [in the first round].

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