Five surprise Game 7 heroes
1. Frank McCool, Toronto, 1945: With regular goalie Turk Broda in the army all season, McCool, a 26-year-old rookie, played all 50 games for the Maple Leafs. With McCool coming up big, Toronto beat Detroit 2-1 in Game 7. McCool would play only 22 more games in his NHL career.
2. Ken Dryden, Montreal, 1971: Dryden would go on to a Hall of Fame career, but in 1971, he was a rookie goalie who had played just six games during the regular season (and had won all six). But he started all 20 games in the playoffs and won the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP, a run that included several remarkable saves in Game 7.
3. Mike Rupp, New Jersey, 2003: Rupp hadn't even appeared in the playoffs until Game 4 of the finals against Anaheim. In Game 7, his second-period goal gave the Devils a 1-0 lead, and he later assisted on Jeff Friesen's two goals as Jersey won 3-0. To date, Rupp still has one career playoff goal in 25 games.
4. Cam Ward, Carolina, 2006: Ward began the playoffs as the No. 2 goalie behind Martin Gerber but ended up winning more playoff games (15) than he did during the regular season (14). As the team's former No. 1 pick in 2002, he wasn't without talent, but his rise was unexpected. In Game 7, he made 22 saves, including a big save with four minutes left, when he stopped a Raffi Torres shot and got his left skate on the rebound just before Fernando Pisani's stick.
5. Frantisek Kaberle, Carolina, 2006: The veteran defenseman had joined Carolina for the 2005-06 season after toiling in obscurity for the Thrashers. He scored just six regular-season goals but had four in the playoffs, including the first goal of Game 7. He had scored just three goals total the past three seasons.
