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Former Canucks assistant general manager Laurence Gilman was on Vancouver’s TSN 1040 on Wednesday morning.

On how often he thinks about Game 7 of the 2011 Stanley Cup Final, and how his life might be different if the result had gone the other way:

“Well, I don’t necessarily focus on Game 7 alone, because in my mind, I focus probably more on Game 6 because I really believe that that’s where we had the chance to win it.”

Why 6 over 7? 6 was in Boston and you hadn’t had a lot of success in Boston to that point.

“Yeah, but we won a pivotal game in Game 5. We had momentum. When we stepped on that plane, there wasn’t a shred of doubt in the minds of our group – I really felt we were going to Boston to win it, even though we hadn’t played very well in the prior two games there. But I felt that we had that we squandered that opportunity.

“We were out of gas. Among all of the things that occurred in that series – we were injured significantly. Some of our best players – like Ryan Kesler and Alex Edler – were really injured. We had lost – Manny Malhotra was playing, but wasn’t playing at the same level. We lost Aaron Rome, who was playing the best hockey of his career. That’s what happens in a series. Your opponent gets stronger. You get weaker. You get stronger. Your opponent gets weaker. Unfortunately, things didn’t go our way.

“Do I think about it a lot? There’s probably not a day that goes by that I don’t think about it. I have tremendous regret over the fact that we didn’t win the Stanley Cup, and personally that I would have had my name etched on it.

“I believe without a shred of doubt in my mind that we had the best team in hockey that year and the following year. I mean, we won the President’s Trophy back-to-back. We learned though that it’s not the best team that wins it, it’s the team that’s playing the best. There’s a lot that goes into that. Injuries is one factor. Officiating is another. And plain old luck comes into it. In Game 6, for instance, in the first shift, Daniel Sedin had an open net. The puck bounced over his stick. The team that scored the first goal won every game in that series.

“Would my life have been different had we won? Perhaps. My life’s pretty good as it is. But it would have been nice to be a Stanley Cup champion. It would have been wonderful to bring a Stanley Cup to Vancouver.”

Source: TSN 1040/ Transcript: Nichols

Gilman: ‘Probably not a day goes by’ I don’t think about 2011 Cup Final