Horcoff: Best player I’ve played with. There are very few players who can control a game, and he just had that. You knew he was going to be there every single night.

He never skated the puck up the ice by himself, but every time you got a pass from him there was no one around you and you were flying at full speed. And it was right on the tape.

People who play know the value of that type of player who just knows how to bring people to him and when to distribute the puck. He ran the power play; he ran the PK; he was physical; he brought leadership to a team that was pretty young. He was sneaky dirty … Just everything.

The only noteworthy aspect of game six for the Canes was the return of winger Erik Cole, who was nearly paralyzed three months earlier on a hit from behind by Pittsburgh Penguins defenceman Brooks Orpik.

Laviolette: Being inserted in a game like that, it was a tough decision and an easy decision because he was such a valuable part of our team, he had had such a good year [but] you’re not sure what it’s going to do for the team and for him coming back and playing at a pace that is extremely high.

I don’t think the game was real effective for us as a team, and I think Erik goes into that category, that it wasn’t effective for him. I do think what it did was it allowed him to get into a game and to feel that speed and feel the competitiveness and the excitement of that Stanley Cup final. And it did set it up for a Game 7 where I think he was a factor.

While Edmonton had shown impressive bounce-back ability by digging out of a 3-1 series hole, Carolina had plenty of resolve, too. The Canes lost the first two games of the playoffs at home to the Montreal Canadiens before winning four straight to claim that series. They’d also won a back-and-forth seven-game East final to beat Buffalo. Both teams, as well as the home crowd, were ready for one last tilt.

Pisani: I’d be lying if I said I slept the night before. I was pretty stoked. Pretty excited.

The day of, usually I have a pre-game nap and just try to decompress, but I couldn’t sleep. I was so excited and so ready to play that game. Shawn Horcoff was my roommate at the time, and I just remember saying to him, ‘We have an opportunity to win the Stanley Cup…We were both just lying there, resting, just reflecting on everything.

Recchi: We still felt great about it. We’d played great at home all playoffs.

Laviolette: I think that was really important. That was one of those moments; [sometimes] you sit there and you wonder why you’re playing game 42 or game 58 or game 63 or why it’s so important to win. [It’s] because it could eventually lead to home ice in a playoff round in some important game.

Raffi Torres, Oilers winger: We were feeling good about ourselves, but we knew we had a big task ahead going into their barn. And their barn was nuts. Ours was crazy in Edmonton, but theirs was insane: people standing up the whole game, it was crazy. Awesome.

Brind’Amour: My dad was there and he’s an older dude and he didn’t even remember that he stood the whole game. He couldn’t figure out why he was so exhausted after and then he’s like, ‘Man, I never sat down!’ And nobody did. And that was right from warm-ups on. We came out in the warm-up and it was like that, it’s packed, there’s so much electricity in there. I think it really helped our team.

Carolina did ride the wave, as Aaron Ward opened the scoring just 1:26 into the game. In the second period, Frantisek Kaberle—another defenceman—made it 2-0 and it appeared the Hurricanes were on their way.

Laviolette: I kept saying five-minute blocks; if we can just take down five-minute blocks. I think they scored relatively early in the third and that theory went out the window.

The Oilers goal that closed the gap to 2-1 came courtesy of Pisani 63 seconds into the third. The Edmonton native’s tally was his playoff-best 14th in 24 contests, which roughly represents a 48-goal pace for a guy who never scored 20 in a season.

Torres: He was unreal. Unreal. You could see it in his face. It was as if he was having an out-of-body experience those playoffs. You could see it when he showed up, in his preparation.

Pisani: I was expecting to score goals, because I was able to do that at most levels I played at. And to finally be able to do it in the playoffs, where games really matter, was a pretty good feeling for me.

Laviolette: It was one of those moments in time for him.

If Pisani was Edmonton’s unlikely hero, Cam Ward was Carolina’s. The rookie goalie took over from Martin Gerber after the latter dropped the first two games of the playoffs. In a spring full of crucial saves, none were bigger than a left-pad denial of Pisani—who didn’t quite get all of the puck—with just over three minutes to play in game seven.