THE WATERCOOLER:
QUESTION: Pittsburgh is at Detroit in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals tonight. Who do you like in the game and which is better: a Game 7 in the NHL, NBA or MLB?

BERNIE MIKLASZ:
Pittsburgh-Detroit: I’d like to make a case for a Pittsburgh upset in Game 7, but Bill Mazeroski doesn’t play hockey. The visiting team hasn’t won Game 7 of a Stanley Cup Final since Montreal went into Chicago Stadium to put away the Blackhawks in 1971, and it won’t happen this time. The only possible way I’d see this happening is if Chris Osgood fell apart in goal for Detroit, but in the 2009 Stanley Cup playoffs he’s 11-1 at home with a .948 save percentage. And Pittsburgh’s Marc Andre-Fleury has had his worst moments of the postseason at Joe Louis Arena; in the first three games there his save percentage is a terrible .857. I just can’t see Detroit’s goaltender or team having the kind of breakdown that would set up a Penguins victory. Pittsburgh’s big stars haven’t showed up so far on the road in this series; Crosby and Malkin have combined for one goal and are a combined minus 6 at The Joe.
Game 7s: As for which sport has the best Game 7 - well, they are all great and lead to intense anticipation, so it comes down to a personal preference. And I’ll take baseball only because of the personal memories that live with me still. And no sport has a richer tradition than baseball.

JEREMY RUTHERFORD:
Pittsburgh-Detroit: I picked Pittsburgh to win the series, and I think a Penguins’ win tonight would be great for the NHL. The league has been bragging about Crosby, Malkin, Staal and Fleury for a couple years, and watching them skate around with the Cup would finally mark a changing of the guard. Having said that, I can’t see Detroit losing Game 7 at Joe Louis Arena. Throughout history, home teams are 12-2 in championship games. I am going to stick with Pittsburgh and be pleasantly surprised if they pull it off.
Game 7s: I don’t think there’s a better spectacle than a Game 7 in the NHL. But I have to be honest: I grew up playing baseball in the sandlots. We set up every situation like it was the seventh game of the World Series. Bruce Sutter …. here’s the pitch …. I’ll go with baseball.

JEFF GORDON:
Pittsburgh-Detroit: The Penguins can only hope to create such a game in Motown and take their chances at the end. But the Red Wings will throw four lines of skill at the pedestrian Penguins defense and try to bust this game open. I don’t see this Pens team holding up under that sort of pressure. Only a miraculous game by goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury can save them.
Game 7s: The NHL Game 7 is better because one bounce of the puck can decide the championship. If two teams are tied late in the decisive game, every shift — every second of every shift — can be agonizingly tense. The puck can hope over a stick and create the decisive break.

TOM TIMMERMANN:
Pittsburgh-Detroit: When this series began, I said Penguins in 6 after they won one of the first two in Detroit. Well, that didn’t happen, but if they can win Game 7, I’m only off by one game. The odds are certainly against them — home-ice seems to make a difference in this one — but I’m going to stick with the Pens for consistency sake.
Game 7s: I’ve long maintained there is nothing in sports to compare to an NHL postseason overtime. The intensity is constant. An NHL Game 7 is like a 60-minute overtime. Every shift is important. Baseball Game 7’s come one day after Game 6, so there’s less of a buildup, And the pace of NBA games subtracts from the intensity. I’ll take an NHL Game 7.

DERRICK GOOLD:
Pittsburgh-Detroit: Would love to see former St. Louis Blues p.r. man Frank Buonomo and his Pittsburgh Penguins hoist the Cup tonight, but alas it will Chris Osgood and the Detroit Red Things that skate with Stanley tonight. (And thus usher Osgood into the Hall of Fame, perchance?)
Game 7s: I’ve had the fortune to cover Game 7s in baseball and Game 7s in hockey, including several Game 7s in the Stanley Cup Finals. And while I’ll never forget being knocked in the head by the Stanley Cup as they handed it to Ray Bourque for a sip in the dressing room after Game 7 in 2001, the best Game 7s I’ve ever covered and ever attended have been baseball Game 7s. Give me Game 7, bases loaded, rookie closer on the mound, Shea Stadium over Game 7, Detroit undressing Patrick Roy, Joe Louis Arena any day. So naturally when it comes to choosing the best kind of Game 7, I have to side with … well, venue over sport. A Game 7 at old Busch is going to trump a Game 7 at Pepsi Center (sorry, Denver), but something tells me a Game 7 in Montreal would rival a Game 7 at, say, Chase Field. Why no basketball? Because for me even a Game 7 in the NBA cannot hope to rival the intensity of hockey’s velocity or baseball’s tension in a Game 7. Basketball’s got no shot.

RICK HUMMEL:
Pittsburgh-Detroit: Home team has won every game in the NHL series and Pittsburgh hasn’t even come close in Detroit. It will be closer tonight but Detroit wins.
Game 7s: Game Seven in baseball is the best because the crowd isn’t as much of a factor and potential influence on officiating as it can be in hockey and basketball.

DAN O’NEILL:
Pittsburgh-Detroit: I like Pittsburgh tonight. Crosby is due to break out. The Penguins have to avoid a quick start by the Red Wings.
Game 7s: Game 7 in any sport is fabulous theater. I think I would rank Game 7 in an NBA Finals last, unless the St. Louis Hawks are playing the Boston Celtics.

THE WATERCOOLER

QUESTION:Sidney Crosby helped the Penguins reach the Eastern Conference Finals with a win over the Caps in Game 7 on Tuesday. Is Crosby, in his fourth year, more important to the NHL than LeBron James, in his sixth year, is to the NBA?

BERNIE MIKLASZ:
Not a chance. Round 2 should get 2 minutes for instigating me. Crosby has yet to establish a wide crossover appeal, while LeBron is already a marketing King, easily identifiable to millions of Americans. Also, Crosby has no personality. Quiet. He isn’t inclined to sell the game. Helluva player, immense talent but not even a blip on the radar when compared to James.

TOM TIMMERMANN:
The NHL is far more in need of talented, charismatic players like Crosby than the NBA is. (Especially English speaking ones.) The NHL has a much smaller pool of Crosby-esque players to draw from. Without James, the NBA has several other players to build an ad campaign around — Kobe Bryant, arrest not withstanding, Dwayne Wade, somebody off Boston, for starters. Wayne Gretzky made the NHL what it is today, even playing in Edmonton. Crosby isn’t Gretzky, but he’s the kind of player the league needs at the moment. Language barriers will keep Malkin and Ovechkin and Datsyuk from being the face of the NHL.

JEFF GORDON:
Sid the Kid’s importance to the NHL is much greater. True, the NBA needs LeBron to become the Next Jordan and keep pro basketball industry growing through these tough economic times. He is the league’s most important employee. But the NHL’s need for a transcendent star is much greater. Gary Bettman’s league is still off on the fringe of the national sports scene, earning scant TV ratings. If current trends continue, pro hockey could lose its tenuous footing in the Sun Belt. The NHL needs Crosby-Ovechkin to become Magic-Bird.

DAN O’NEILL:
The biggest difference between Sidney Crosby and LeBron James is that James carries more responsibility in terms of being the face of the NBA. Crosby may or may not be the best player in the NHL - I’d take Pavel Datsyuk myself. Regardless, there are a number of other equally dynamic stars, from Alexander Ovechkin, Evgeni Malkin, Patrick Kane, Henrik Zetterberg, Datsyuk … on down to even T.J. Oshie.

In the NBA, Kobe Bryant might be in the same ballpark talent-wise King James, but Bryant’s image off the court has never been completely restored from his extra-marital incident. There are a handful of other notable NBA players, but when you throw in the age and positive image James projects, I think the NBA clearly leans more heavily on him for profile than the NHL has to lean on Crosby.

Of course, neither holds a candle to what Tiger Woods means to professional golf.

JEREMY RUTHERFORD:
While both superstars are vital to their respective leagues, I give the edge to Crosby. I have friends who are hard-core NBA fans and I have friends who are casual NBA fans and, with either group, we can have a 10-minute conversation about the NBA playoffs and not even bring up LeBron. Meanwhile, I can’t remember my last conversation with an NHL fan that didn’t include some mention of “Sid the Kid.” Here’s a story: My brother had people over to his house to watch last night’s Pittsburgh-Washington game, and we watched even when the score was 5-0. Tonight, they’re are two Game 7s on TV (Boston-Carolina, Anaheim-Detroit) and guess what . . . there’s no get-together at my brother’s tonight. I think all of this speaks to the broader popularity of the NBA and the overall disinterest in the NHL, unless it’s headline-grabbing.