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When he wasn't plotting against his fellow Americans, President Richard Nixon liked to put on polyester trousers and shirt for some bowling in the White House alley.

 SILVER CLIFF – Well friends, all bets are off! The Edmonton Oilers, who were down 3-0 in this year's Stanley Cup Final have roared back to tie the series 3-3 and will play for the Stanley Cup on Monday night in Sunrise, Fla.!

When this series went to a 3-0 lead for the Florida Panthers most analysts and fans alike had presumed this series was over and the Cats would either sweep or win it in five games. Not so fast Baba Louie! The Oil had other plans and is now one win away from pulling off a historic feat.  

In overall Cup history, there has only been one team that has come back from 0-3 to win the Cup, and that was the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs who came back to take the Cup away from the Detroit Red Wings. In 1945 the Wings and Leafs would meet again in the Final with the Winged Wheel hellbent for revenge. In that instance, the Wings almost pulled off a series comeback from a 0-3 deficit, but the Leafs would win Game Seven to take home the Cup.

In Finals history Monday night's tilt will mark only the third time in the NHL that this situation has occurred.   In the overall history of this rare event, this represents only the tenth time in this tournament that this has happened. I have witnessed six of these series, with the most recent one taking place in 2014 when the eventual Cup winner, the Los Angeles Kings, bested the San Jose Sharks after getting behind 0-3 in the quarterfinal series.

The challenging news for the Oil is that these situations have only a 2-7 record thus far.   Can the Cats rally in this situation and win the Cup on home ice? At this point I'm not exactly sure they can. Even while they were amassing their early 3-0 lead in this series, the Oil appeared to be the slightly better team in each game.

They were beaten 3-0 and 4-1 in the first two tilts in Sunrise. They dropped a closer contest in Game three back in Edmonton before absolutely hammering the Cats in Game four by an 8-1 paint brushing of a game. It was at that point that everyone's eyes were now wide open and the possibility of an Oil comeback began to take hold.  

They would return to Sunrise to take a 5-3 win although without a third-period rally by the Cats, the score is not indicative of how the game went. And then last night, in stunning fashion, the Oil put a home ice beatdown on the Cats. It was never close and once they made the score 2-0 the outcome was never in doubt. The Cats had a brief moment of hope when it appeared that Sasha Barkov had scored to cut the deficit to one goal, but the Oil challenged the play for offsides and were successful.

They would go on to make the score 3-0 on a Zach Hyman score before the Cats would score early in the third to make it 3-1. But this game was decided by then and the Cat's efforts in the final frame were for naught.        

By the time this edition of the World Wide Duluth Reader hits the stands this series will have been decided. And no matter what I had opined before this column, every single bit of momentum is squarely with the Oilers. Going into Game Six I thought that this is the Cat's third chance in this series to win it and wondered if the old "third time's the charm" mantra would take hold. It didn't and now I do not see a way for them to come back and win.

From Game four forward the Oil's Stuart Skinner has outplayed the Cats all-world tender Sergei Bobrovsky. The Oiler's top stars became engaged and have heavily outplayed the Cats stars. And in the few situations where the Cats had chances to change the direction of a game, they couldn't finish on Grade A scoring chances.  

I'm not great at prognosticating these days but I don't see a scenario where the Cats can turn the tide here. If the Oilers do prevail it will be only the second time in Cup history this type of comeback has happened and it will be the first time in thirty Cup Finals that a Canadian-based team has hoisted the Cup. So, who will do what with which to whom? I think the Oilers have the answer to that and I can't wait for game time! It has been another outstanding tournament!  

After last night's epic Game Six, the night was still young and there wasn't a lot to choose from on the tube that interested me until I saw that a previously recorded PBA bowling tournament was on, so I was game for that and tuned in.

For the first several years of my life I lived across West Seventh Street from the old Sibley Bowl in St. Paul. My dad had brought me in there a few times as a preschooler and I was quickly fascinated by its unusual atmosphere. On a hot day when you walked in, you were in immediate comfort from the cool air in the building. The sight of thirty lanes across was a thing to behold along with the sounds of a ball hitting the maple boards rolling toward the pins with that unforgettable sound of the ball hitting the pins was nothing short of total nirvana. I was hooked.  

The other part of this holy sports alliance was the smells offered up in anyone's local bowling palace. When you came in you could see about a foot's worth of cigarette and cigar smoke hovering just below the dim lights. The aroma of the freshly oiled lanes, and the aroma of grilled burgers and french fries at the snack bar all blended to create an unforgettable treat to anyone's sense of smell. And then there was the actual bowling itself. If you were a young kid just learning the nuances of the game it was just a really fun experience. By the time I was nine I had joined the Saturday morning Junior league and it was great!  

As most young bowlers don't throw a great deal of strikes I focused on getting really good at making spares. In my second year as a ten-year-old, I had built up a 166 average. I guess that's pretty good but I have nothing to compare it to. By that time I was a fixture there and loved every minute of it! And then, one morning after getting up at five to deliver my morning papers, my dad was already up.  

That was unusual and he had quite a somber look on his face. He told me there had been an overnight fire at the bowling alley and it had burned down. That news went right through me. Sure enough, when I went to the newspaper drop point, I could see the smoldering ruins and the building that brought me so much joy was now gone. That wouldn't be the end of my bowling days though... PEACE