Matt Carle and Nate Thompson were teammates as youth hockey players, they were both drafted in 2003, they both made their NHL debuts in 2006 and they were NHL teammates for two seasons.
And in the next two days, the 30-year-olds from Anchorage will share another marker on their rink resumes – each will play in the crucible of a Game 7 in the Stanley Cup playoffs.
At stake is merely a spot in the Stanley Cup Final, the ultimate series in the world's best league.
Carle and the Tampa Bay Lightning travel to New York to battle the Rangers on Friday in the decisive game of the Eastern Conference Final. Thompson and the Anaheim Ducks entertain the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday in the last showdown of the Western Conference Final.
Each game will deliver emotional impact – elation for the winners, agony for the losers.
Both Carle, a defenseman, and Thompson, a center, have previously been in this pressure-packed, perilous position that also presents the promise of prosperity.
Carle twice has played in a Game 7 in the NHL, including earlier these playoffs when the Lightning beat Detroit 2-0 in Florida to take the first-round series.
He also played in one of the most historic Game 7's in NHL history, In 2010, he played for the Philadelphia Flyers when they won Game 7 of a second-round series at Boston, 4-3, to become just the third team in league history to roar back from a 3-0 series deficit. The Flyers in Game 7 also stormed back from a 3-0 first-period deficit. Philadelphia fell to Chicago in six games of the Stanley Cup Final that season.
Thompson likewise has twice skated in a Game 7 – both instances came with Tampa Bay in 2011, one season before Carle and Thompson were teammates with the Lightning for two seasons.
In 2011, Thompson and the Lightning beat Pittsburgh 1-0 in Game 7 of the first round and lost 1-0 at Boston in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Final.
Carle has played 106 career NHL playoff games on top of his 660 NHL regular-season games. He has played for three teams – San Jose, Philadelphia and Tampa Bay.
Thompson has played 33 career playoff games in addition to his 471 regular-season games. He has played for four teams – Boston, the New York Islanders, Tampa Bay and Anaheim.
Carle owns 6-32—38 totals and a minus-6 rating in his NHL playoff career, and has two assists and a minus-8 rating in 18 games this season. Thompson owns 3-7—10 totals and a plus-8 rating in his NHL playoff career, and has gone 2-4—6 and plus-6 in 11 games this season – he missed a first-round sweep of Winnipeg with an upper-body injury.
As in most things in Alaska hockey, the NHL playoff benchmark is veteran center Scott Gomez, a two-time Stanley Cup winner (New Jersey, 2000 and 2003). Gomez not only has played in 149 career playoff games and 1,045 regular-season games – both are the most by an Alaskan – but also has skated 10 times in a Game 7 in the NHL. Gomez's clubs have gone 6-4 in Games 7's, including a 1-1 record in Game 7's of the Stanley Cup Final.
Reach reporter Doyle Woody at dwoody@alaskadispatch.com, check out his blog at adn.com/hockey-blog and follow him on Twitter at @JaromirBlagr