May 30th- Nearly two months ago, 16 teams started on the quest to win hockey’s holy grail. Through many fights, hard checks, great saves and greater goals, we’re down to two competitors. The Stanley Cup Finals are upon us and for the second consecutive season, the Pittsburgh Penguins and Detroit Red Wings are the last teams standing.
Although repeat championship series are unusual in major pro sports, this outcome really isn’t a surprise. The Red Wings are the defending Cup champions and did not lose much from their 2008 campaign to suggest that they should not be back here. Any team would be considered stacked with the likes of Henrik Zetterberg, Johan Franzen, Pavel Datsyuk and Nicklas Lidstrom taking the ice night after night. They also gained when they picked up former Penguin Marian Hossa, who is trying to get that elusive championship, this time wearing the Hockeytown sweater. Another 2008 Penguin is on the Wings this go-round, but it’s highly unlikely backup goaltender Ty Conklin will see much ice time. Starter Chris Osgood continued to make his critics eat crow with some great games in these playoffs, including a 30-save performance in a 2-1 overtime victory over the young and talented Chicago Blackhawks to clinch the Western Conference title in five games. Now, Osgood will mind the net in search of his fourth Stanley Cup ring. He’ll be challenged, however, and not only because of the opposition in black and gold. Defensemen Lidstrom, Datsyuk, Jonathan Ericsson and Center Kris Draper are all dealing with injuries and it’s not clear if they’ll be able to play for most of series. (One can bet they will given the stakes and the machismo ever present in NHL locker rooms. Most, if not all, of them live by the mantra, “If you can walk, you can skate. If you can skate, you can play.”) It might be encouraging that a guy like Dan Cleary is hot now, having scored six goals in as many games headed to the Finals, including the tiebreaker to clinch the West Finals.
Even with the Red Wings’ star-studded lineup, the Penguins might be coming into this return match with more buzz. While the Red Wings are seen as a workmanlike mass of red who most people couldn’t pick out in the middle of the street, Pittsburgh is blessed with two of the league’s best players in Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. And they’ve earned their hype in this year’s playoffs, from the bruising 6-game series against Philadelphia, the star-studded 7-game dream showdown with Alexander Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals, and the dismantling sweep of the Carolina Hurricanes. Sid the Kid and Geno have each registered 28 points through the first three rounds of the playoffs. Crosby has 14 goals and 14 assists, while Malkin has registered 12 goals to go with 16 helpers. Both have recorded hat tricks, although Malkin’s might have been more impressive in that his came in a win in Game 2 of the East Finals (7-4) and that his last goal was highlight film material, putting a backhand shot from a bad angle past Carolina’s Cam Ward. (Crosby’s came in Game 2 of the Washington series, which Pittsburgh lost 4-3. Ovechkin also scored a hat trick in that game.) The team has also received great contributions from mid-season pick-up Bill Guerin, who is showing his love of being free of the hockey dead zone called Nassau Coliseum with 14 points in the playoffs and Ruslan Fedotenko, who has managed 11 points.
In-season match-ups are not usually the best indicators for how a postseason series will work out. However, if you decide to pay attention to them, Detroit, the higher-seeded team (No. 2 in the West) should be alert. The Penguins (No. 4 in the East) and Red Wings split their two regular season meetings with each team winning in the opponent’s rink. Last November, Pittsburgh won a 7-6-overtime contest at Joe Louis Arena. The Wings got their revenge in February, shutting out the Pens 3-0 in a nationally televised game at Mellon Arena.
A lot of things are pointing in the favor of the Penguins this go-round. The Pens’ offense has been on fire most of the playoffs. Ask Carolina players about that in the wake of the 4-game whitewashing they were subjected to by Crosby’s gang. You may also want to get an opinion from Washington goaltender Simeon Varlamov, who, after keeping Pittsburgh in relative check over the first six games, was blitzed for four goals by the middle of the second period of Game 7 of the Pens-Caps series before being pulled. That’s just how deadly this offense can be. Also in Pittsburgh’s favor is the aforementioned health of the Red Wings. Without key guys like Lidstrom, Datsyuk and Draper, Detroit’s remaining cast of stars may find it difficult to match the Pens. Still, the Wings are the Wings, easily one of the best teams in the NHL over the last 10 years. Nearly all of last year’s Stanley Cup champions are back and that former Penguin Hossa is going to be extra motivated to prove that he made the right move in saying no long-term security in the Steel City and going with a 1-year Hockeytown deal and a chance to pick up that ring he so desperately craves. But you know the Penguins fans are going to give him the treatment every time he touches the puck in the Igloo.
(Random note: Both of this year’s finalists have played in the first two Winter Classic outdoor games. And both teams won. But if you want to read into it, Detroit fans might have cause to worry. The Pens won the 2008 Winter Classic against Buffalo at Ralph Wilson Stadium, but lost in the Finals. Detroit beat the Blackhawks on New Year’s Day at Wrigley Field. Just putting it out there.)
Prediction: For as much as people are ready to start the coronation of Sidney Crosby as the new king of the ice, the Red Wings have always found some way to come through when a challenge is presented to them. They mowed down Columbus with ease to start the playoffs, eked out a 7-game series with the feisty Anaheim Ducks and beat out a good - but green - Blackhawks team in five. Just a gut feeling here, but we think Datsyuk is ready to end his scoring drought. (He hasn’t netted a goal since Game 2 of the Blue Jackets series.) We also think Osgood will internalize all the criticism he’s received and again put on a capable performance. The series should be a dogfight and even with the age and health against them, we don’t expect the Red Wings will be eager to surrender their crown just yet.
Red Wings in 7
