STANLEY CUP FINAL II - The Rematch
The much-anticipated Stanley Cup final rematch is now upon us. Last season, the Pens went down in six games. In fact, they were shut out in the first two games before they finally broke through and won game three. Their playoff run was fueled by the bold move of acquiring Marian Hossa at the trade deadline. Many speculated the Pens had Mortgaged their future (Colby Armstrong) for one, all-or-nothing shot at glory.
That seemed to be the case up until this season's trade deadline when the Pens acquired Bill Guerin and hard-nosed winger Chris Kunitz. Those two now flank Sidney Crosby on the top line. MVP candidate Evgeni Malkin now centers the second line with Ruslan Fedotenko. Playmaking defenseman Sergei Gonchar, who seems to have sipped from the fountain of youth last season continues his amazing play this season.
In Detroit, the song remains the same. No less than seven All-Star caliber forwards, the best defenseman since Bobby Orr in Nik Lidstrom, and possibly the most underappreciated playoff goaltender in history in the person of Chris Osgood.
The rich definitely got richer after winning the Cup last year when All star forward Marian Hossa ditched the Pens after last year's final and brought his show to Detroit where he is now once again on the cusp of his first championship. The Pens have the chance to deny Hossa his ring. Hossa has a chance to prove he made the right decision when he joined the conquering army. There is still some lingering bitterness between Hossa and the Pittsburgh fans, which will definitely add some fuel to the fire when the teams go to Pittsburgh for games three and four.
Both teams have already been tested by high octane offensive teams. Pittsburgh faced a lot of firepower when they faced Washington in the Conference semi final, which they came back to win in seven games after dropping the first two.
The Wings faced the high powered Chicago Blackhawks in their recently completed Conference final and outscored them 19-10 in the series, putting the kids to bed in only five games.
Prediction: This is a much better, deeper and well coached Pens team than the team that lost in the Stanley Cup final last year. Rookie coach Dan Bylsma has had this team playing like champs since taking over late in the season. Sid the kid and Evgeni Malkin are playing truly inspired hockey and Jordan Staal is tough as nails. That said, the Pens are again going to come up agonizingly short. Detroit is a well-oiled machine. The Pens may well be able to match the offensive intensity of the Wings, but Detroit is the league's best at controlling play in the neutral zone, thus allowing them to both create and prevent more scoring opportunities than their opponent. It's going to be the intangibles, all those little things that don't appear on the score sheet which will ultimately make the difference in this series. The health of Pavel Datsyuk and Nik Lidstrom may be an issue, but trust Ozzie to be strong between the pipes.
RED WINGS in 6
That seemed to be the case up until this season's trade deadline when the Pens acquired Bill Guerin and hard-nosed winger Chris Kunitz. Those two now flank Sidney Crosby on the top line. MVP candidate Evgeni Malkin now centers the second line with Ruslan Fedotenko. Playmaking defenseman Sergei Gonchar, who seems to have sipped from the fountain of youth last season continues his amazing play this season.
In Detroit, the song remains the same. No less than seven All-Star caliber forwards, the best defenseman since Bobby Orr in Nik Lidstrom, and possibly the most underappreciated playoff goaltender in history in the person of Chris Osgood.
The rich definitely got richer after winning the Cup last year when All star forward Marian Hossa ditched the Pens after last year's final and brought his show to Detroit where he is now once again on the cusp of his first championship. The Pens have the chance to deny Hossa his ring. Hossa has a chance to prove he made the right decision when he joined the conquering army. There is still some lingering bitterness between Hossa and the Pittsburgh fans, which will definitely add some fuel to the fire when the teams go to Pittsburgh for games three and four.
Both teams have already been tested by high octane offensive teams. Pittsburgh faced a lot of firepower when they faced Washington in the Conference semi final, which they came back to win in seven games after dropping the first two.
The Wings faced the high powered Chicago Blackhawks in their recently completed Conference final and outscored them 19-10 in the series, putting the kids to bed in only five games.
Prediction: This is a much better, deeper and well coached Pens team than the team that lost in the Stanley Cup final last year. Rookie coach Dan Bylsma has had this team playing like champs since taking over late in the season. Sid the kid and Evgeni Malkin are playing truly inspired hockey and Jordan Staal is tough as nails. That said, the Pens are again going to come up agonizingly short. Detroit is a well-oiled machine. The Pens may well be able to match the offensive intensity of the Wings, but Detroit is the league's best at controlling play in the neutral zone, thus allowing them to both create and prevent more scoring opportunities than their opponent. It's going to be the intangibles, all those little things that don't appear on the score sheet which will ultimately make the difference in this series. The health of Pavel Datsyuk and Nik Lidstrom may be an issue, but trust Ozzie to be strong between the pipes.
RED WINGS in 6
posted by C Smith JR at 9:43 PM
1 Comments:
Where are your interviews during the nhl awards?
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