Time to dance with Stanley

May 29th, 2009 | By Greener | Category: Greener

I am so torn in trying to predict who will win the Cup this year.  If I go with the Top 5 finisher winning every year since 1994, then I have to go with Detroit.  But they are so banged up right now with Datsyuk and Lidstrom game day decisions.  The series with the ‘Hawks was much closer than the 4-1 results show.  Three games went into overtime and a bounce here or there and Detroit could have been looking at a second straight seven game series.  But they are the champs and they have shown the depth they have in their line up so you can’t count them out. 

That being said, I think that Pittsburgh will buck the 15 year trend of a top 5 team winning the Cup.  Crosby, Malkin and Co. are firing on all cylinders and there is no way they enter the final the same way as they did last year where they took until game 3 until they got comfortable and began to play hockey.  Crosby has the fire in his eyes of a man on a mission.  You can see the same drive to succeed in Crosby that all the greats in the game displayed and Malkin looks like he is ready to show he can dominate in the post-season just as he did in the regular season.  Add that Fleury is playing the best hockey in his career and Pittsburgh does not seem nearly as beat up or injured as Detroit and you have to give the Pens the edge.

Penguins in six

The Greener \m/

  • #17
    well if Detroit goes down I wouldnt mind it going to the Pens.

    Thats a sick schedule, especially when no one is taking a night off (going through the motions like the Sens until they got put out of the playoffs).

    That said..both teams have to face that stupid schedule.
  • McPhail
    Wings have injury woes (and thanks to Bettman's catering of the NBC late night programming schedules) will have to play 3 games in 4 days, giving little time to recover. It's the first time in over 50 years that there will be back to back games in the Stanley cup final. It's unfortunate that the NHL has to adjust the scheduling of its championship series in order to avoid clashes with NBC's late night programming. hat other sport bends its schedule around a Network's programming the way the NHL does?? A Network that pays $0 for the NHL product?! Shouldn't the NHL schedule its games to ensure the best on-ice product (day off between games as per the last 50 years), so that when television networks do broadcast it - the viewers will see the best quality hockey??? The timing for this couldn't be worse for the Wings. Hossa raised a good point in saying "what happens if Saturday night's game goes to triple OT?". If that were to happen, I can't see the Sunday night game being top-notch hockey.

    Complaining about Bettman and his tendancy to bend over to the large American television networks is a moot point. It's probably as big a waste of time as it is complaining about his insistence to keep subsidizing struggling (understatement) teams in the Southern US rather than relocating some of them to ACTUAL HOCKEY MARKETS.

    3 games in 4 days is nuts. 30 teams fought all year to reach the Stanley Cup finals and ultimately to win them. Why rush it now? I have no problem with starting the series on Saturday but why 3 games in 4 days?? It's because the NHL is trying to fit a square peg in a round hole.

    Unfortunately, the timing for this advanced schedule move could not be worse for the Wings. They are without a doubt beat up. That being said, they are much deeper than the Pens. Also it's interesting to note that of Crosby's 14 goals, I think 12-13 were scored within a 4 foot radius of the net. Don't expect him to get that much room in this series. I think it will be a hell of a series and it's no secret that I am hoping that the champs repeat. Reports this morning indicate that Lidstrom will be back for game 1. That's a HUGE step in the right direction...
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