The departure of Marian Hossa, Jiri Hudler and Mikael Samuelsson means that the Wings will have to make up for the offensive output that those players provided.  Hossa’s departure paves the way for Johan Franzen to join Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk at the elite level.  Franzen’s scoring has gone up each of the last four years.  He could end up being Detroit’s key to fighting off the Chicago Blackhawks for the division title this year.  As for the rest of Detroit’s fire power it seems that after a good, not great, regular season, Zetterberg re-established his credentials as one of the top two-way players in the game with his outstanding work in the playoffs. Not only is Zetterberg a gifted offensive performer, but he is a sound performer in all three zones.

Few players in the league can match the exceptional puckhandling skills of Datsyuk, the slick Russian center who tied his career-high with 97 points last season and has recorded a rating of at least plus-25 for four straight seasons. Datsyuk may have struggled in the postseason, but still dazzled on occasion with his creative offensive moves.  Let’s not forget that he was playing hurt.

The Red Wings had only one real weakness in 2008-09: their penalty killing.  They ranked 25th in the NHL with a 78.29 percent kill rate.  I think Darren Helm and Jonathan Ericsson will help improve the club’s penalty-killing unit.  The PK unit also would benefit from a better regular season performance by starting goalie Chris Osgood.

As for the defensive unit Nicklas Lidstrom performs at a level of consistency that is above and beyond the rest of the league and the 39-year-old was tremendous again last season.  While it may not have necessarily been another Norris Trophy campaign, Lidstrom provides a security blanket for the entire franchise.  In his mid-30s, Brian Rafalski has continued to perform at a high level, putting up a career-high 59 points last season.  He may get outmuscled at times, but his mobility and puckhandling skills are an ideal fit for the Wings’ puck control style of play.  In my opinion, Ericsson stands among the best young defensemen in the game.  He’s a strong skater who is smooth with the puck and isn’t intimidated by the physical game.  Watching him, you can’t help but think he has learned a lot from Detroit captain and fellow countryman Lidstrom.  Clearly, Ericsson is a keeper who figures to be patrolling the Wings’ blue line for years to come.

When it come to goaltending the Red Wings are going to stick with who they’ve got.  On the heels of what was the worst regular season of his career, Osgood’s strong playoff performance should provide some measure of confidence in his ability going into next season.  Even at his best, Osgood doesn’t need to steal games for the Wings, just provide stable and consistent netminding.

Both teams came out ready to do battle again for another 20 minutes.  Pittsburgh struck first just 1:13 into the 2nd period.  Talbot took a pass from Malkin from the side of the net, cut inside and beat Red Wing goaltender Chris Osgood right between the five hole.  Talbot scored his second of the period at the 10:07 mark.  He streaked up the left side on a two on one, held onto the puck and then beat Osgood with a wrister over his left shoulder.  Osgood allowed two goals in the second period after allowing just two goals total in the first three home games of this series.  Crosby however played just one shift after leaving the ice during the second period after taking a hard hit along the boards from Johan Franzen that left him unable to walk due to a knee injury.  Because he’s a hockey player and tough as nails Crosby made it back to the ice midway through the third period for the one shift.  He then just sat on the bench and watched his teammates hang on.  I’m sure it was tough for him not to play but like I said earlier, others stepped up in his absence.

Penguins goalie Marc Andre-Fleury really made a name for himself by playing a very solid game.  Coming back to the same arena where just days earlier he had been pulled in favor of their backup because he gave up 4 goals in that game, Fleury faced his opponents again but this time he won the battle and in the process the war.  He gave up only 1 goal to help pace the Pens.  Fleury was solid in the 1st and 2nd periods but he saved his magic for the 3rd period.  Yes he gave up a goal to Jonathan Ericsson with just over 6 minutes remaining in the game to cut the Pens lead in half but he stopped Detroit from scoring in the closing seconds of the game to seal the Stanley Cup clincher.

This is Sidney Crosby’s first Stanley Cup win.  He became the youngest team captain at 21years old in NHL history to hoist the Stanley Cup over his shoulders, only four years after he was drafted 1st overall.  Owner Mario Lemieux once again tasted the sweet victory of a cup win for the 3rd time, his first as an owner.  He won the Stanley Cup as a player twice when Pittsburgh repeated as Champions in 1991 and 1992.

This game will go down for sure as one of the top ten games in NHL history.  The Penguins are the first to win the title the year after losing in the finals since Edmonton 25 years ago against the New York Islanders.

Evgeni Malkin, who led all scorers in the playoffs with 36 points, won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the postseason MVP.  This is on the heels of him winning the Art Ross Trophy as the player with the most points in the regular season.

Pittsburgh avoided a repeat of last season by staving off elimination with a heart stopping 2-1 win in game 6 and now find themselves in a position even they weren’t sure was possible in mid-February when they changed coaches and were struggling along in 10th place.  But they are still fighting history because home teams have won 12 of the 14 Stanley Cup Finals game 7’s since the NHL went to the best of seven format back in 1939, with the last being the Montreal Canadiens in 1971.  A team that had nine future hall of famers.

The Penguins will need to have their two superstars Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin dialed in if they want to have any chance at pulling out a victory.  They need to create some traffic in front of the net and follow the golden rule of playing smart hockey, NO PENALTIES.  Penalties will doom whichever team has more since both teams’ powerplay units are extremely effective.

It should be a great game and I have definitely enjoyed this years playoffs, some of the most exciting overall hockey played in a long time.  I for one will be sad when the game is over because that means no more hockey until September.

Chris Osgood played a great game, he stopped all 22 shots that came his way and even collected an assist on Valtteri Filppula”s goal in the 2nd period.  Osgood took advantage of a sloppy Pittsburgh line change and passed the puck from his own net up the left side to a waiting Marian Hossa who then set up Filppula.  It was the first time a goalie has recorded a point in a game since 2003.  Osgood now has 15 career playoff shutouts, which is the second most among active goalies (Martin Brodeur has 23).

Pittsburgh’s beleaguered goalie Marc-Andre Fleury was pulled in the 2nd period in favor of backup Mathieu Garon after the Wings broke it open with four goals ( three in a span of 6 minutes and 42 seconds).  It was Garon’s first playoff action since 2004.  Both Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin were shut down tonight, Malkin showed his frustration as he picked up three of the nine Pittsburgh penalties.  Game 6 is Tuesday night and those two are going to have to get back on track for Pittsburgh to have a chance at winning and forcing a game seven.

The Wings definitely flexed their muscles tonight and has outscored Pittsburgh 11-2 in their three games in Detroit in this series.  History suggests the Red Wings will hoist the Cup again as 14 of the 19 previous teams to win Game 5 in a series tied 2-2 have prevailed.  Red Wings captain Nicklas Lidstrom played in his 233 NHL postseason game, tying former D Scott Stevens for fifth on the career list.

Detroit’s firepower came from two pretty reliable sources who have really stepped up their games with their teams injuries.  Henrik Zetterberg and Johan Franzen both scored and assisted on each others goals.  Franzen’s goal was his 12th this postseason and 25th since the 2008 postseason.  That tied him for the fifth-most in a two-postseason span. Pavel Datsyuk, Detroit’s top scorer in the regular season and a candidate for league MVP has yet to step on the ice during this Stanley Cup series.  Best case scenario is that he returns from his foot injury Thursday night.  Sidney Crosby had an assist on Sergei Gonchar”s game winner in the 3rd period,  his first point of the series.  Crosby, the Penguins’ 21-year-old captain, again didn’t have a breakout game.  But at least for one night, it didn’t matter as the Penguins finally began getting production from their secondary scorers.  Zetterberg played another strong game, helping limit Crosby’s chances despite not being matched as regularly against him as Pittsburgh had the final line change due to home ice advantage.

With the win Pittsburgh now trails the Wings 2 games to 1 with game 4 to played on Thursday night.  One thing is for sure, with the victory the Penguins will see Hockeytown U.S.A. once again.  After that who knows, time will tell.

Detroit’s goaltending has been outstanding.  Chris Osgood has been making big saves and is only giving up a goal a game in the series, with this kind of play the Red Wings are virtually unstoppable.

The puck drops in about 19 hours and we’ll find out pretty quick if Pittsburgh is going to make this a series or if they’re just simply playing out the rest of their games.  I for one hope that the Penguins come back and force the series to go 7 games.

Montreal Canadiens Hire New Coach

Yesterday the Montreal Canadiens announced that Jacques Martin was hired as the teams new head coach.  The 56-year-old Martin replaces Montreal GM Bob Gainey behind the bench.  Gainey took over after firing Guy Carbonneau on March 9.  This is the first time the Canadiens have hired a coach with previous NHL coaching experience since Jacques Demers was fired four games into the 1995-96 season.  Martin has been the Panthers’ GM the past three seasons and coached the team from 2004 to 2008.  He also coached St. Louis and Ottawa and was coach of the year in 1999 with the Senators.  He has a career record of 517-406-119 for a .551 winning percentage.

GM Bob Gainey said that he was looking for someone who has seen and been in a lot of situations ( good and bad ) and someone who is ready for the demands, expectations and pressures that come with being the Montreal head coach.  Obviously Gainey feels that Martin is his man, now only time will tell if Gainey was right.  One thing is for sure, if this coaching hire does not work out it Martin won’t be the only one looking for work.  Gainey will be right there with him.

The Red Wings are closing in on their 12th title and fifth in 12 seasons.  Also of  the 44 teams to take a 2-0 lead in the Stanley Cup finals, 41 went on to win, but two of the three teams recovered from the deficit to beat the Red Wings (’66 Canadiens, ‘42 Maple Leafs).

Pittsburgh’s superstars were slowed down by the strong play and back checking of the Red Wings.  Pittsburgh had a breakaway and two power plays in the first half of the second period, and had nothing to show for it.  Both Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin did not turn in a high flying performance.  Crosby was held pointless for only the 3rd time this postseason while Malkin earned an assist on the Penguins lone goal.  The Wings got a solid effort from goalie Chris Osgood who stopped 31 of the 32 shots he faced.  Osgood made a pair of beautiful saves late in the second period denying Miroslav Satan on a shot just outside of the crease after Malkin set him up beautifully and turning away Crosby’s backhander after a spectacular spin move.

Detroit has now won Game 1 in nine consecutive series. That’s the longest active streak of its kind and tied for the third-longest in NHL history (Montreal Canadiens won 12 straight Game 1’s from 1956-1962).

Game 2 is Sunday night in Detroit at the Joe Louis Arena.

Detroit’s 36 year old goalie Chris Osgood has gone through quite a lot this season and is a different man for it.  He hit rock bottom in February when GM Ken Holland brought him into his office and reamed him out for his poor play, then sent him on a 10-day separation from the team.  He came back from the break a new man, rediscovered his winning ways and enters the Cup finals as strong mentally as he’s ever been.

Here’s something that I want to see what happens with.  Marian  Hossa was part of the educational experience in Pittsburgh last spring, but spurned the Penguins when it was over to sign a one year free agent contract with Detroit for less money because he thought the Red Wings would give him the best chance to win the Stanley Cup. Now in an unusual twist of fate at the end of this series Marian Hossa will know if he really did make the right decision.  We will also know if the Pittsburgh Penguins learned any lessons from their Stanley Cup run last year in which they came up short.  Both questions will be answered thanks to the rematch.

I’m now just about finished this entry and now I’m torn again who I think will win the series.  This will be a great matchup and I for one am looking forward to watching every single minute of every game.

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Surprise, surprise Detroit will once again square off with Eastern Conference champion Pittsburgh Penguins.  Pittsburgh is coming off a four-game sweep over Carolina and will open the championship series Saturday night in Detroit.  The Pens are looking for some payback after losing last year.

The Stanley Cup Final wasn’t supposed to start until June 6 but because both conference champs dispatched their opponents so expeditiously, the NHL wanting to avoid any kind of layoff or momentum killer in television ratings pushed up the start of the series to Saturday night.  Game 1 will be in Detroit.

The Red Wings, the first defending champion to get back to the finals since New Jersey in 2001, are trying to become the first team to repeat since winning the Cup in 1997 and ‘98.  The Red Wings are an NHL-best 8-1 in the playoffs at home this year.  Nicklas Lidstrom missed the game due to a continuing lower body injury, it was the second straight playoff game he missed since his debut in 1992.  He played in 228 straight before missing game 4.