Your 2008 Stanley Cup Champions

THE DETROIT RED WINGS.

What a series. What a game. Thank once again to everybody who contributed around here throughout the season; first and foremost to my amazing co-blogger Elly - our friendship did in fact (I think!) endure this last series of the 07-08 season - but also to everyone who commented, everyone who read, everyone who just lurked every once in a while. Without you, we wouldn't have a blog.

Nick Lidstrom becomes the first European captain to lift the cup. Henrik Zetterberg wins the Conn Smythe. The Detroit Red Wings take home Lord Stanley's Cup in 6. The parade is tomorrow at 11.

Congratulations, boys, the summer seems a little sweeter now.

Too stressed to make a blog post title

Well, as they say, tonight is do or die for the Penguins season. Will they pull off a historic win? We can only hope, and if this playoff run is any indicator, then the Penguins have a fighting chance to come back in a surprise burst of offensive glory, at least once more, and give us all hope of a game six with their ability to keep in the game.

The Wings are a scary team, and they have proven it over and over in this series, showing the fans why they topped out the league this year by a cool 11 points. Pittsburgh has stood up, gotten beaten down, bruised, but not out, and if the killing blow does come tonight then at least we can say they put up a fight and maybe, possibly, finally stop hearing about this team's inexperience. No one ever stops learning, but does getting to the Cup finals count as enough credibility to get them out of the nursery? When does a young team just become a team?

I don't have much to say about game 4, and if you look around the blogosphere, most people have already said it: the Pens should have had that game. They put pressure on, they made Osgood wake up and work for his saves, but sadly, fate was against them (as was the clock) and they couldn't seal the deal. Was it defense, lack of scoring, should Fleury be fed to the wolves for that awful save on Hudler? Or, perhaps, should Pens fans look at the big picture and realize that while the Penguins aren't beating back the Red Wings with a magnificent show of force, they're playing in the Stanley Cup, their first appearance in over 15 years and barely two years after they were scraping the bottom of the entire league in points. Do or die, win or lose, sink or swim, creamy or chunky, the Penguins are a team that their fans can be proud of, should be proud of, and they have given us a series that will be talked about for years to come.

Of course, Penguins fans would be a hell of a lot happier if we could talk about our team's magnificent comeback win against the titan Red Wings, how the Penguins offense exploded for a 5-4 all-out overtime battle in game 5 with a hat trick by Malkin to silence all his critics and secure a long and lucrative contract with Pittsburgh, thus ensuring the powerhouse duo of Crosby and Malkin on the tag line for years to come.

Hey, if you don't dream big, why dream at all?




8 pm.
Go Pens.

A lolcat for every occasion

Re: Game 3

Go Pens

2-0? Someone get me a stiff drink

It's a dark road ahead, and being down 2-0 makes it even worse, however the real kicker is the lack of even a single goal for Pittsburgh. Are the Pens going to get shut out completely in the face of the Red Wings' oppressive style of play? Will Therrien be fired? Will Pens fans desert in droves and become Blue Jackets worshippers?

No, and while it's fun to make up outrageous tag-lines, the fans, and the team, are far from out of the hunt, and it's extremely heartening to see the online community (NHL.com included for the most part) supporting and not discounting the Penguins as they have so many times in the past. Yeah, the Detroit fans and some fence sitters are already planning their parade, but the loyalists are here for the long haul. It hurts to see the boys clobbered by Detroit, but one solid fact about this Penguins team is that they can come back anytime, and hopefully, anytime will be tonight on home soil. Yes, this is a pep talk, but after the giant kick in the nuts that was game 2, a little pepping can't hurt. Go Pens? Go Pens indeed.

Am I going to post links to all the great articles floating around? No, I don't have three hours free in my life right now, but I will say that tsn has a great spread, not only of the Penguins and Wings, but of the entire hockey world right now, and in particular this little gem which talks about past Cups and playoffs stats. Definitely worth a look.

So what would bring a sparkle to the eyes of Pens fans around the world tonight? A bit more aggressive D and not being pinned in their own zone for 56 minutes a game are some obvious ones, a goal would be nice, or seven, and some hard pressure on Osgood, but I think there is something even more obvious and to the core that Pens fans would appreciate....and it has been taken off of the internet. So here is a call to anyone that has it/remembers it/can find it/knows where heavy.com has put it: find the Hasek Knob Hockey. Put it up on your blogs, embrace the wonderful love of knob hockey playoff goodness (With permission, of course)! I hope they'll put out Penguins ones, I can only imagine what those would be like.

Since I have not had the opportunity to post anything for the previous two atrocities, I'll catch up with a lolgwins (Go there. Feel the love) that expresses my emotions for games one and two:

Let's just forget that's Phoenix and make it red and white.



GO PENS.

Six Long Years (Wings 4, Stars 1)

The Red Wings put on a pretty damn good show tonight, in the face of an opponent who wouldn't go away, who really did scare us, even if just a little, even if we weren't about to admit it. The Stars fought until the end, and they were far better than they were given credit for being. But the Wings looked great and they did exactly what they needed to do - work as a unit, a gritty, determined, talented unit, that really, really wants to lift Lord Stanley's Cup. Now they just have to beat Pittsburgh. One step away. Be proud of them.

Game One of the Battle of NPI will be Saturday night at 8:00 pm - Elly and I are taking a mini-vacation to Toronto and will catch it together. With luck we'll get a preview post up before then, but for sure if neither of us kills the other, you'll hear from us after the weekend is over.

In the meantime enjoy these:

This is what everything is for.

Someone pinch me

Courtesy of Gettyimages.com

Wow.

Go Pens.