Ok, I just got myself out of bed after a night of sound sleep resting easy knowing that the Stanley Cup was heading back here to Pittsburgh. Now that my head has cleared I am ready to give my thoughts about not just Game 7 but also the entire Stanley Cup Finals and playoffs.

• “That’s life” – Yes, it certainly is isn’t it Mr. Hossa. When asked about how it felt loosing the cup again after bolting from the Penguins to the team he felt had a better chance at securing Hockey’s ultimate prize this is what he had to say about it. Karma sucks huh?
• Hockey is an odd sport. Sure Penguins booed the Hossa every chance we had after he spurned the Penguins for Detroit, but we respect him because we know how good of a player he is. It was like when Jagr left the team. He was booed constantly on the ice but when they showed video highlights of him and tributes to his successes even while he was on the visiting team we cheered him … then we went right back to booing him. We all wish Hossa success in the future … just not against the Penguins.
• Hossa not only did not get the Stanley Cup he so desperately wanted, but he was for all intents and purposes a complete non-factor in the Finals. You think Pittsburgh Fans were hard on him? Wait until Detroit gets through tearing him a new @**hole. He won’t be able to get out of Detroit fast enough.
• Who would have thought that Maxime Talbot would be this year’s Fedotenko and score both the Penguins goals in the final game? And who would have thought that Mad Max would be the series leader in goals with four?
• During the Penguin’s first Stanley Cup run in 1990-1991 Frank Pietrangelo made what became known as “The Save” subbing for the legendary Tom Barrasso in Game 6 of the first round against New Jersey and robbed Petr Stastny of an easy goal. This year I think we have The Save II and The Save III and The Save IV. The Save II was when Fleury robbed Ovechkin in Game 7 of the second round in Washington to suck the air out of the Capitals. The Save III was by Rob Scudderi in Game 6 as he prevented the tying goal with Fleury out of position in the final moments. The Save IV was Fleury leaping like superman from the far post with the final two seconds ticking away, lept into the air to stop an elevated puck shot by Lindstrom and saving the game from going into extra frames.
• No Crosby? No Problem. Sidney Crosby was knocked out of the game for all intents and purposes by a fairly clean check by Johan Franzen. It was a tense moment for the Penguins as Crosby would return to play only one shift in the third. But the team rallied and played hard even if they did D-up too much in the third and gave Detroit far too many opportunities.
• 6:07 – that’s when I started to get really worried after Fluery let in another soft goal to allow the Wings to cut the lead to in half and be within one.
• Thank God for the posts. The posts were in play all series long. Early on in the series the Penguins were the victims of every bad bounce off of them. In Game 7, late, it was the crossbar that made one of the biggest saves against the Red Wings to keep me from being even more anxious than I already was.
• Penguins evolved when they needed to in this series. The Red Wings made it clear that they were not going to allow the Penguins to play their brand of up and down the ice high octane hockey. So they adapted, turned into a checking monster and hit like most Pens fans have never seen before.

My Three Stars of the Game:

3rd star: The crossbar

Hey, it made a great save in the waining moments!

2nd star: Max Talbot

With the only two goals of the game Max unquestionably deserves this honor.

1st star: Marc-Andre Fleury

I don’t care what you say, despite the vast amount of improvement Fleury still needs to make in the coming years (he needs to get much better handling the puck and with his glove hand on the high side) Fleury blossomed and saved this series with performances in Games 6 and 7 that make him worthy of the 1st star.

Series MVP:

I’m giving this honor to our two best goal tenders – Fleury and Scuderi. Without Fleury’s glove and without Scuderi sacrificing his body constantly, the Penguins would never have won this series.

Player I am happiest for:

Bill Guerin. I love this guy. He plays hockey the way it should be played and was a great addition to this team at the trade deadline.

What I hope for most:

Well, other than another Stanley Cup, I hope the Penguins and many of the pieces of this team can come to agreeable terms to keep the Champs mostly in tact moving forward. Scuderi, Fedotenko and Guerin are all free agents and are key parts to this team. They are not irreplaceable and I have not seen a list of free agents yet, but keeping all of them would be a boost. But Scuderi put on a clinic in the playoffs and will have teams falling all over themselves to sign him. I hope that Fed and Billy will decide to stay on for next year. Miro Satan and Petr Sykora are also players I would like to see come back, but honestly I do not see the Penguins paying Miro the kind of money they currently are to play on the fourth line – a role I think he blossomed at this year once put into it.

And just for good measure I want to say it once more …

THE STANLEY CUP CHAMPION PITTSBURGH PENGUINS!

Talbot was the hero for the Penguins in game 7 scoring both goals for the Penguins but Marc-Andre Fleury has got to be the MVP of the entire series because despite some soft goals and missteps he stood tall when need be.

I’m too excited right now and still on an adrenaline rush to much more than to say it sounds so right to say.

STANLEY CUP CHAMPIONS PITTSBURGH PENGUINS!

WOOOOOOOOOO!

For the Penguins this will be uncharted territory. This team has not had to endure the pressure of a single game to crown the NHL champion having lost last year in six to Detroit where there were no last minute heroics to be had. This year it was Detroit who could not find the net as game six wound down.

Forget pressure. Both teams are under it. Detroit needs the Cup to show that they still have what it takes to be champions and prove wrong those that say they are too old. Pittsburgh needs the Cup to prove that they are not doomed to be the bridesmaid and never the bride. Plus getting back to the finals three years in a row for the Penguins is a bet I will not even make.

Forget age versus youth. Sure the Red Wings are older but older warriors are wiser. Pittsburgh is younger for sure but so far the speed of their youthful legs has been pretty much held in check.

Goaltending? Both Fleury and Osgood have proven to be mortal at times and both have been spectacular at others. But I will give this obvious conclusion … which ever plays better in Game 7 wins.

Big names and big guns? So far this series has belonged more to the role players than that stars who have consistently canceled each other out.

Matchups? So far it is has been a series of picking your poison on both sides of the ice. Put Zetterberg out there against Crosby and you negate Crosby but also Zetterberg as Crosby has fallen into the counter role of his constant shadow.

Trends of history? Who cares! Sure the Penguins have been unbeatable in Game 7s but those players are for the most part long gone from this roster except those that played in the Washington series this year. Sure Detroit has been pretty much invincible on home ice but the Penguins have shown that they can win there in both the regular season and the playoffs … just not this postseason so far. They are either due or just incapable of doing it.

So considering all this I tried to think about what I would say to the Penguins team if I were coach Bylsma prior to game seven. What follows are my extemporaneous remarks written without edit as if I were speaking to the team and continuing with the Lord of the Rings theme I opened with …

The Lord of the Rings is a heroic tale of men, and hobbits, who had to go to war for their very survival and they found out a lot about themselves as they fought each battle. They learned that even when they thought that they had nothing left to give there was more that they could bring forth to fight the next battle. Along the way they suffered losses and felt the sting of defeat. But they also experienced great victories as well.

We have done the same. We have taken to the field of battle and both lost and won along the way. We are beaten and bloodied. Our bodies ache. But there is one last battle that must be fought before this is over and that battle will determine who is the hero and who is the villain. Everything up until this point is meaningless.

One game to rule them all … that is what this season has come down to. It probably never should have come to this considering Detroit stormed out to another 2-0 series lead this year on us. But while the first three games played out with the same results as last year, the last three games have each seen a different winner from the previous season proving that nothing is certain. The future is not written nor is it based on the past. There was no Game 7 last year so everything from here on out is all brand new and all bets are off.

One game to find yourself … to find yourselves as either champions or as nothing but a footnote that is to be surely forgotten except to be cursed in the sports bar by disgruntled Pittsburghers or mocked by joyous Red Wings fans. Well Sid, how badly do you NOT want to be in that photograph of the losers again as Detroit parades around with the Cup in triumph? The time to decide is at hand. The time to find yourself and rise to the occasion is now. There is no tomorrow.

One game to bring it … and bring it while leaving nothing on the ice and no doubt at all. When this game ends the looser goes home empty handed with only the hope that they could potentially return to this precipice again next year and a trinket of a trophy from the Conference Championship to show for their efforts. The time is now for the future contains no guarantees. If you want the Cup you must win tonight and never think about future opportunities that may never arise to claim it.

Are you frightened Sid? How about you Geno? Marc-Andre? Jordan? I do not believe that you are nearly frightened enough! It is time to pledge to each your life (or death) to protect one another and stand as one. It is time to draw a line that Detroit will not be allowed to cross. It is time to pledge your stick, your mind and every inch of your body to this task at hand. It is time to proclaim to your foes facing you that if they want the prize before you both that they must claim it from you for it is in your hands which victory rests! Do not allow them to take it without a fight! They tell you that there can be no victory. But there is always hope.

When Frodo took the One Ring to Mordor he did so believing that he would not come back alive. But he did what he needed to do. He was willing to sacrifice everything for his friends and strangers who were counting on him. And in the end he found out that death was not so certain after all although pain certainly was.

The gates of Mordor are opened and are challenging each of you to dare to enter and face down your nemesis; to face a foe that is menacing and wields unimaginable power. You must not fear pain. For you will feel pain. You must not fear death. For you must expect that you will surely feel as if you are dying as you expend every last ounce of energy over the course of this final and deciding game no matter how long it takes be it sixty minutes or six hundred. You must face death without fear in order to cast your demons into the fire and destroy them. To defeat the Red Wings you must know this and be willing to make every sacrifice that is required of you.

Then and maybe, just maybe, you will survive and be heroes.

The time is chosen and it is at hand. The field of final battle is chosen and you are about to go forth up on it. We are in enemy territory from this moment on. If it moves, has the puck and wears a red sweater you will hit it. If the puck is headed towards your own net you will block it. If the puck is loose you will race for it. If you are in the offensive zone with the puck on your own stick, you will shoot it. If you are in a scrum for the puck in front of their goalie you will bury it.

Why? Because you are not just penguins, but Pittsburgh Penguins – the only one of the species that can soar to the greatest of heights.

With the Penguins reeling after giving up two goals in a little over two minutes, one at the end of the first and one at the start of the second period to find themselves trailing 2-1, it was Jordan Staal (3) that ignited the crowd. Or maybe, and more correctly, it was Max Talbot who started it. After back to back penalties, the Penguins on their heals and short handed for an extended period, Talbot found the puck on his stick and pushed it ahead to Staal who put his head down and set his sights on Chris Osgood. When the puck left his stick, the shot was not a particularly great one. In fact it was more pushed than actually shot.

But it went in behind Osgood, who yes, is indeed mortal, and the Igloo erupted. Not just the fans, but the Penguins as well who stormed up and down the ice for two more goals with the help of Crosby (15) who was fed by Malkin and Mr. Kennedy (4) who was fed by Cosby. All three goals happened in just 5:37 of play. And it could have been worse. Malkin had to rush a shot on a breakaway in the closing seconds of the period because of the clock and Osgood flashed his leather to keep the score from being worse.

Fleury, once again, allowed a couple marginal goals on 39 shots but held firm when it matter most as the Penguins defense allowed more shots than you would like to see. Granted 39 is a lot, but many of them were not serious chances as the Penguins did a good job limiting legitimate chances. But any shot on goal always has a chance. The Penguins will have to work on this problem before game five in Detroit on Saturday where they have a chance to go up on the Red Wings 3-2. Of course they also have a chance to go down 3-2 as well.

We’re down to a best of 3 series now and the Penguins must win in Detroit at some point to win the series. Doing so Saturday night would certainly help their chances of making it to the prom with that most pickiest of dates in one Lord Stanley.

Despite the bumps and the bruises that are evident on every Detroit player you cannot downplay that they know how to win and have been doing it so far this post season. Remember, the Penguins won their second Stanley Cup with injuries and Lemieux playing with a broken wrist. So don’t think that injuries will mater.

Some of their players might be older, but age is not always a factor. Last year a lot of people thought that the older Red Wings would not be any serious match for the young, fast Penguins either and look what happened.

There is still a battle left in this war and to win the Penguins will have to draw upon every sound strategy ever implemented on the battlefield to come out on top. The most important of those is never underestimate your opponent and make them play your game. Don’t play theirs. That is where respect comes into play. Because if you respect your opponent you will not allow them to gain an unnecessary upper hand and take advantage of your foolishness.

That is not so unbelievable after all. Say all you want about the NFL, MLB and the NBA, there is no more grueling playoff than the quest for Lord Stanley’s Cup. Sure football is a physical game – but in the NFL you only play once a week and your body has time to heal between match up. Baseball? Pish posh. Sure they play best seven game series but the most physicality you get on the diamond is a bean ball or a crash into the outfield fence maybe once every couple games or a collision at first base once in a blue moon. The NBA? Again, sure they have a seven game series format but you are not constantly getting checked into the boards on every trip down the ice nor are you really even allowed to hit other players.

Nope, the NHL is hands down the toughest championship to win. You can hit the opponent; in fact it is encouraged. There are boards to contend with. And let’s not forget that everyone on the ice carries a formidable weapon in their hands which can and does get used inappropriately at times. Couple that with the inevitable free agents that flee teams each year in search of big bucks after great seasons (usually more due to who a player played with than the actual player himself) and it is amazing that anyone can repeat as division champs or even Stanley Cup Champions.

Last year, the Penguins raced through the playoffs only to crash and burn early in games one and two of the finals against Detroit. They turned things around after that but splitting the next four games still meant that they lost the series 4-2. Their ashes were on the ice after they flared out.

Early this season they looked ready to at least make a good showing in the playoffs. Hossa left for Detroit claiming that he had the best chance for a championship there and other players were let go including Malone, Laraque and Roberts. In came Satan, Fedotenko and Zigomanis. Somehow the Penguins actually looked stronger than last year top to bottom all of a sudden. But then the wheels started falling off during the winter. In February the team looked down and out. They started to turn things around but a, what I will contend was a fluke, loss to Toronto cost Therrien his job and in comes Dan Bylsma. The team responds to this and there is a smoldering among the ashes perhaps as the team sensed that they had cost one coach his job because of their own poor performance on the ice and were not about to let it happen to another.

Then out goes Whitney, a cornerstone of last year’s success, and in comes Chris Kunitz with a gritty, hard hitting persona. Then the Penguins get the New York Islanders to give up Bill Guerin for a song; a conditional draft pick. And let’s not forget Craig Adams. Then the sparks began to intensify and above the ashes a Penguin once again skated.

Into the playoffs the team stormed after climbing from 10th place to 4th in the East. They crushed the orange of Philadelphia, rocked the red of Washington and now have just completed downgrading the Hurricanes of Carolina. Now it is on to the Stanley Cup Finals – again.

Do the Penguins have something to prove? Yep. Will they prove it? Yes. Either they will prove they are Stanley Cup Champion caliber or they will prove that they are just second best again. Which it will be will be up to men named Sidney, Geno, Marc-Andre, Billy, Jordan, Tyler, Max, Craig, Ruslan, Miroslav, Chris, Rob, Brooks, Sergei, Philippe, Kris, Hal, and Mark.

Hopefully the Penguins will prove that they are champions this time around. Because getting back to the finals a third year in a row is not something that I would put money on – ever. But the Penguins should make a better show of it this time around. As the old saying goes, and which is familiar to all true Pittsburgh hockey fans, if you think Penguins can’t fly then you’ve never been in Pittsburgh during the playoffs.

Fly high Pens. Make us proud!

Last night after the Penguins scored an empty net goal to ice the Eastern Conference Championship, I stood up and declared to my buddy who I was watching the game with that Sidney should skate over to the Prince of Wales Trophy after the game and skate around the ice proudly with it in defiance of “tradition”. Of course I also jokingly suggested that he spike it on the ice and proclaim aloud, “WHO’S NEXT?” Imagine my pleasure when somehow my thoughts were magically read by His Sidness and he defied the gods themselves to try and smite him. He and the team also sent a clear challenge to whomever may win the Western Conference Finals (which will probably be Detroit); do you have the balls to touch the Clarence S. Campbell Bowl?

Essentially the Penguins have challenged the manhood of the Western Conference Champs who are still to be determined. Perhaps they have even spotted them a few goals by granting the favor of the hockey gods upon either Detroit or Chicago should they stick with the “tradition.” We will have to wait and see.

Last night, the Penguins defeated the Carolina Hurricanes in a clean sweep of the Eastern Conference Finals and the record is intact – no team has ever come back from a 4-0 deficit in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The game started like many this spring with the Penguins opposition scoring early on a soft goal. At 1:26 of the first, Staal (10) scored on a wrap around that squeezed under Marc-Andre Fleury’s pad. It gave Carolina fans hope but that was all they had to cheer about as the Penguins rolled the rest of the way with only minor speed bumps put up by a feisty, yet tired, Carolina team.

Fedotenko (6) scored at 8:21 off a Boucher shot pass to the far post that caught Ward way out of the net, a theme for the entire game. Then with 1:29 left in the period, Max Tablot (4) scored off a fluttering pass that Ward half swiped at, bounced off the top of his glove, over his head and landed softly in the net. BLAMO – 2-1 Pens.

Then in the second, Crosby and Guerin stuck. In a reversal of a previous goal where Guerin fed Crosby at the far post in front of ward, it was Guerin’s turn. Guerin popped a puck out of the Pens zone which Crosby picked up. Crosby skated down the wall and had a 1-1 in font of Ward with Guerin following behind him and Kunitz trailing the play in the middle of the ice. Guerin turned on the jets and swept to the far post as Crosby pulled up at the circle to Ward’s right. Crosby flowed the puck over and Ward was not able to move post to post fast enough to stop the dagger from being placed in their hopes for a comeback. Guerin’s goal was his seventh of these playoffs.

Adams (3) added an empty net goal in the final two minutes and it was over and the brooms came out.

Pittsburgh only managed 24 shots on net against Ward which is a far cry from the 40+ they have been putting up. Fleury faced a total of 31 shots including 16 in the second period constantly flashing leather and kicking out a pad to stop pucks fired by the Hurricanes.

Now with the question of who will represent the East settled, the question of who will represent the West remains. And if Detroit has the wherewithal to end the hopes of the Blackhawks tonight will the NHL courageously move the Finals up to this weekend as my sources in the NHL tell me they are considering?

Whether or not such will be the case remains to be seen.

As a Penguins fan I have mixed feelings about this series so far. On one hand I love the fact that the Penguins are up 3-0 and have turned Cam Ward into Swiss cheese and made Carolina fans really and honestly consider if the empty net is not a better option considering that it has only allowed 2 goals so far compared to Ward’s 14. On the other hand the series, while each game has had bouts of excitement beyond seeing how many goals Evgeni and His Sidness can score, they have been pretty lopsided and boring. Then there is the problem that I really don’t want to spend another $200 on tickets to watch another shooting gallery win if the Penguins slump tonight and send this game into a Friday night showdown in Pittsburgh. I would rather save that money for the Stanley Cup Final tickets sitting in my little binder on the kitchen counter. But I can always sell my Game 5 tickets I suppose.

So here are tonight’s BIG questions to be answered:

1) Will Cam Ward plug all those holes the Penguins have been finding in his pads?
2) Will Sidney Crosby be the victim of a tragic hit and run by some crazed Carolina fan screaming, “Go Canes!”?
3) Will it finally be revealed that under Malkin’s apparent human looking exterior really lies a cybernetic exoskeleton?
4) Will Jordan get to give his older brother Erik a noogie while in the hand shake line?
5) Is anyone foolish enough to take the “under” for tonight’s game on goals scored?
6) On that same subject, what exactly is the over/under for tonight’s game? 15?
7) How many Carolina fans have sold their tickets to Penguins fans and how many black or baby blue jerseys will be in the stands?
Will Bill Cower show up with his horn again?
9) Will we really have to wait over a week for the Finals to start pending the outcome of this series and the Detroit series? (note: the league has already hinted that it is moving up the start date of the finals to this weekend if both Pittsburgh and Detroit end it in their next games)
10) Exactly how many times will the Staal’s sod farm be referenced during the game?