OT: Red Wings vs.

[jacksonbart]

Lets Go Flyers!!

[DizRotus]

Naturally, I'll be pulling for the Wings, as well as the Pistons.

How pitiful it must have been for our remote-less ancestors who had to actually leave the La-Z-Boy, walk to the Muntz, turn the channel dial and then adjust the rabbit ears to switch between two different games? By the time you returned to your seat, your fire brewed Strohs (or Faygo or Vernors) was warm.

Be thankful for that button on the remote that lets you toggle between games.

[Bill Cain]

This series will be the first postseason meeting between franchises based in Detroit and Pittsburgh in the past 99 years.

The Pirates defeated the Tigers, 4-3, in the 1909 World Series.

[oldtimer]

Definitely a trend there, Bill.

[gaspr]

I have recently become more of a Detroit fan...the son of a friend has signed an entry level contract with the Wings. His name is Logan Pyett and is now ranked #12 on the team's depth chart. He will probably play a year or two in the AHL...the present Wings lineup is pretty tough to crack. Go Wings!!

[Bill Cain]

Fans can watch road Cup games at Mellon Arena

Thursday, May 22, 2008

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08143/883974-61.stm

The Pittsburgh Penguins will open Mellon Arena for the first two games of the Stanley Cup final against the Detroit Red Wings.

The games will be broadcast on the arena's Jumbotron. Seating will be general admission at $5. Concession and souvenir stands will be open. Tickets will go on sale on today at 10 a.m., available online at www.ticketmaster.com and the Mellon Arena's gate one box office. The team said all proceeds will go to the Mario Lemieux Foundation for cancer and neonatal research.

The video screen in front of Gate 3 will not be operating for the road games. It will be available to fans for the Pens' first two home games of the series (Games 3 and 4).

Game 1 is Saturday, May 24 at 8 p.m., and Game 2 is Monday, May 26 at 8 p.m. Doors will open at 7 p.m. on both nights.

[picky]

The Wings do the same thing every year at the Joe (Joe Louis Arena). They've named theirs "Joevision". LOL I don't have any details.

[Bill Cain]

Good news in Detroit. Tickets still available for playoff games.

Pittsburgh's sold out. Been that way for the last 45+ games.

[picky]

Yep, ours usually are too, but we have so many automotive people laid off here. []

[oldtimer]

Well the dilemma as i see it for non partisan fans of hockey is this: Cheer for the upstart young star studded pens, or the veteran mix perennial contenders wings. Seven games is the goal for anyone with no dog in the hunt. As a stars fan and basic believer that western conference hockey is tougher than the eastern style, the wings would be a logical choice. But the pens have exciting play and mario lemieux. The wings are methodical and relentless. The pens are tenacious and explosive. I just hope to enjoy the cup finals, one game at a time, and no high heart rate or blood pressure since I have no dog in the hunt!

[Bill Cain]

Well the dilemma as i see it for non partisan fans of hockey is this: Cheer for the upstart young star studded pens, or the veteran mix perennial contenders wings. Seven games is the goal for anyone with no dog in the hunt. As a stars fan and basic believer that western conference hockey is tougher than the eastern style, the wings would be a logical choice. But the pens have exciting play and mario lemieux. The wings are methodical and relentless. The pens are tenacious and explosive. I just hope to enjoy the cup finals, one game at a time, and no high heart rate or blood pressure since I have no dog in the hunt!

Bob Errey is one of the many links between Pittsburgh and Detroit. And when asked what popped into his head regarding the Stanley Cup matchup, the hockey analyst who played for the Penguins and Red Wings ticked off a summary.

"The two best teams in hockey. Skill. Star quality. Good defenses. Hot goalies. Passionate fans," Errey said. "Detroit is Hockeytown. Pittsburgh loves its hockey team. To win the Stanley Cup, you have to beat the best. The Red Wings are the best."

The teams never have collided in the playoffs and meet sporadically during the regular season because of the unbalanced schedule. And at first glance, this series is a blank slate. There is no contempt bred by familiarity. No known grudges. No coaching feud. No insults or trash talk. Just a best-of-seven played out in two cities with blue-collar legacies between two teams with world-class forwards, team-based defenses and high-caliber goaltending. In short, it could be a classic and the best ad for the new NHL that the suits could have hoped for.

Oh, there are plenty of subplots and paradoxes. Detroit's Chris Chelios, at 46, was born five years before the Penguins became an NHL franchise. He was with the Chicago team that was swept by Penguins 16 years ago, and it's always a good idea to respect your elders as he drives you ruthlessly into the boards and throws in a Gordie Howe elbow for good measure. Meanwhile, a city that likes to call itself the City of Champions has more consecutive sellouts -- 66 in a row guaranteed, for those seeking good omens -- than Hockeytown, but Detroit has more championships.

But from the long view, the two cities -- both of which share roots as French forts before there was an America -- have hockey bonds that rival those between father and son, and sports traditions that intertwine.

The Pirates won their first World Series title in Detroit in 1909, with Honus Wagner outplaying Ty Cobb. Billy Conn, an upstart light heavyweight from East Liberty, was nine minutes away from becoming heavyweight champion of the world in 1941 when he got greedy and was knocked out by Detroit's Joe Louis, for whom the Red Wings' hockey arena is named. Detroit's NFL team has endured the Curse of Bobby Layne stemming from his trade to the Steelers in 1958. Pittsburgh won its last major title in Detroit at Super Bowl XL, when the city welcomed Steelers fan with open arms. Former Pirates skipper Jim Leyland now manages the Tigers.

And, as far as hockey goes, the sport wouldn't exist in Pittsburgh without Detroit. The relationship goes back to 1936 when a minor-league team called the Detroit Olympics was sold, relocated to Pittsburgh and operated as a minor-league team for the Red Wings. That team became the Pittsburgh Hornets, denizens of the old Duquesne Gardens, who shipped NHL players to Detroit the way the old Pittsburgh mills shipped steel to the Motor City to make cars.

One original Hornet was John Sherf, who was promoted to the Red Wings for the playoffs and became the first U.S. player to have his name engraved on the Stanley Cup. Detroit has won 10 Cups, more than any other team outside of Canada, and is making its 23rd appearance in the final.

When the end of the road came in 1967, while again serving as a minor-league team for the Red Wings, the Hornets went out with a championship. Months later, the Penguins began life as an NHL expansion team, capitalizing on the hockey market the Hornets had created.

Billy Harris, who scored the last goal in Hornets' history in overtime of the championship game, also played for the Red Wings and Penguins. And if you melted down a bit of silver for every player who shared a link between the Red Wings and Penguins, you'd have a sizable grail.

Larry Murphy, for one, was on both the Penguins' Cup winners and was also on the Red Wings' teams that repeated later in the 1990s. Scotty Bowman won Cups with Pittsburgh and Detroit with Murphy on his roster. And on and on.

In the interest of accuracy, both clubs share a dubious NHL distinction as the only two teams to blow a 3-0 lead in the playoffs; Detroit against the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1942, and the Penguins against the New York Islanders in 1975.

Gordie Howe, a.k.a. Mr. Hockey, is the face of the Red Wings as much as Mario Lemieux, Monsieur Le Magnifique, is the face and owner of the Penguins as well as Sidney Crosby's landlord. To highlight the differing styles of the two Hall of Famers, Lemieux once scored a goal five different ways in a game; in hockey circles, the Gordie Howe hat trick was an assist, a goal and a fight.

Jack Riley, the general manager who put together the first Penguins team, says stories about Howe get exaggerated. But he remembered one of the first times Howe played against the Penguins and flattened defenseman Bob Woytowich, whose fan club called itself the Polish Army. (There's a Polish Hill neighborhood of Pittsburgh, and a Poletown in Detroit, so there may be some reference this week to Lord Stashu's Cup, that name being a Slavic version of Stanley.)

"Gordie Howe once came back for an Alumni Game once," Riley said, chuckling, "and I brought my 4-year-old grandson to meet him. Gordie gave him an elbow -- playfully -- and he's been able to say with pride ever since that he was elbowed by Gordie Howe."

Over the years, without much fanfare or controversy, Detroit has built a slight edge in the all-time series, 57-59-16, and has been dominant at home. The Penguins are 13-41-12 there.

The last time the Penguins played in Detroit was Crosby's rookie year, one game before Eddie Olczyk was fired and replaced by Michel Therrien. One of the few noteworthy moments of that meeting was when the crowd displayed its versatility by chanting a one-syllable verb behind the name of Matt Millen, whose leadership of the Lions has Detroit football fans in a lather.

The origins of the Lions' futility began when Layne was traded to the Steelers. Layne had won three titles with the Lions and, when he learned of the trade, he said the Lions would not win for 50 years. The Curse of Bobby Layne has exceeded the prediction.

Later in Crosby's rookie season, when Pittsburgh was abuzz about the Super Bowl in Detroit, he was named a No. 1 star and made his curtain call twirling a Terrible Towel.

Now, the Penguins are so hot in Pittsburgh that Ben Roethlisberger, the youngest quarterback to win a Super Bowl, is going back to Detroit as a spectator to watch Crosby play on hockey's biggest stage. Big Ben and other Steelers, plus some Pirates players and Atlanta's Tom Glavine and John Smoltz, have been seen at playoff games.

"It's the ultimate respect when your peers in other sports come to see you play," said Joe Gordon, the longtime Steelers' media director who worked for the Penguins in their inaugural year.

[oldtimer]

Good one Bill, the NHL is full of inter-relationships especially. The Stars and Canadiens have a recent, but rich example.

[oldtimer]

The thing is, it's the night before the first game, and I am stoked! And I don't even have a favorite team involved.

[Bill Cain]

FWIW.... Are there similar stories in Detriot?

Between the Lines: The Penguins vs. Red Wings matchup

Saturday, May 24, 2008

By Dave Molinari, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

FORWARDS

PENGUINS: Good thing Sidney Crosby is playing on an ankle that won't be 100 percent until next season. Otherwise, all those debates about who the best player in the world is might have to go back on hold. He and right winger Marian Hossa are starting to develop a scary chemistry and could give even a diligent defensive team like Detroit fits.

Evgeni Malkin was relatively quiet for much of the Eastern final, and his play could have a profound impact on how the series plays out. If he and linemates Ryan Malone and Petr Sykora are in sync, the Red Wings will be pressed to decide where to focus their attention.

Detroit isn't likely to make containing Jordan Staal's line a top priority -- not unless Staal continues the surge that has produced four goals in the past four games. The supplemental scoring Staal can provide could be a difference-maker.

One major area of concern: Faceoffs. The Red Wings have won 55.7 percent during the playoffs, the Penguins 46.7. And it's a whole lot easier to play a puck-possession game -- which both teams like to do -- when you, well, possess the puck.

RED WINGS: Detroit's No. 1 line, with Pavel Datysuk between Henrik Zetterberg and Tomas Holmstrom, not only is among the most impressive in the game, but is more defensively responsible than most checking lines. Zetterberg and Datsyuk are two of the three finalists for the Selke Trophy, which goes to the NHL's top defensive forward.

One of the pivotal variables could be the health of Johan Franzen, who missed most of the Western Conference final because of "concussion-like symptoms." He leads the playoffs with 12 goals (five of them winners) despite appearing in only 11 games.

If Franzen remains out, it will magnify Detroit's problems with secondary scoring. Franzen (12), Zetterberg (11) and Datsyuk (9) are the only Red Wings with than four goals. Guys like Holmstrom, Valtteri Filppula, Jiri Hudler, Kris Draper and ex-Penguin Mikael Samuelsson are capable of scoring, but haven't done so with regularity. Until they start to, the Penguins will be able to concentrate their defensive efforts on neutralizing the Datsyuk line.

As for faceoffs, Draper (63.4 percent) and Zetterberg (57.9) figure to cause the Penguins particular problems.

BOTTOM LINE: Slight edge to Penguins.

---

DEFENSE

PENGUINS: Sergei Gonchar's under-the-radar excellence doesn't seem to attract attention unless he's accumulating points, but he and Brooks Orpik have formed a pairing with the potential to frustrate even the most gifted opposing forwards. When those two aren't out against Datsyuk's line, Rob Scuderi and Hal Gill almost certainly will be. Gill and Scuderi don't make it onto the scoresheet much, but the guys they're assigned to play against generally don't, either.

A strong series by Ryan Whitney, who plays alongside rookie Kris Letang, would be a huge plus because he can add a dimension to the power play, while his puckhandling and passing ability can strengthen their transition game. Whitney's play could be one of the biggest wild cards in the series.

RED WINGS: Put Nicklas Lidstrom on a defense corps with four pylons and a fire hydrant, and it would be a pretty good group. Make him the cornerstone of a unit that includes Niklas Kronwall, Brian Rafalski and Brad Stuart, and you have one with few equals.

The Penguins know all about Rafalski's offensive talents because of his time in New Jersey, but it shouldn't take long for them to get familiar with Kronwall. He skates well, has good skills and is a more enthusiastic hitter than anyone his size (6 feet, 189 pounds) should be.

Future Hall of Famer Chris Chelios isn't the force he used to be, but still is feisty and ultracompetitive while filling a supporting role.

BOTTOM LINE: Slight edge to Red Wings.

---

IN GOAL

PENGUINS:Less than two months ago, Marc-Andre Fleury's ability to perform well in high-stakes games was one of the biggest question marks. Not anymore. He has been the Penguins' best player and, if he continues to perform at the same level, will deserve consideration for the Conn Smythe Trophy, regardless of how the series turns out.

Fleury dealt with a significant amount of traffic in and around his crease during the Eastern Conference final against Philadelphia, but should be ready for even more now. By the time the series is over, he'll have an enduring memory of what Holmstrom's back (and backside) look like, because he'll have spent the better part of two weeks trying to see around them.

RED WINGS:Chris Osgood entered the playoffs as Detroit's backup goalie, but when Dominik Hasek stumbled, Osgood replaced him and never did anything that merited relinquishing the job.

While there is a temptation to single out Osgood as one of the few potentially vulnerable spots, it's difficult to make the case that a guy who is 10-2 in the playoffs, with a 1.60 goals-against average and .931 save percentage, is a serious liability.

Still, Osgood wasn't tested as severely or often during the first three rounds as he should be in the final, so it's conceivable that the Penguins will be able to get to him with their speed and puck movement and, in the process, knock his game out of sync.

BOTTOM LINE: No edge

---

PENALTY KILL

PENGUINS: Preventing Holmstrom from claiming a spot inside Fleury's sweater will be one of the penalty-killers' primary challenges, because even a goalie as hot as Fleury has been finds it difficult to stop what he can't see. The Penguins have done a pretty good job of dealing with screens and limiting second-chance opportunities for opposing power plays --- witness their 87.3 percent success rate -- but didn't run into anyone quite like Holmstrom during the Eastern Conference playoffs.

RED WINGS: Detroit's success rate of 87.3 percent is identical to that of the Penguins, but the Red Wings have been far more dangerous than any team in the league when they're down a man. They have scored five shorthanded goals, including two each by Franzen and Zetterberg, and are opportunistic enough to capitalize on any error opposing power plays make. Malkin, who generally plays the left point on the Penguins' top unit, might get special attention if the Red Wings determine they can force him to turn the puck over.

BOTTOM LINE: No edge

---

POWER PLAY

They have converted 24.6 percent of their opportunities, and have at least one power-play goal in 11 of their 14 playoff games. The production has been spread out -- nine players have contributed a goal -- but the strategy of loading the No. 1 power play with top-end talents like Crosby, Malkin, Hossa, Gonchar and Malone puts a particular strain on opposing penalty-killers. This might be a good time to reintroduce the backdoor play that created so many quality scoring chances for Whitney last season, too.

While Holmstrom poses the most conspicuous problem on Detroit's No. 1 unit, everyone else in the group -- Zetterberg and Datsyuk up front, Lidstrom and Rafalski on the points -- can move the puck quickly and shoot it with precision.

Detroit's power play sputtered for most of the Western Conference final, scoring just twice on its final 18 chances against Dallas. If the Penguins can survive the Red Wings' top group, the No. 2 group, which features the likes of Daniel Cleary, Hudler and Filppula, looks considerably less menacing.

BOTTOM LINE: Slight edge to the Penguins

---

COACHES

Michel Therrien's detractors contend the Penguins got to the final despite what he and assistants Mike Yeo and Andre Savard did, not in any way because of it. It's unlikely he'll ever win over his most fierce critics, but the plain truth is that in Therrien's two full seasons, the Penguins have gone from next-to-last in the league to the Cup final. And some of the moves he made during the first three rounds helped them to get there.

Mike Babcock is a finalist for the Jack Adams Trophy, and pretty much a consensus choice as one of the finest coaches and motivators in the NHL. Talent has a lot to do with the Red Wings being one of the NHL's premier teams, year in and year out, but sound coaching is a factor in that, too. Babcock and his staff are a real asset because of their knack for making sound tactical and personnel decisions and adjustments.

BOTTOM LINE: No edge

---

INTANGIBLES

The Penguins will not have home-ice advantage for the first time in these playoffs. That's no small factor for a team that is 8-0 this spring and on a 16-0 run overall at Mellon Arena. Still, their 4-2 record on the road reflects the team-wide maturity and composure that belie the youth of many of their core players.

They haven't proven they can cope with major adversity during the playoffs, but that's because they won Games 1-3 in each of the first three series. The only thing better than overcoming adversity is never having to deal with it at all, although the Penguins can count on facing some -- possibly a lot -- against Detroit.

Detroit has more playoff experience and that can only help when trying to hold up under the stresses of a championship round, even though its most veteran players, like Chelios and Hasek, are cast primarily in supporting roles now.

The Red Wings will be a popular choice to win their fourth championship since 1997 given their talent, depth and leadership. That Detroit's five most recent series-clinching victories have come on the road speaks to its mental toughness and ability to focus, and the Red Wings are too poised and confident to react adversely to the pressures of being favored.

THE PICK: Penguins in seven. Picking a team to win a specific road game -- especially against an elite opponent like Detroit -- is risky. So is picking against a team that just doesn't realize it shouldn't be ready to win a title yet.

[dkp]

I may have to eat crow for this later but I'm thinking that this is going to be a much shorter series than most are anticipating.

[Bill Cain]

I'm thinking that this is going to be a much shorter series than most are anticipating.

Naw, don't think the Pens will win in less than 6.

[Bill Cain]

Pens will have to play better than THAT.....

[:'(]

[DizRotus]

I agree David.

It looks like it will be a shorter series than the pundits predicted.

[kuisis]

Very disapointing game by the pens! I was thinking they would play better. Osgood looked impressive. I hope Monday's game will be better. Was also disapointed in Rutuu's slash. I still think the pens will win, as long as they play up to their capabilities!

[Bill Cain]

Very disapointing game by the pens! I was thinking they would play better. Osgood looked impressive. I hope Monday's game will be better. Was also disapointed in Rutuu's slash. I still think the pens will win, as long as they play up to their capabilities!

Their coach was pissed. Time will tell what they're made of. Good game by the Wings.