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Well, well, well. Look what we have here. Yet another repeat of the Stanley Cup Finals from last year. Detroit Red Wings beat the Pens in 6 games last but in reality, the series should have been done in 5. The games were hardly even as the Red Wings depth and defense was too much for the Penguins.
The series opened in Detroit and the Penguins were star struck. 2 games in Detroit, 0 goals scored. The Penguins didn't look like they belong. Head coached Michel Therrien had no answers. Crosby and Malkin were suffocated. No secondary scoring at all either. But than something happened. The Penguins picked it up and took 2 of the following 4 from Detroit. But by than the damage was done.
Now a year later, with the Detroit noticeably stronger and the Penguins objectivelly weaker, do our fine, non-flying birds have a chance against Bailout Rock City?
Not exactly. And here's why. Detroit has found a way to manipulate the current cap system in similar veign as the 49ers and Cowboys of yester year through the use of abnormally long contract extensions. Sure they will be on the hook for these sort of deals in the future but now they are reaping the rewards. The Red Wings have it all: superb talent, great puck possession, north-south system, and the experience to back it up. Why sucks about facing a team like this is that their best players are also their most responsible defensively.
They are hockeys most dominant team and has been for the past decade winning 4 Stanley Cups. Their fans are the equivalent of yankee fans. Loud, annoying, and obnoxious and they have every right to be. No team has knocked them off their perch for a while now.
Stats here are meaningless and anyone who brings up stuff from the regular season should already be stricken from the record. The issue here is that the NHL playoffs things change so quickly. Almost instaneously. Shifts are important because one crazy shift by a line can change a period, a series or the playoffs entirely. Bringing up stats from previous playoff rounds are worthless. Regular season stats are just garbage at this point.
Schedule
Saturday, May 30 at Detroit - 8:00 pm (NBC, CBC, RDS)
Sunday, May 31 at Detroit - TBD-Night (NBC, CBC, RDS)
Tuesday, June 2 at Pittsburgh - 8:00 pm (VERSUS, CBC, RDS)
Thursday, June 4 at Pittsburgh - 8:00 pm (VERSUS, CBC, RDS)
* Saturday, June 6 at Detroit - 8:00 pm (NBC, CBC, RDS)
* Tuesday, June 9 at Pittsburgh - 8:00 pm (NBC, CBC, RDS)
* Friday, June 12 at Detroit - 8:00 pm (NBC, CBC, RDS)
With all that said, let's hit the matchups on paper.
Forwards:
Holmstrom-Datsyuk-Zetterberg > Kunitz-Crosby-Guerin
Cleary-Franzen-Hudler >Talbot-Malkin-Fedetenko
Samuelsson-Flippula-Hossa > Cooke-Staal-Kennedy
Abdelkader-Helm-Maltby > Satan - Adams
Depth:
Draper, McCarty, Leino > Dupuis, Sykora, Godard
Absolutely a ridiculous amount of depth on the forward lines here for Detroit. They probably do not load up D, Z and the Mule on one line but that line would not only score goals but provide a really good shutdown line on Crosby or Malkin. Flippula and Hossa have played real well together and Dan Cleary personally urinated on the souls of the Blackhawks. Than they add that with talented Jiri Hudler, defensively responsibile Samuelsson and Mega sparkplug Darren Helm who is well on his way to being the next Kris Draper.
Add the 4th line with no relatively weak players and solid veteran depth ready just in the case, the Red Wings' talent is too much for the Penguins. They will come in waves.
Than there is Tomas Holmstrom. Holmstrom is like that creepy guy that's always hanging out next to your girlfriend. He's always in the way. Always bothering her. She hates his guts so when you go over there to smack him around a bit he runs away or dives. Holmstrom is that guy. Pure excrement of a human to play against but you'd love to have that.
The Mule / Franzen is turning himself into a more talented version of Holmstrom. He's the leading goal scorer and so far the Red Wings MVP of the playoffs. Zetterberg and Datsyuk are not only the best forwards on this team but the best defensive forwards as well. Just a really tough matchup for any team.
Hossa is going to be the main plot lines of this series. Hossa was Sidney Crosby's hired goon for last year's run and spurning a multi year offer from the Penguins, signed with Detroit for one year for a chance to receive his cup. Hossa has fit in well with this team and continues to be a very tenacious backchecker and one of the more adept wingers defensively. Hossa will likely get crapped on a ton by the Pittsburgh fans.
The Penguins need big performances from everyone. They need Crosby or Malkin to take this series over. They couldn't last year. Penguins also need good performances out of the depth guys. Talbot, Cooke, Fedetenko came out large against the Canes during various parts of the series. That will need to continue. Jordan Staal looked incredible in game 4 and MUST continue this into the next series. Staal is the difference maker who is this close to putting it all together. If he rolls than the Penguins look that much more scarier. It will also be interesting to see if the Penguins continue to roll Crosby or Malkin again on the 4th line of this series as they did during the Hurricane / Capitals series. We'll see how that goes. Bill Guerin must also keep playing the way he has. Kunitz adding something to his goal count would also be nice.
Edge: Red Wings
Defense:
Lidstrom-Rafalski > Orpik-Gonchar
Ericsson-Lebda < Eaton-Letang
Stuart-Kronwall > Scuderi-Gill
Boucher
Detroit also has one of the deeper units in the league as well defensively. Ain't it great? This is the same group of guys that beat the Penguins last year but now replaced an aging Chris Chelios with mega-talented rookie Jonathan Ericsson. All defensivemen here can make an outlet pass. All are above average defensively. Lidstrom, Stuart and Kronwall are shutdown guys. They are also one of the faster defensive corps in the league, quite a bit faster than the Pens defense. This is quite the change from the likes of the Flyers, Capitals and Hurricanes. There isn't a weak link on this defense and they have the skill and experience to not take unnecessary risks.
The Pens defense on paper looks mediocre, something the team would have been glad to accomplish in the last decade. Gonchar is still a bit banged up but has been a beast in the playoffs. Kris Letang has taken his game to another level and has given other teams fits by becoming a part of the offensive attack consistently. Mark Eaton has 4 goals in the playoffs and is the best penguin defender. Rob Scuderi did a decent job containing Eric Staal and Alex Ovechkin. He was one of the best in the league with his stick but horrendous playing the puck. Hal Gill has looked awfully slow this post season but hasn't been a liability just yet and than there is Orpik. This is what Orpik did last year.
Edge: Red Wings
Goaltending:
You have one goalie in his third post season ever and another has won a couple cups. Osgood has the experience and goals per game average, and though he has played well, the reality of his situation is this: the team in front of him is so good he doesn’t need to be anything but average. He also is a diving bitch.
Fleury, while still maturing as a goaltender, has shown to be more consistent and is currently playing at a high level. Furthermore, he has shrugged off bad goals with a calm and cool swagger to his game. He still can’t handle the puck and really should not pass to much but he was the star against the Red Wings last year and should be able to shed the label of being a top goaltender by stealing a series. A goalie needs to do that once in the playoffs. If Fleury can do it, the Pens win. Still I'll give the edge to the Red Wings for that defense and experience..
Edge: Red Wings
Coaching:
In a matter of days, Dan Bylsma accurately diagnosed the Penguins problems caused by Cowhard on Ice and swiftly uprooted the team to be far more aggressive and take advantage of the team’s skill level. The players have responded favorably to the coaching change and are playing their best hockey as we speak. It's also nice that Bylsma's coaching adjustments aren't limited to switching lines unlike ex coach, Michel Therrien.
Mike Babcock has always been a solid coach, a reason Detroit took him from the Ducks when his contract expired. He is a good motivator and knows the X’s and O’s of hockey, and most of all he knows how to use the talent he is given. He's also won the cup before and has seen it all in his tenure. Something Disco Dan has yet to learn.
Edge: Red Wings
Prediction:
Like a true fan, I can't see this game with my heart but only through my head. The matchup on paper is too much. The Red Wings are the only legit sports dynasty this decade and will likely continue to be in the stanley cup race for multiple years. So will the Penguins. They are close, really close. I just don't see the Oilers just yet. Staal coming up huge would make it interesting but I still just see those games last year in my mind still. Red Wings outclassed us then and will out class the Penguins now. Than we'll have idiots like this dancing more. Ugh.
Red Wings in 6 BUT GO PENGUINS!
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