Defending Champs Sitting Pretty

The Pittsburgh Penguins could not have asked for a much better start to their championship defense as they are 6-1-0, undefeated on the road, have a starting netminder who has yet to lose, and are seeing Jordan Staal ride last year’s playoff wave by becoming a major force in the middle. Crosby and Malkin are of course still leading the team, (and Sergei Gonchar continues to play extremely well) but they are also getting strong play from the likes of Tyler Kennedy who has four goals and an assist which equals Crosby’s total to date. Defenseman Alex Goligoski is very much taking advantage at his first chance to play a full season at the top level for he has been brilliant. Not only does Goligoski have five points but he has been working extremely hard to get to loose pucks and to make other teams pay for every inch of ice they gain against him; Goligoski is also in the top twelve in the league in terms of blocked shots (see: http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/statistics?stat=nhlscoring&league=nhl&sort=bs&order=true&qual=true&season=2009&seasontype=2&pos=r for more blocked shot numbers among other stats). The season is still young and as the Ottawa Senators (of two years ago) and New York Rangers (of last year) will tell you a fast start does not carry you throughout the season. It never hurts to get off to a great start and few would doubt that the Penguins have the team that can sustain their early success but their energy level has to remain high. The Stanley Cup hangover certainly has not been an issue thus far but they must also hold off the complacency bug as the season rolls on.

2009 Stanley Cup Champion Pittsburgh Penguins

The Pittsburgh Penguins defied the odds Friday night by defeating the Detroit Red Wings to win the franchises third Stanley Cup and first since 1992. The hero of the night was Max Talbot who scored both of Pittsburgh’s goals and had the Red Wings scurrying to keep up with him all night. It had been said that the Wings were going to be able to use their experience to walk all over the Penguins to win back-to-back titles with ease. What Pittsburgh showed Friday night is not only did they have outduel Detroit in a game seven, but for the second game in a row they showed more depth than the Red Wings from top to bottom. Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin were again both held without a goal and once again the Penguins showed they don’t need their stars to score in order to win. Malkin did in fact have an assist on this night propelling him to his 36^th point and ultimately the Conn Smythe trophy making him the first Russian and only fourth non Canadian to win the Award.

One star the Penguins did need to come up with a huge game was netminder Marc-Andre Fleury and boy did he delivery. Fleury played arguably his best game of the series in game seven exercising all of his Joe Louis Arena demons in the process. Going into the game most felt that Pittsburgh needed a strong game from everyone on the ice to ultimately hoist the cup and that’s exactly what they got. Pittsburgh was sharper than Detroit from start to finish including the man who came to the Red Wings in the offseason from Pittsburgh in one Marian Hossa. It was the ultimate irony as Hossa not only did not win a Stanley Cup in Detroit but he lost to the team he left because he felt he’d have a better chance of winning as a Red Wing. Hossa was a ghost in the final series and perhaps the pressure to perform got to him, or maybe we’ll later on about an injury he was playing with but the bottom line is he left Pittsburgh last summer to win a cup and it was the Penguins who ended up winning the whole thing.

So congratulations to the Pittsburgh Penguins on their victory. This is a bunch of young guys who may find themselves in this position time and time again in the years to come. But for now, it is a moment for them to simply soak up and enjoy because despite their talent it is also something that may never happen again. Detroit will no doubt be back next year as they retool and get re-energized for next season, but for now the mountain top belongs to the Pittsburgh Penguins.

NHL Round Two a Treat for All

Round two came to a close Thursday night and what a round two it ways. With three series going to game seven and the other an incredibly entertaining six game series the NHL should hold its head high tonight. Detroit/Anaheim and Boston/Carolina put the icing on the cake with two incredible game seven performances culminated with a game seven overtime won by the Canes over the Bruins. As much as I love hockey it has fallen from the graces of many people since the lockout in 2004, but this round has put the NHL back on the national map. Casual fans are tuning in and that base is continuing to grow as the ratings have skyrocketed as a result. Sports fans across the board have soaked up every moment of round two with many hoping the stage isn’t set for the Conference Finals to be a letdown. But with the stakes getting higher as we move onto round three it seems highly unlikely that something like that will happen. The time will come in short order to look forward to the next round but now is the time to reflecting upon round two and simply appreciate what we saw.

The Pens and Caps stole the headlines with plenty of star power, the incredible story of rookie netminder Simeon Varlamov, and six unbelievably entertaining games including three overtime contests and at least one lead change in every game. The Pens and Caps not only put on a great show but they further escalated a rivalry that will be sensational for years to come. The other second round series in the east did not have nearly the amount of drama as the Pens-Caps until game seven.

The Bruins and Canes gave us everything one hopes to get out of a game seven. Each team had a lead at one point in the game with the Bruins taking the early 1-0 lead before Carolina battled back to net two in a row only to see Boston send it to overtime. In the extra period there were chances aplenty stifled by tremendous goaltending by both Ward and Thomas. And just as it seemed like the game was destined for double overtime Scott Walker buried a rebound behind Tim Thomas to score his first career playoff goal… and boy what a time to do it.

In the West the headliner was the battle between the last two Stanley Cup Champions in Anaheim and Detroit. Despite Anaheim being seeded eighth many felt the Ducks had a chance to put away the defending champs. The two teams battled game to game until the series finally culminated in a game seven that went the way of the rest of the series. Both goaltenders put on a great show combined with a lot of heavy hitting and lots of drama with both teams getting ticked at the referees at one point or another. In the end however the defending champs showed their grit by scoring the series winning goal with three minutes remaining in the third period.

Lastly we’ll mention the upstart Blackhawks put away Roberto Luongo and the high-flying Vancouver Canucks. In their respective first round series the Hawks and Canucks traveled very different paths. Vancouver steamrolled St. Louis while Chicago had to battle to put away a banged-up but resilient Calgary Flames squad that had high expectations; as a result many felt the experienced Canucks would be able to dispose of a good but young Blackhawks squad whose “time was yet to come.” The people in Chicago—fans and players alike—had different plans as the young squad played each game like they had been there before withstanding early leads by Vancouver and eventually busting through the brick wall that is Roberto Luongo to advance to the Conference Finals.

Perhaps one of the best playoff rounds in any sport ever… and we’ve still got two rounds to go. See you in the Conference Finals everybody!

Last Two Champs Battle Headlines West Round Two

Although the east has the so called “dream match-up” the second round of the Western Conference probably has the series with the most potential as the last two Stanley Cup Champions will go head-to-head.

Western Conference:

2. Detroit Red Wings vs. 8. Anaheim Ducks
The seeding in this series explains who has home ice advantage and that is it. The match-up itself is a very even one as each team equals the other in talent and experience alike. Coming into the playoffs the defending champion Red Wings had only one question, goaltending. But after their first round sweep of Columbus it looks like Chris Osgood is back to form when it matters the most. Ahead of Osgood the Red Wings have continued to suffocate teams by scoring goals while limiting the other team’s scoring chances by holding on to the puck for so much of the game. In large part perhaps the best and maybe only way to stop Detroit’s offensive zone, puck-possession style is by asserting one’s physical presence… enter the Anaheim Ducks. Not only do the Ducks equal Detroit in skill and experience but also in size. The Ducks are big up front and at the blue line which is what propelled them to the Stanley Cup just two years ago where they beat the Red Wings along the way I might add. Quite possibly the only weakness for the Ducks is netminder Jonas Hiller and that’s only because he has never been here before. Hiller proved himself worthy in the first round by shutting out the President’s Trophy winning Sharks and if that continues then consider that question answered.

So what is the X-factor in this series? For the Red Wings to win they simply have to do what they did in the first round and have done time and time again in the past, simply play their game from start to finish. For the Ducks they have to keep themselves out of the penalty box, but if they do go to the box they need to take a Red Wing with them when they can—via fighting majors or retaliation penalties—and when they do yield Detroit a power play they need make sure their penalties are because of hard play and not because of stupid interference or holding calls. The Ducks will also need to see if they can get Osgood to return to his 2008-2009 regular season form in which both is GAA and save percentage were terrible. However in the end it will be the Detroit Red Wings who take this evenly matched series in seven.

3. Vancouver Canucks vs. 4. Chicago Blackhawks
Many people would say this is another evenly matched series that can go either way but I tend to disagree. Roberto Luongo gets the edge in goaltending over Nikolai Khabibulin although give Khabiblulin another feather in his cap since he has won a Cup whereas Luongo has not. Outside of the goaltending comparison the Blackhawks have a much better overall team than the Canucks. On paper the teams are evenly matched but the Canucks rely way too much on Luongo to bail them out time and time again; that has worked out so far but is not likely to continue indefinitely. Alex Burrows stepped up big time for the Canucks in round one scoring huge goals with none being bigger than the series clinching goal in overtime of game four. The Sedin twins have been good but outside of the two of them and Alex Burrows playing above his pay grade in round one the Canucks did not get much support from the rest of the team. Mats Sundin should now get a chance to heal and could make a difference for the Canucks but since arriving in Vancouver he has mostly underachieved despite playing well down the stretch.
As for the Blackhawks, they have an enormous amount of skill up front (Kris Versteeg, Martin Havlat, Patrick Sharp, Jonathan Towes to name a few) while also possessing a very strong blueline with Ben Eager, Duncan Keith, and company. Sure they lost two games against Calgary while Vancouver swept through St. Louis but the Hawks were up against much stronger competition who they squashed in the last two games of that series. So all the Blackhawks have to do to win is to continue to play as a very strong unit while Vancouver’s best chance of winning is relying heavily on Luongo. With that in mind, the Hawks have a much wider margin of error than the Canucks do and will win the series in six as a result.

Enjoy round two everybody!