Playoff Observations -- Stanley Cup Game 7
- By: Janet Eagleson
- On: 6/12/2009 9:09:00 PM
- View Comments : 9
Related: Janet Eagleson Detroit Redwings Phoenix Coyotes Pittsburgh Penguins NHL
- Maxime Talbot got both his wishes tonight -- he got to hoist the Cup and whisper "you picked the wrong team" while shaking Marian Hossa's hand.
- Sucks to be Ty Conklin, eh?
- The hoist-and-gloat with the Cup is the best sports celebration on the planet. The potty mouths in proximity to the live microphones are not.
- Goalies are odd ducks. Did you catch Marc-Andre Fleury talking to and caressing his crossbar after that ringer in the last few minutes? It almost blew the game's G rating.
- Evgeni Malkin is the first Russian to win the Conn Smythe. Sidney Crosby becomes the youngest captain in history to hoist the Cup. And the Pens win the Cup in Game 87 of the playoffs. You couldn't write a better story.
- What a relief -- Sid the Kid is actually old enough to legally drink in the state of Michigan. Poor Jordan Staal -- guess he has to drink Coke Zero instead. Wait! American beer would be OK -- it's really only near beer, right?
- Was it just me or did the Wings look scared at times? Brian Rafalski misfired on two outlet passes on the same shift. And they were collectively sloppy in stretches. Out of gas? Or just too much pressure?
- Class move -- Mike Illitch came down to ice level and shook Mario Lemieux's hand at centre ice. I'm pretty sure he offered him a pizza party for the boys and asked for some hair care tips.
- Sidney Crosby will not be ready for next season. Even a Grade 2 sprain of that knee (and it could actually be a lot worse) will keep him from training for a couple months. Camp opens in two-and-a-half... ouch.
- Gotta love the fans in Detroit. They boo (and drown out) Napoleon the whole time he's talking. And they cheer loudly for Sid, Marc-Andre and several other Penguins as they paraded the Cup. They sure know their hockey.
- Just how far up the ref's arses were their whistles? Do I need to show them the rule on obstruction? Like my Rotowire and Yahoo! buddy Scott Pianowski said to me tonight -- this was like "a tractor pull." Now, I'm a farm kid and I happen to like tractor pulls. But his comments have a real ring of truth to them, don't they?
- I'll be glad when the whole Phoenix Coyotes debacle is over. Talk about overshadowing the holy grail of hockey. Funny thing is, no-one really even cares down there but everyone up here does. So much so that it's the lead story on sports broadcasts and in papers way, way too much.
reddit
Comments
On: 6/12/2009 9:34:00 PM
On: 6/12/2009 9:58:00 PM
- The better team tonight won. Kudos to Pittsburgh, their fans (Topz!), their entire or-gan-eye-za-tion.
- It wasn't an artistic win, of course. Get a lead, push everything wide, try to make Detroit beat you on the perimeter. All those blocked shots. No odd-man rushes. Clog the neutral zone, stay out of the box (not too hard on this night, given the temporary rules). A textbook of how to play with a lead, but give them credit for getting the lead in the first place.
- Fleury looked oh-so-ready to allow goal No. 2 the moment the first one went in. A shame they couldn't get more pressure on him.
- Chris Osgood is a heck of a nice guy, but he's no Hall of Famer. Sometimes we give too much credit to good players who happen to be on great teams. It's hard to fault a guy for a 2-1 loss, but he was in terrible position on the second goal. Brad Stuart also played about as poorly as one can play for most of the night.
- It was cool to see Pittsburgh's *best* player get the Conn Smythe Trophy. I will not debate this.
Great job blogging the post-season, Janet.
On: 6/13/2009 5:23:00 AM
That's pretty lame.
I just can't play the politically correct game here, you're wrong.
I don't care if you work for God's sports department or his website.
Crosby is a pure payer, in all aspects.
If you watched the entire Washington series
you'd of seen the vast differences in their play.
If you just look at points, the pure roto geek evaluation,
then yeah Malkin is the man.
Maybe Mario will, if you will allow him,
if you deem him worthy of your level of knowledge
of the sport...
“This kid, all he thinks about is winning championships. His whole life is training and practicing and playing hockey. He’s a great kid, a perfect hockey player, that’s all he does, think about hockey every day. It’s amazing. I wish I would have had that discipline back then.”
Hockey is more than flashy moves and goals and assists.
How old was Larry Bird when he won his first ring?
On: 6/13/2009 5:29:00 AM
“He is our team,” said center Max Talbot of Crsoby.
“He is the heart and soul of the Pittsburgh Penguins. And I think everybody knows that. If they don’t, well, I’m telling you: He is our leader. What he brings every day to the rink is special. The pressure he had to go through to become that player is really special.
“Every day he thinks about hockey. Everything he does is about hockey. He respects the game. Yes, he’s not flashy like other players in the NHL, and maybe the media thinks he’s boring. But he respects the game. He loves the game. And you know what? Today is so special to win that for him, with him.”
Sidney Crosby: Youngest to EVER score 100 points.
Youngest captain to EVER win the Cup.
It's closing time here and you can't debate those facts Billy.
On: 6/13/2009 6:32:00 AM
Crosby is the youngest Hart Trophy-winner (at age 19) in league history.
The Hart is given to the league's Most Valuable Player.
I will not debate this fact, nor the prior two facts listed in my previous post. Don't even try, I will NOT debate this!
On: 6/13/2009 10:34:00 AM
Did I miss something, or was Crosby standing over in the corner of the rink during most of the handshake????? I saw him shake with about 3 players and the coaches, and that was it. Could be the cameras missed it, but that's the impression I got. Maybe he was all distraught about the injury, but it surprised me.
Overall, not impressed with the officiating, but I won't go so far as to say it affected the outcome of the series. With the talent on hand, I really expected a lot more highlights from a game 7. Fleury and the bar was gold though.
Hossa losing two years straight is amusing. But anyone riding him for last summer's decision needs to turn in his analyst's card. It was (for once!) a process-oriented decision rather than a results-oriented one, which treated money as a contributing factor and not the overriding one. Making the wrong (and I don't think this was) decision for the right reasons is small consolation, but you gotta keep doing it or you're just a stupidhead. LOVED his post-game comments too. How many guys would even come out and face the music after that?
That said, early scuttlebutt is Hossa and Conklin are going to offer themselves as a one-year package deal to the Buffalo Bills.
On: 6/13/2009 1:00:00 PM
http://www.puckprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=176
There's a reason the Mellon Arena crowd chanted "MVP, MVP, MVP" for Geno throughout the regular season.
Peter, you talk about points as only Roto Geek worthy, but then list Sidney's 100 points as your first argument.
Give me Malkin over Crosby by the slimmest of margin, because of his ability to make anyone who plays with him better. Max Talbot, for example.
On: 6/13/2009 1:07:00 PM
On: 7/12/2009 5:15:00 PM
Leave a comment
Commenting is restricted to registered users only. Please register or login now to submit a comment.