Maxime Talbot played a big role in the Pittsburgh Penguins quest for the Stanley Cup.  Game 7 ended with a final score of just 2-1 and guess who scored both of those goals?  Yeah, you probably already know it’s Talbot but I had to say it in case you didn’t.

The injury apparently plagued the star “for quite a while” but the 25-year-old played in the postseason with so much intensity that I never would have guessed that he was suffering from a torn labrum.  I have been living with the lingering discomfort associated with a similar shoulder injury and I can tell you that it’s pretty painful and all I do is type for a living.

According to TSN, he had surgery yesterday to repair the injury but it will take about four to five months for him to be ready to join his teammates.  "We all agreed it was best for him to have the surgery at this time," said GM Ray Shero. "Although he will miss training camp and the start of the season, the doctors expect him to make a complete recovery."

I think it’s better to lose a guy at the beginning of the season than the end so it sounds like a pretty good plan.  Hopefully he will able to work around the injury but still keep in shape. 

The Stanley Cup 2008-2009 Champions: Pittsburgh Penguins DVD allows you to relive the journey with Pittsburgh Penguins as they battled to win the franchise’s first Stanley Cup since 1992.  When you think about how they lost in Game 6 of last year’s finals, their entire season takes on a whole new meaning. 

I wanted them to have another chance at winning the Cup but a rematch seemed so unlikely.  When it finally happened, I couldn’t believe it.  I really hoped that the Penguins wouldn’t meet the same fate as they did in 2008 and towards the end of this year’s finals, I wondered if they had it in them to stave off a team like the Detroit Red Wings.

Anyway, I could go on and on about it but this great DVD set highlights some incredible plays by Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Marc-André Fleury, Jordan Staal and, of course, the rest of the amazing team.  They really pulled together and made this happen.

I’m also really interesting in watching the interviews with the players and coaches as well as seeing the exclusive, behind-the-scenes footage.

image: Amazon

Pittsburgh Penguins star Evgeni Malkin was presented with the 2009 Art Ross Trophy as the regular-season scoring leader.  The young Russian player was clearly nervous as he shared a stage with Alexander Ovechkin (who was accepting the Rocket Richard award) but his English is improving. 

I seriously cannot imagine getting up in a room full of people on a televised event and having to give an acceptance speech in a language that I barely know.  Just think of the Oscars – most of the winners only speak English and they struggle.

To make light of the situation, Ovechkin joked Malkin "is better than Pavel Datsyuk’s English."  That got some laughs!

image: NHL.com

If you followed this year’s playoffs, you probably heard more than one commentator talking about the fact that Marian Hossa turned down a lucrative, long-term contract (worth almost $50 million) with the Pittsburgh Penguins in order to accept a one-year deal (worth $7.5 million) with the Detroit Red Wings.  The reason for his defection?  He thought he had a better chance of winning Lord Stanley with Detroit.

I really couldn’t believe he did (or said) that but I didn’t think about it too much until it was clear that the two teams were going to get a rematch.  I started mulling over the possibility of Hossa watching the other team hoisting the Cup over their heads for a second year in a row and, instead of feeling pity, I began to feel hopeful.  I wanted him to lose and I think that my vengeful attitude is justified.

Winning the Stanley Cup isn’t about jumping on to the roster of the team that you think has the best chance of taking it home.  It’s about earning the honor and working hard to turn your team into the Stanley Cup champions.  Look at what Sidney Crosby has done with the Penguins in such a short amount of time.  I do believe that his enthusiasm and passion has helped push them to the finals two years in a row and, if I ever doubted his captaincy in the past, he’s proven that he is the leader his team needed.

Interestingly, Hossa wasn’t exactly effective for Detroit.  Not only did he fail to score in the finals, he became almost non-existent in Game 7.  I sometimes wonder if he didn’t psych himself out.  Whatever the reason for his lack of effort, he failed his team when they needed him most.  With Pavel Datsyuk and Kris Draper battling injuries, Detroit needed all of their players to be at their best.

After the game, Hossa said: “That’s life,” he said. “You just have to move on. It’s a great life experience.  It’s a tough pill to swallow.  It could be different circumstances if I sign in Pittsburgh and now they probably couldn’t sign some other players and they would be different team.  So we could sit here for hours discussing this, but it could be different team, could be different things so I don’t regret the decision.”

Well, I have to admit that his logic makes sense even if it sounds like something he’s telling himself to feel better.  I was glad that the Penguins were classy enough to not mention the irony during the postgame handshake. “Nobody said anything,” said Hossa. “I congratulated them and that was it.”

Hossa is eligible to be a free agent this offseason.  I am really curious to see where he ends up and what kind of deal he gets.  He’s clearly a great player and had a team-high of 40 goals during this past regular season so he probably will get a decent deal wherever he ends up.

image: TSN

The Pittsburgh Penguins will be taking the same route as the Super Bowl Champions, the Pittsburgh Steelers, as they enjoy the parade honoring them as the 2009 Stanley Cup Champions.  It’s set to start at 12:00pm at the intersection of Grant Street and Seventh Avenue.

image: Zuma Press

I know that with the slumping economy, cities like Pittsburgh have really suffered so I can’t even imagine how much the Penguins and Steelers’ victories mean to them.  Mayor Luke Ravenstahl summed it up nicely: “No words can describe the history-making comeback achieved by our team.  No one believed that this could be done, that we could win on the road and defy history, and that the League’s youngest captain could make it happen.  On Monday, let’s show the world how the ‘City of Champions’ welcomes home their Stanley Cup Champion Pittsburgh Penguins.”

I know that hockey isn’t as popular in the U.S. as it is in Canada but, hopefully, the Penguins will get a big turnout.  I know that more than 300,000 people showed up for the Steelers so even if the Pens got a third of that, it would be amazing.

Last night, the Pittsburgh Penguins defeated the odds and took home Lord Stanley after thriller of a game at the Joe Louis Arena and no one can say that this team relied solely on the skills and talents of star players like Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin.  They pulled together and became the 2009 Stanley Cup Champions.

It’s been almost a full day and I still can’t believe it.  I will write more about some things like Marian Hossa’s decision to join up with the Detroit Red Wings to have a better chance at winning and the fact that Evgeni Malkin is now the first Russian player to win the Conn Smythe Trophy but, for now, I’m happy to just enjoy these pictures.

images: Zuma Press

The Pittsburgh Penguins have beat the Detroit Red Wings 2-1 in a very exciting game and have become the 2009 Stanley Cup Champions.

Sidney Crosby is the youngest captain to hoist the Stanley Cup and after the night he’s had I’m sure the moment feels incredible.

image: Zuma Press

From the start, the Penguins looked like the sharper team but, in the first period, both Pittsburgh and Detroit came out with a lot of intensity but the combination of Maxime Talbot (who scored both goals for the Pens) and the goaltending of Marc-Andre Fleury was simply unbeatable tonight.

By the second period, I kept looking around wondering where the Red Wings were.  It was such a strange game.   They seemed to lack focus, they kept getting called off-side and it really looked like they were either worn out or had given up.  I did think that things might turn around for them when Johan Franzen rammed Crosby into the boards.  The Pittsburgh captain limped over to the bench and then headed to the locker rooms.  He didn’t return for the rest of the period.

During the third period, the Red Wings seemed to have a lot more drive, especially in the second half.  Crosby returned to the game but he coulnd’t move like he needed to.  I’m sure it was hard for coach Dan Bylsma to restrict his star player’s ice time but with Detroit playing harder (and that lone goal by Jonathan Ericsson) he had to put his healthiest legs in the game.  I swear I almost had a heart attack in those last 20 minutes, especially when that shot got past Fleury and hit the crossbar (did you see him rub the net affectionately?  He later said that he was thanking it for making a big save for him - ha ha!!).  If Detroit had brought that intensity from the start, they might be the ones celebrating the win tonight.

After the game, it was pretty great to watch the Penguins hoist the trophy even though they were in Detroit but Crosby explained on Hockey Night in Canada that it was hard to watch the end of Game 7 from the bench.  All of the players were very emotional and Evgeni Malkin was presented with the Conn Smythe Trophy.

Congratulations, Pittsburgh.  You proved that a team can win Game 7 on the road under seriously adverse conditions and that touching the Eastern Conference trophy doesn’t lead to bad luck.  Enjoy your banner year!

image: Zuma Press

This is it.  This is really, REALLY it.  It’s do-or-die time and I am extremely nervous.  I don’t know what it is about this matchup but seeing the seasoned, experienced Detroit Red Wings take on the younger Pittsburgh Penguins is very exciting to me.  It was all over in Game 6 last year and I think it’s absolutely amazing that we get to see a rematch.

image: Zuma Press

I thought history might repeat itself since the Red Wings only needed one more win and could have eliminated the Pens (again) in Game 6 but Pittsburgh dug deep and sent out a message that the jerseys on the ice might be the same (and Game 5 might have been an embarrassing blowout) but this is a new year and they are not giving up.

This is a HUGE deal for Detroit since they are hosting their first Game 7 of a Stanley Cup Final since 1955.  While the odds are overwhelmingly in favor of the home team it is worth mentioning that the Penguins have never lost a Game 7 on the road (4-0).

TSN has an excellent overview of Game 7 on their site right now and, reading through it, some things really stand out for those who believe that the Penguins don’t stand a chance:

• Pittsburgh’s Evgeni Malkin “has the highest point total in a single playoff year since 1992-93, when Wayne Gretzky had 40 (15 goals, 25 assists) in 24 games for the Los Angeles Kings and Doug Gilmour notched 35 (10 goals, 25 assists) in 21 games for the Toronto Maple Leafs.”
• Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin “are the first teammates to post 30-or-more points in the same playoff year since the New York Rangers’ Brian Leetch (11-23–34) and Mark Messier (12-18–30) in 1994.”

In order for Pittsburgh to have a chance, Malkin and Crosby are going to have to work together better than they have all year long and, of course, their goalie, Marc-Andre Fleury, will have to be solid in net.  The Pens will also need to keep their tempers in check to avoid penalty trouble.

Detroit really doesn’t need to do any tweaking.  They are an extraordinarily skilled and patient team and it’s really hard to find any flaw worth mentioning.  Chris Osgood has been stellar between the pipes and the lines are working well.

I really don’t know what’s going to happen but I definitely will be watching.  Any predictions?

Going into Game 6 tonight, I have to admit that I was not overly optimistic.  However, within just a few minutes it was clear that the Pittsburgh Penguins had used those few days off to regroup and bring the focus and energy that got them to the Stanley Cup Finals for the second time in as many years.

image: Zuma Press

I was absolutely stunned by how controlled the Penguins played and how well they managed to keep the Detroit Red Wings from getting too many shots away.  In total, Marc-Andre Fleury faced 26 shots on net and he turned away 25 of them (he was without his stick for the one that he missed).  The difference in Fleury’s goaltending between Game 5 and Game 6 is extraordinary because he actually looked like he realized he was playing in the postseason tonight.  It can be hard on a goalie to remain focused when they aren’t facing too many shots but, for the most part, he stayed sharp.

He did get lucky a few times, however.  He managed to make a save on a shot by Henrik Zetterberg that bounced off the pipes and looked eerily reminiscent of one he let in during Game 6 last year.  He also had some MAJOR help from teammate, Rob Scuderi, who blocked four shots (I was beginning to wonder if Scuderi had missed his calling as a goaltender).  Brooks Orpik was also extraordinary on the ice tonight and got a career high of six blocked shots.

Even though Detroit lost, I’ve got to give Chris Osgood credit for solid netminding.  He managed to turn away 29 of the 31 shots he faced.  Someone who did not play up to his abilities if former Penguin, Marian Hossa.  I think that a lot of people were expecting more from him since he defected to Detroit because he said that he would have a better chance of winning the Cup that way.  Someone should have let him know that he’d actually have to try and not just rely on his teammates.  I almost want Detroit to lose just to teach him a lesson.

The last thing I want to say about tonight’s game is that it was remarkably low on penalties.  Of course, there were infractions that slipped by the officiators but, overall, the guys played a relatively clean game with each team incurring just two penalties each for the entire game.

Game 7 takes place in Detroit on Friday, June 12, 2009.

I needed a full night’s rest to write about the events that took place during Game 5 of the 2009 Stanley Cup Finals.  I thought the Detroit Red Wings might play an excellent home game, especially with Pavel Datsyuk back in the lineup, but I was not prepared for the bloodbath that I witnessed.

Critics had been questioning Detroit’s play recently with some even referring to them as “shaky” but they showed everyone that they are solid and they sent the Pittsburgh Penguins a clear message – they intend to keep Lord Stanley.

The Penguins were held scoreless in three periods while the Red Wings scored five times.  I think it goes without saying that Pens netminder, Marc-Andre Fleury, looked pretty shaky between the pipes (he was eventually replaced by backup, Mathieu Garon) while his counterpart, Chris Osgood, looked solid and secured a shutout.

I’ve got to say that I was a little disappointed in both Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin for their conduct as the game progressed.  With the team suffering, Malkin took a nasty elbowing call in the second period and then Crosby incurred a slashing penalty.

Crosby was clearly frustrated and I get that but you can’t retaliate by hitting a guy in the back of the leg when you’re the team’s leader.  After that, the Penguins got themselves in all kinds of penalty trouble with six calls against them in the third period alone.  When you’re wearing that “C” or even the “A” and your team is down, it’s time for you to rally and bring your guys together.  They really showed a lack of class, maturity and experience last night.

Game 6 takes place on Tuesday, June 9, 2009 at 8pm ET.  If the Red Wings win, they will have succeeded in winning the Stanley Cup two years in a row.

images: Zuma Press