It has been announced that Detroit Red Wings coach, Mike Babcock, will assume the head coaching duties for Team Canada when they compete at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympic Games.

Steve Yzerman, who currently serves as the executive director of Canada’s Olympic team, knows Babcock well from his time with the Red Wings so, along with the coach’s recent record, it’s not too surprising that he was chosen for the job. 

Also, while he hasn’t coached an Olympic team he did lead Team Canada to a 2004 World Championship title and the 1997 World Junior title.  I am hoping he does a better job than Wayne Gretzky last time.  Canada is full of young, amazing talent – use them! 

Who would you choose for Canada’s Olympic team? 

image: TSN

It looks like Chris Chelios won’t be donning a Detroit Red Wings jersey again any time soon.  Apparently, a meeting between him and general manager, Ken Holland, ended with the veteran player not being offered a contract.

The Detroit Free Press quoted Holland as saying the following:  "I met with Chelios and told him we would not be offering him a contract.  He wants to play again. I really think that he does have another year in him. I think he can play 10 to 15 minutes. I think he can play on a third pair."

I know that it’s hard to give up on a career that you’ve had for 26 years but it really might be time for him to hang up the skates.  The 47-year-old appeared in just 28 contests this season and failed to register any points and had a plus –1 rating. 

I personally think that, when you’ve had a great career (in his case, he’s scored 185 goals and added 763 assists for 948 points in 1,644 games), it might be better to go out on a high note rather than stay and be ineffective on some team’s roster.  It’s ultimately up to the player but I think Chelios should take the rest of the summer and think long and hard about retirement.

image: TSN

Detroit Red Wings center, Pavel Datsyuk, took home the Frank J. Selke Trophy after his 32 goals/97 points and plus/minus rating of plus –34 secured his spot as the league’s top defensive forward.  His effort was enough to beat out his fellow nominees, Mike Richards (Philadelphia) and Ryan Kesler (Vancouver).

I wasn’t surprised to see him take home the Lady Bing Memorial Trophy for the fourth straight year.  The prize honors players for their sportsmanlike conduct – Datsyuk only incurred 22 penalty minutes in 81 games and beat out Martin St. Louis of Tampa Bay and New Jersey’s Zach Parise.

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

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

The Pittsburgh Penguins dug deep and found a way to win last night’s game against the Detroit Red Wings with a final score of 4-2.  The victory has evened up the series since each team has won both of their home games.

image: Zuma Press

Evgeni Malkin got the Pens on the scoreboard very early in the first on a power-play but his goal was quickly answered with one by Detroit’s Darren Helm.

They went into the second period tied up and after a goal by Brad Stuart, the Red Wings were held scoreless for the rest of the game as a shorthanded goal by Jordan Staal, followed by goals from Sidney Crosby and Tyler Kennedy secured a victory for the Penguins.

Pittsburgh really needed that win because I think that their confidence was low and Detroit was ready to pick them off.  I think Crosby summed it up best.  He said “these last couple at home have been desperation from us.  It’s going to be like that all the way through here.”

If the Penguins can continue to play the way they did in those last 40 minutes, they will stand a very good chance of winning the Cup this year, especially if they can manage to steal a win in Game 5 in Detroit and then come back home for Game 6.  If they lose the next game to the Red Wings, I think they could be in a lot of trouble…

The two teams will square off in the Joe Louis Arena on Saturday night at 8pm ET.

Maxime Talbot scored two important goals last night as the Pittsburgh Penguins hosted defending Stanley Cup champions, the Detroit Red Wings, for the first time in the Finals.

image: Zuma Press

There were grumblings among many a hockey fan saying that the Penguins were on their way to being swept but, fortunately, last night’s game disproved the gossip.  I would imagine that even Red Wings fans would like to see a little more action before a winner emerges.

Watching the game, I felt like there was a lot less passion than I was expecting through those first two periods.  Fortunately, two goals by Talbot and a great power-play tally by Sergei Gonchar buoyed the Pens to a 4-2 victory.

It was also nice to see netminder, Marc-Andre Fleury, looking a little more stable between the pipes.  He finished the game with 27 saves.  Teammate, Talbot, was really happy for his best friend: “I’m so happy for Fleury because in Game 1 and 2 he got criticized a little bit, but tonight I think he won the battle of the goaltenders. I have a lot of trust in that guy, he’s amazing. If I had a choice to take any goaltender in the league, I would choose Fleury and he proved it tonight.”

Someone who wasn’t feeling the love was former Penguin, Marian Hossa.  As soon as he came near the puck, the crowd erupted in boos and rightfully so.  I hope he wasn’t expecting a warm reception…

Neither Pavel Datsyuk nor Kris Draper to dressed for Detroit.

Game 4 takes place on Thursday in Pittsburgh and I believe that the Penguins will need to win it if they stand a chance of taking home the Stanley Cup.  Even though the series is currently at 2-1 in Detroit’s favor, I still feel that this is anyone’s game.

The Pittsburgh Penguins suffered a crushing blow as they were easily beaten by the Detroit Red Wings in Game 2 of the 2009 Stanley Cup Finals.  The defending champions now have a 2-0 series lead.

image: newscom

First of all, I know a lot of people are not pleased by the back-to-back games in Detroit at the start of this series and I’ve got to say that I really didn’t like it much either.  I’m not crying about it or blaming the scheduling for the loss but I do think it’s less than desirable at this all-important stage of the playoffs.

Of course, there was some real ugliness on the ice in the very emotional rematch between these two games and it

image: TSN

really seemed to reach the boiling point when Pittsburgh’s Maxime Talbot speared Detroit netminder, Chris Osgood, in the chest after he made a save.  I know Talbot was frustrated but that was really unacceptable.  Naturally, Henrik Zetterberg came to his goalie’s defence which sparked a fight with Evgeni Malkin (who got an instigator penalty but did not get the automatic suspension and will appear in Game 3).  “I think in the playoffs and finals like this, there is a lot of emotions, a lot of feelings,” said Zetterberg. “When you get scrums that’s the way it is. It should be a lot of feelings, and nothing more than that.”

What do you think of the fact that Malkin won’t have to miss the next game?  Judging from what I’ve seen on Twitter and blogs, many people (including a few Penguins fans) think the NHL is showing favoritism but I think TSN’s Bob McKenzie explained it best: “The intent of the rule is pretty obvious - was the action premeditated, was it sending a message.  Evgeni Malkin was on the ice trying to score a goal at the end of the game. This one was born more out of frustration, then it was the Penguins trying to orchestrate some late game shenanigans, that is what the rule was put in place for and that is why the NHL reserves the right to rescind the rule if they feel the spirit of the rule is not being violated.”

I guess that’s decent reasoning but I really wonder what is going to happen with the rest of this series.  I heard the commentators say that out of 32 series where a team has won the first two games, 31 have gone on to take home Lord Stanley.

I’d really like to see Pittsburgh beat the odds and turn this thing around.