Red Wings vs. Penguins Stanley Cup Finals Preview

[Qbins Missile Crisis]

Lucky Thirteen

So far, there have been twelve series played in the Stanley Cup playoffs and for the NHL, finally, they got exactly what they are looking for with the thirteenth.



What has been, at best, a lackluster post-season thus far from the marketing and marquee match-up perspective the league ended up with the two teams in the final they would have most likely picked from the start.

It's the star-powered yet surprising upstart Pittsburgh Penguins vs. the original six Dynasty, and the overall best team in the league this season, the Detroit Red Wings.

It could be called: The Kids Take on History

The last time the Pittsburgh Penguins won the Stanley Cup their current core players, Jordan Staal, Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Marc-Andre Fleury were respectively, 3, 4, 5 and 7.

The number of players on the entire Penguins roster who have played in a Cup final? Two. How many Stanley Cup games has the head coach been behind the bench? Zero.

The Detroit Red Wings are the oldest team in the NHL. Averaging 30-years of age, they have 11 players with Stanley Cup rings, and total 24 championships between them.

So, in a series that is, according to all hockey wags, supposed to be all about having "been there before," the Penguins should get their young bottoms paddled and come back next season knowing better just what it takes to win.

Except these kids don't look like they want to get spanked.

Two years ago, during Crosby's rookie season, they won only 22 games. Taking advantage of being terrible, the team drafted well and traded better and ended up with a roster featuring a core of star players averaging barely 21 years of age.

In their only previous post-season appearance, that inexperience did show. They lost four times and won only once against last year's eventual Stanley Cup finalists, the Ottawa Senators.

Clearly, Pittsburgh learned from that early exit as their run through the 2008 Eastern Conference playoffs has resulted in only two losses in 14 games, with 10 of those 12 victories being pretty much blow-outs.

What was perceived as their biggest liability, their blue-line, has turned into their greatest strength. Defensively they are leading the post-season giving up less than two goals a game. As for scoring, there has been no shortage of that as three of the top five point-getters in the playoffs are Penguins; Crosby with 21 and Malkin and Marian Hossa with 19 each.

This isn't just another series however, and the Detroit Red Wings aren't just another team.

Been there before... and then some

It's an intriguing prospect to think that a crew of fresh faced kids could take on the best team in the league and beat them for the game's greatest prize, but those aforementioned wags had it right - experience matters, both past and recent.

All those rings means the Red Wings know how to win - and how to win together. They still have one third of the roster left from the last time they won the Cup in 2002. Moreover, unlike the Penguins, they have fought to get where they are, winning a tough series against Nashville, then sweeping the Avalanche and then struggling through six tough games against the Dallas Stars. How tough? Kris Draper scored in the final game foregoing using his stick and instead used his face.

Cruising through the East and outscoring their opponents 53-26 might have done wonders for the Penguins confidence, but now they face a battle-tested veteran team who came out of the west where two of the three teams they faced where probably better than anything the east has to offer.

Last year the Eastern conference champion cruised into the finals, where they were promptly steamrolled by the West's champ in only five games.

This year the Penguins and Crosby, who has made it to his first final a year quicker than someone named Gretzky did, should do better.

But not much - Detroit in six.

The old will school the young, and like Gretzky et al, who learned from their first pasting against the New York Islanders way back when, this could be a torch passing, but next year, not this.

As for the league, they get their dream series. It's sometimes better to be lucky than good.

This time for the NHL, their lucky number is thirteen.

Cheers - Gavin McDougald - AKA Couch

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