MVN - Most Valuable Network

Pittsburgh/Detroit Cup Final

After both the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Detroit Red Wings took commanding 3-0 leads in their conference final series, it was no surprise that both teams would eventually come out on top. The Philadelphia Flyers could only win one game and the Dallas Stars managed a two game rally, including Marty Turco’s first ever win in Detroit. In spite of those efforts, the Red Wings and Penguins prevailed and now get to duke it out in the Stanley Cup Finals.

The Penguins have not been there since 1992. The Red Wings have not made it since 2002. Both teams now have five days to contemplate each other and deal with the inevitable media circus that accompanies the Stanley Cup Finals. Saturday, the games begin, with the possibility of no hockey in June for any team. If one of these teams sweeps the other in four straight, game four is on May 31.

The Penguins have youth and talent galore and have only lost twice so far in getting to the finals. Captain Sidney Crosby is 20 years old and won’t be 21 until August. If the Penguins win, will he get sparkling cider in the dressing room? The Red Wings have a much older roster, including Chris Chelios, who is old enough to be the father of many of the Penguins.

The final will be a matter of wills. Who wants the Cup more? I am leaning towards the Penguins, who will have to play more than five games to win this series. If the Penguins win, they will need to do it in six games because they won’t want to play in Detroit for a game seven. The Red Wings are good, but have chinks in their armor that the Penguins will need to capitalize. One of these teams will be engraved next the Ducks on the Stanley Cup for all perpetuity.

The “best” part about this Cup Final is that there is marketing interest in an original six team with fans in seeming every city and a team that has such star power as Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. Smaller market teams in past finals have not generated the viewing interest that these two teams will generate. Viewing numbers will definitely go up from previous years.

May the best team win and may it be a good, hard-fought series. Hockey season is almost over. Now there are two teams. Soon there will be one.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 20th, 2008 at 8:10 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.