MVN - Most Valuable Network

Red Wings raise the Cup!

Hockey coaches all over the world are smiling today.  The best hockey club won the Cup.  The club with militarily tight cohesion are champions.  The squad who played the best defense were the last standing.   Coaches preach fundamentals and team play.  They’ll be able to use this Wings team as an example of what can be achieved when a hockey club functions as a unit.

Pittsburgh was arguably the more talented team in this Finals. Any club with Hossa, Crosby and Malkin have a talent advantage.  They also played solid, hard-nosed, two-way hockey throughout the series.  The Pens left it all on the ice and should not hang their heads today.  Chins up boys, you never gave up, especially in the last four games of the Finals.  This season should be viewed as a huge success for the young ice birds.

Game six was was inches away from going to OT but a last second, (no exaggeration), Hossa rebound attempt slid harmlessly through the goal crease as the horn sounded.  Penguin players, fully spent, lingered on ice for minutes after the NHL season was complete.  Some perhaps hoped they would be granted a stay of execution.  Most were just too tired to move.

Marc-Andre Fluery did not have his best game.  The final two Detroit goals were weak.  Goal number two was scored on a very ordinary backhander from Valtteri Filppula that found the five-hole.  The game winner will haunt the talented Pittsburgh Goalie for a while.  Henrik Zetterberg, shot the puck and it appeared that Fluery made the save.  In fact the puck trickled through the netminder and sat just behind him, a foot or two from the goal line, on the ice.  Suddenly aware that he did not possess the puck, Fluery lunged back to attempt to cover.  Instead he managed to flip the puck past the goal line with his posterior.  This one will sting during the off-season but odds are Fluery will one day lift the sacred Cup over his head.

Zetterberg won the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP while amassing a franchise record 27 points in the post-season.  Henrik also played superior defense throughout the playoffs.   The same can be said for the great majority of players on this well-coached machine of a hockey team.  The Red Wings won their 11th Stanley Cup because they know and perform their roles flawlessly.  Their passing is crisp.  Their sticks are always in lanes denying opponent opportunities.  They maintain a very high level of professionalism and have unbreakable composure. The best team won the Cup this year.

Nick Lindstrom became the first European Captain to ever raise Lord Stanley’s Cup.  The hall of fame Defensemen is also one of the classiest guys in the league. Lindstrom follows in the footsteps of another Detroit legend, Stevie Y, who possessed very similar traits on and off the ice.  Funny how even-tempered players with a “C” sewn to their sweaters tend to win Cups.

Congradulations Chris, “older than most dirt” Chelios.  The super veteran played 69 games in the regular season and will get his name once again inscribed on the Cup despite missing the finals due to injury.  Congratulations Dallas Drake.  After 14 years in the league, his hard work has been rewarded with the ultimate prize in hockey.

So ends the 2007-08 NHL season and it has to been seen as a step forward for the league.  Beginning with the classic outdoor Buffalo-Pitt game, exposure has increased as have TV ratings.  Young stars such as Crosby, Malkin, Ovechkin and Kovalchuk have begun to revitalize the game on the world stage.  The future looks bright for the NHL.  Hopefully the suits, (talking to you Mr. Commissioner), don’t screw it up.

Soon draft talk will heat up.  Off season acquistions and rumor will shift into high-gear and the coaching carousel will begin to whirl.  Before that happens let’s take a moment to appreciate this year’s champs, the Wings.  The best team won this year.  Enjoy the party Hockey Town!

Your Loyal Servant,

Sean Grace

The battle rages on - Pens force game six

110 minutes

110 minutes of inhaling much more than exhaling

110 minutes of pure drama

110 minutes of competition at its best.

Watching from the couch left me drained. I can’t imagine what it took physically and mentally to play at the level the Wings and Pens sustained in game five. Yes, there were brief lulls, but for the most part the intensity was constant. This was not a game for the weak of heart or those with questionable digestive systems. Bloody cotton plugged the noses and was applied to eyes and mouths of some players. Exhaustion dominated the demeanor of all on the ice but they played on. They gave everything they had and more. It was a game not soon to be forgotten by those interested in the outcome.

The Stanley Cup is the most difficult prize in sports to obtain. The superhuman effort, unyielding perseverance and commitment required to feel the Cup in your hands is hard to fathom. The NHL preseason begins in September and the Cup is awarded in June to the fortunate few who can withstand the limit-testing marathon. Enduring the physicality and focus this game requires for a little less than 10 months pushes the boundaries of what a man can withstand. No matter which team prevails in this series I think all of us that have watched have gained a heightened respect for the dedication it takes to survive and advance in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

You know what happened last night. You don’t rely on a dime a dozen, hack like me for the score or the highlights. I watched the game just as you did. During the four-hour epic, I gasped 23 times, used 48 expletives and accidentally kicked my dog twice while jumping from my position on the couch. I gave him a cookie and he forgave me. At about 12:30 I yelled at the top of my lungs when Sykora scored. Truth be told I didn’t want it to end. The tension of impending sudden death is intoxicating.

I don’t have a dog in the fight.  I’m not a Wings fan nor a Pens fan. I am a Thrasher season ticket holder and irreparably devoted to the Atlanta club . I know, I know, it’s a tough way to go through life. Most of all I am a hockey fan who is gaining a new level of appreciation for the players of this great game during this fantastic series. I hope you are as well. Game six, Wednesday at 8 pm EDT, don’t miss it.

Your Loyal Servant,

Sean Grace

Chill the champagne - Wings win game four in Pittsburgh

Chicks dig goal scorers.  The flash of Ovechkin, Kovalchuk and Crosby puts butts in NHL arena seats and makes for exciting two-minute promo videos.  Defense is not glamorous. Defense wins championships.  The Wings play the leagues’ best team defense.  You do the math.

On Saturday night Detroit took a huge step toward raising Lord Stanley’s Cup by stifling the Penguins at the Igloo en route to a hard fought 2-1 victory.  Detroit leads the series three games to one and looks to end the 2007-08 NHL season on Monday at the Joe.  The loss was the first by the Penguins in this postseason.

The Penguins came out of the gate with high energy and continued their intense play of game three.  Hossa scored the game’s first goal from close range and the white-clad Penguin fans were rocking the building.  The volume diminished as Nick Lindstrom netting a long slapper past a screened Marc-Andre Fluery.

Following a scoreless second period, Jiri Hudler flipped a quick backhander between the left post and the Pen’s Goalie and the Wings led 2-1 with 17.5 minutes to play. Plenty of time, right?

Midway through the final period, with the Pens 30 seconds into a power play, Crosby was pulled down as he skated in on a breakaway.  Pittsburgh sent Sid, Hossa, Malkin, and Gonchar to the ice for a prolonged 5-3 advantage.  This was it, the defining moment of the series and the NHL season.  Scoring on a long 5 on 3 advantage is more probable than not scoring.  Considering the cast that the Pens sent to the ice, the odds pushed farther in their favor.  Early in the two-man advantage Pittsburgh set up well and attacked.  The pass went to a seemingly open Crosby but at the last moment, Henrik Zetterberg held the kid’s stick to the ice with his own and denied the opportunity.  The Pens regrouped but again Zetterberg cleared the puck.  With 25 seconds left in the five on three, Pittsburgh called a timeout and white-boarded a play. Malone failed to get the puck deep and then Malkin turned the puck over.  The penalized Wings returned to the ice, the Pen’s body language withered and sagged and the air left the Igloo.

Space and open ice is needed in order to make passes and move the puck.  For the final minutes of game four, Detroit Defenders were on Pittsburgh Forwards like white on rice.  They checked, they bumped, they poked and harassed on every shift. With seconds remaining, Pittsburgh attempted a furious rally in front of Detroit Keeper Osgood.  The steady netminder stood strong and the final horn sounded.

Besides Hockey Town faithful and Sidney haters, most hockey fans wanted to see Pittsburgh raise the Cup.  They are more marketable and photogenic.  The truth is the Red Wings are a great team who execute the intangibles of the game far better than any NHL team in recent memory. Their strategy is simple, shut down the opposition by closing open ice and attack off turnovers.  When the Wings are executing, any small mistake by the opposition is magnified.  The Wings capitalize.  The Wings defuse energy and talent with superior technique.  The Wings win.

Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg, besides being two of the best offensive players in the league, are also two of the best defenders on Detroit. That’s just not fair.  Couple their two-way play with the peerless Detroit D-men and a solid Goalie and what you have is a recipe for the destruction and deflation of all that stand in their path.

The disappearance of Evgeni Malkin has also been very costly to the Penguins.  The superstar has as many points as I in the Finals and has added costly mistakes to his offensive invisibility.

It has become apparent that the Penguins must play their best game in order to be at least competitive with the Wings.  Winning requires a furious, non-stop attack and great performances from the Pen’s stars. Malkin must step up and the entire Pittsburgh team must play with an unrelenting focus for 60+ minutes in order to extend the series. They may not have it in them.

Your Loyal Servant,

Sean Grace

Penguins win game three classic - trail series 2-1

Exhilarating

Phenomenal

All-engaging

Intense

Breath-taking

I don’t have a thesaurus handy but the list of superlatives needed to accurately describe this hockey game is lengthy.

Until game three, the Stanley Cup Finals had not exactly been curling the toes of hockey fans. Detroit disposed of the Pens in a militarily precise fashion in game one and two and most experts predicted that game three would bring more of the same. Instead game three was a classic thriller that could not have been scripted any better for the NHL. This battle had it all, furious action, vicious hitting, excellent netminding and an extraordinary performance by the NHL’s marquee player.

The Pittsburgh fans were ready. All except one Pen’s follower was wearing the white tee shirt provided by the club when the camera cut to the crowd at the opening of the game. The one nonconformist, dressed in yellow, stuck out like a sore thumb throughout the game. The sea of extreme white was actually hard on the eyes in HD. The fans were glaring, boisterous and ready for their boys to break through. They would not be disappointed.

The momentum of this series changed during a relentless forecheck by the Pens in the later portion of the first period. On three consecutive shifts, Pittsburgh pressed the action and would not let the Wings out of their defensive zone. When Sidney Crosby broke the seal shortly thereafter, giving the Pens a 1-0 lead, the Igloo exploded in a cathartic roar. The 800 pound gorilla was off the back and a hint of confidence entered the building. At this point, you knew this game would be different from the first two.

Pittsburgh took a 2-0 lead on another hustle goal by Crosby. Hossa once again assisted. The Hossa, Sid, Dupuis line was matched up against Detroit’s 4th line all night. Coach Therrien’s decision not to send this line up against the Zetterberg line was one of the keys to victory.

Detroit cut the lead to 2-1 on a brilliant individual effort by post-season MVP Johan “The Mule” Franzen. Then, it got really interesting.

There was an exhilarating six minute stretch of this game that was halted by no stoppages of play. This portion of the game might be have been the most exciting hockey I have ever seen and I have viewed my share of great hockey. During this furious extended sequence, Brooks Orpik hit everyone who came in his general area. In twenty seconds he dropped Wings players to the ice five times. Orpik played like a mad dog who’d been kicked one too many times. Pittsburgh Goalie Fluery made incredible saves, Hossa hit a cross bar, both sides attacked at full speed, the checking was brutal, the pace was unreal and high-ranking Executives at the NHL were salivating. Remember, this was the first Finals game televised on a major network. When a whistle finally blew the crowd didn’t applaud like you’d expect. They were exhausted as were all the players on both sides. This six minutes of hockey was special.

From behind the goal, Adam Hall sent a puck off Detroit Keeper Osgood’s back and it was 3-1. With six minutes left in the game, Detroit’s Samuelsson answered with a slapper past a screened Fluery and the Pens held a tenuous 3-2 lead. For the Pens, the final minutes would seem like an eternity. The Wings pressed Pittsburgh every second of the remainder of the game. Shots were coming from all directions. The Wings threw everything but grenades at Fluery but he withstood the barrage. Detroit attacked until the final horn sounded and came up one goal short.

The Pittsburgh Penguins played their guts out and left it all on the ice. They showed that Detroit can indeed can be conquered but it takes an unrelenting team effort for 60 minutes. The Pens will need every hour of the two-day break before game four to heal and recuperate.

Sidney Crosby found another gear reserved only for the great ones, no pun intended. His superior focus was obvious from the drop of the puck and he left no doubt who the best player on the ice was on this night. Pittsburgh also took a page from the Wings play book and double and triple teamed Detroit puck carriers in the offensive zone all night. With space diminished, most of the 34 Detroit shots on goal were less threatening than in the previous two games.

Can the Pens play with level of intensity for 60 minutes again? If not, they won’t win another game. If they come out of the locker room with the collective determination and focus shown in game three, this series will be legendary as predicted.

Wings fans should not be discouraged by this loss. The Wings played a very solid game and were beaten by a very talented team that simply would not be denied. Pittsburgh has advanced to the Stanley Cup Finals because they can play 60 minutes of furious hockey. Can Detroit raise their game another level? We shall see.

Buckle up, this is going to be a wild ride. Game on!

Your Loyal Servant,

Sean Grace