PENGUINS WIN THE 2009 STANLEY CUP

Before game 7 Maxime Talbot was asked who he thought the hero would be? He responded:"I'd like to think it's going to be me." Was he right or what. Maxime Talbot scored the Penguins only goals in game 7 as they won 2-1. In the second period it was a scary moment for the Penguins as Johan Franzen hit Sidney Crosby right in the left knee when there was no puck in sight. So is it a fare hit or not? I'll let you be the juge of that. But Sidney Crosby returned in the third period and played 1 shift which lasted 32 seconds. But he stayed on the bench and later lifted the Stanley Cup.

With just 2 seconds to go Nicklas Lidstrom came in from the point and took a shot which made Marc-Andre Fleury dive to make the save which more impotantly won the Stanley Cup for Pittsburgh."We said it when we started the playoffs, if your team plays well enough as a team and everyone has a chance to put the cape on and certainly Max put the cape on tonight," stated Penguins head coach Dan Byslma. When Penguins owner Mario Lemieux was asked how much does winning the Cup mean to Sidney Crosby ?

He reasponded:"It means everything to him," Lemieux said. "This kid, all he thinks about is winning championships. His whole life is training and practicing and playing hockey. He's a great kid, a perfect hockey player, that's all he does, think about hockey every day. It's amazing. I wish I would have had that discipline back then." The Penguins will look to defend there Cup victory next season.

The Penguins have won the Stanley Cup!!!!!!

Written By Andrew Di Pardo

PENGUINS STAY ALIVE WITH A 2-1 WIN

Last night in Pittsburgh, the Penguins seemed to be dominating the game right from the start. Jordan Staal and Tyler Kennedy scored the only goals for the Penguins in the 2-1 victory. At this time last year the Penguins were eliminated in game 6 against Detroit but according to Sidney Crosby the Penguins were not thinking about last year."We weren't thinking about last year at all," Sidney Crosby said. "But we found a way to survive. And now it's anyone's game. It's going to be a great challenge." Through this series it's always been the home team that have won the games. But is that a good or bad thing for the Penguins? I'll let you decide.

In the 2-1 Penguins victory they received a bit of luck. Just look at what happend in the second period. Henrik Zetterberg had a break away and he rang it right off the post."Those things happen," said Red Wings head coach Mike Babcock after the game. "I thought they were better than us, though, at the start of the game, probably, for the first almost 32 minutes. They won more races and more battles, had more play, were on top of us more, and they kept us to the outside. I thought we started to build some momentum at the end of the second period, and then obviously we had a good third period." Game 7 will be this Friday in Detroit.

Written By Andrew Di Pardo

RED WINGS OVERPOWER THE PENGUINS WITH 5 GOALS

Just when people were starting to doubt that the Wings would be able to beat the Penguins, they responded with a 5-0 win. With this victory the Wings could do what they did last year. Go back to Pittsburgh and win the Cup."I keep hearing about how old we are," said Red Wings' head coach Mike Babcock, when asked if his team is wearing down. "But Datsyuk and Zetterberg are not that old, and Hossa's not that old, and Mule's not so old, so who is old? Cheli's older than me, I give you that." The Penguins will have to regroup after a disapointing loss in game 5. "When you don't play well at all, you have nothing to do but improve, and we have to," Pittsburgh captain Sidney Crosby said. "The situation is pretty clear for us. We have to go home and be desperate now."

When Mike Babcok was asked how big of a win this was? He responded:"It's a huge win," Red Wings coach Mike Babcock said. "The biggest part is the extra days off. That's the best thing that we've got to this point.We'll be a better team."Pavel Datsyuk made his return from injury last night and just outplayed Evgeni Malkin as Datsyuk got 2 assist."When I play more, I'm more comfortable," said Datsyuk, who logged 17 1/2 minutes of ice time. "It's a little bit hard to start with the final series when I miss a couple of games, but I'm ready to play more."

Chris Osgood made 22 saves in the Wings 5-0 victory over the Penguins.Osgood earned an assist on Valtteri Filppula's goal."The other game is three days away so I don't know if (the shutout) has much bearing on what's going to happen in Pittsburgh," Osgood said. "It's more important for us to get a little break so we can be at full capacity when we go to Pittsburgh." Game 6 in Pittsburgh will be on Tuesday at 8:00pm E.T on CBC,NBC,FSN-Pittsburgh and FSN-Detroit.

Written By Andrew Di Pardo

PENGUINS WIN BOTH HOME GAMES TO TIE THE SEREIS AT 2-2

Last night in Pittsburgh, the Penguins offense erupted with 4 goals as the Penguins didn't only win 4-2 but they tied the series at 2-2. The opening goal was scored on the powerplay by Malkin. Then with the Wings leading 2-1 Jorgen Staal got a shorthanded breakaway and just put the puck from his backhand to his forehand and shot it in the net. Just about 5 minutes later Sidney Crosby scored on a cross scene pass by Malkin to make the Pens take a 3-2.Tyler Kennedy would add another goal as the Penguins won 4-2. lead.

"These last couple at home have been desperation from us," Penguins captain Sidney Crosby said following the game. "It's going to be like that all the way through here." Wings coach Mike Babcock was not happy with the result."I thought our guy with the most energy was Helm. Helm's line was the best line," said Red Wings head coach Mike Babcock. The Red Wings will look to reagroup when they play Game 5 on Saturday in Detroit.

Written By Andrew Di Pardo

PENGUINS TAKE GAME 3 WITH HELP FROM TALBOT

Last night in Pittsburgh, the Pens finally got what they deserved (A win over the Red Wings)In the 4-2 Penguins win Fleury made 27 saves..Maxime Talbot scored twice for the Penguins, while Sergei Gonchar scored the game winner in last nights game. Talbot was pleased with Fleury's performance. As he think Fleury kept them in the game."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."

Last night's win for the Penguins, the Penguins were 2 for 3 on the powerplay."When you get an opportunity on the power play you want to make the most of it," Sidney Crosby stated. "We did a great job of that tonight." Red Wings coach Mike Babcock agreed with Crosby's comment."It was a power-play game," said Babcock. "They got three and we got two. You know, that's the facts." Game 4 of this series will be on Thursday at 8:00pm E.t.

Written By Andrew Di Pardo

PENGUINS FALL IN GAME 2 TO THE WINGS BY THE SCORE OF 3-1

For the second straight game of the Stanley Cup Final, the Penguins do not get the bounces they needed to win against the Red Wings. When you don't get the bounces the frustration eventually shows. Just look at last night late in the game, Crosby slashes Zetterberg in the back of the leg,Maxime Talbot speared Osgood in the chest after a save,"I think in the playoffs and finals like this and Malkin getting into a fight with Zetterberg. "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."

"It's great, Gino plays with emotion," said Talbot about Malkin's fight. "Guys are stepping up and he wants to be part of that. He's really intense and that's good."The Penguins will look to take all of that emotion and frustration into Game 3 at home. "We got scoring chances and pucks around the net and we did not capitalize on them when we needed to," said Pittsburgh coach Dan Bylsma. "They got timely goals and they got goals in and around our net and ended up with the victory."The Penguins will also look for some luck in game 3.

Written By Andrew Di Pardo

WINGS TAKE GAME 1 OF THE CUP FINAL 3-1

Last night in Detroit, the Wings got the bounces they needed to get the win. The Wings goals were not quality goals but hay goals are goals and I'm sure the Wings will take what they can get. The first goal came off the boards then off of Fleury and in. The 2nd goal was similar, the Wings just shot it from behind the net and it went off of Fleury and in. The 3rd goal was just a shot blocker side on Fleury."I just tried to get it in," explained Stuart. "Stuff happens, it's a game of bounces. We got the win but it's a quick turnaround and we've got to get after them again tomorrow."

When Bill Guerin was asked if he thought the Penguins would have a easy time with the Wings he responded:"We never thought this was going to be easy, especially coming in here first and playing in their building," said Bill Guerin. "We know it's going to be tough. Tomorrow night's a new night." In my Opinion, the only reason why the Wings won last night was because Osgood was not letting anything go in the net. Just face it, if the Penguins can't score they obesouly can't win.

Written By Andrew Di Pardo

P.S: Game 2 will be tonight at 8:00pm E.T on CBC,NBC and RDS.

THE PENGUINS WILL LOOK TO BE THE NEXT OILERS. AS THEY WILL TAKE ON THE WINGS IN THE FINAL

In 1983's Stanley Cup Final the Islanders beat the Oilers to win the Cup. But 1 year later the Oilers got their revenge on the Islanders in the Final by winning the Stanley Cup. Today Gretzky talked about the rivalry that was created against the Islanders. “There was a rivalry that was created between us and the Islander,” recalled Gretzky. “Losing that first final, walking by their locker room the one thought we had as players was that it was going to be a dreadful sight watching them celebrate and have a tremendous time."

"As we found out, it was pretty quite in there. Really, we kind of walked out healthy and they were pretty beat up and we realized then and there it takes more than just wanting to win, you were going to have to earn it and it was going to take a lot to win a Stanley Cup and be a champion.”Mark Messier also talked about the Cup final.“The Islanders presented a big challenge for us,” stated Messier. “They were very well coached, they played a very tight defensive game and they really took a lot of things away from us that we liked to do offensively.

"Getting swept the previous year, we knew we had to come back the next year and figure out a way to play better as a team defensively and harder.”The Penguins will look to do exactly what the Oilers did by beating the Wings to win the Cup.Over the years in Crosby's career he has been compared to Gretzky and Lemieux. But Crosby said he can not be compared to them unless he wins a Stanley Cup.They've won cups and, you know, and we've yet to do that," Crosby said. "So we still have some things to prove."

The other big story about this series is about Hossa facing his former team."It's a unique situation right now, definitely this doesn't happen often," Hossa said."I try to make the best of the situation for myself and try to help the team win a Cup." Look back at the NHL offseason 2008, Hossa turned down the Penguins offer and settled for less to sign with Detroit.Hossa signed with the Wings because he thought that Detroit would make the Cup Final and the Pens would not. "It was a really tough decision for me to make," Hossa said of his choice at the time. "When I compared the two teams, I felt like I would have a little better of a chance to win the Cup in Detroit."the Cup Final will start this Saturday.

Written By Andrew Di Pardo

ROAD TO THE STANLEY CUP FINAL 2009

RED WINGS WIN IN O.T TO ADVANCE TO THE CUP FINAL V.S THE PENGUINS

Last night in Detroit, Huet was keeping the Hawks in the game with save after save but it was not enough as the Red Wings won 2-1 in O.T with a goal from Helm. Now the Red Wings next task will be the team they beat in the Final last year the Pittsburgh Penguins. The big story will be going into this final will be Hossa facing his old team."It's a unique situation right now, definitely this doesn't happen often," Hossa said.

"I try to make the best of the situation for myself and try to help the team win a Cup."The Red Wings are matching up with Pittsburgh in what is the NHL's first Stanley Cup rematch since the 1984 Stanley Cup Final between the Edmonton Oilers and the New York Islanders."To have the opportunity against Pittsburgh should be a lot of fun," Detroit coach Mike Babcock said. "There will be a lot of hype." The Last team who won the Cup in back-back years was the Red Wings in '97' and '98.'

Stanley Cup Final schedule:

Game1:Saturday May 30th in Detroit
Game2:Sunday, May 31st in Detroit
Game3:Tuesday, June 2nd in Pittsburgh
Game4:Thursday, June 4th in Pittsburgh
If Necessary Game5:Fri Jun 6th in Deroit
If Necessary Game6:Tuesday, June 9 in Pittsburgh
If Necessary Game7:Friday, June 12 in Detroit

Written By Andrew Di Pardo

PENGUINS SWEEP SERIES AGAINST THE HURRICANES TO GO TO THE FINAL

Last night in Carolina, The Penguins completed the sweep with a 4-1 over the Canes and will move on to the Cup Final. But after the game the big story was about Crosby holding the Eastern Conference champion trophy."We didn't touch (the trophy) last year, and things didn't go the way we wanted," Crosby said. "I thought we'd change it up this year." Last year in the Cup Final the Penguins lost to the Wings. But this year they are ready to face the Wings in the final 9if the Wings knock out the Blackhawks in game 5 tonight)."They're the champs, and they'll be a big challenge for us," forward Miroslav Satan said.

Over the years in Crosby's career he has been compared to Gretzky and Lemieux. But Crosby said he can not be compared to them unless he wins a Stanley Cup.They've won cups and, you know, and we've yet to do that," Crosby said. "So we still have some things to prove.It's a compliment, and we'll try to keep playing the same way." If the Wings win tonight the Stanley Cup Final will begin this Saturday.

Written By Andrew Di Pardo

Stanley Cup Final will start on June 5th 2009 (Possible Final: Penguins V.s Red wings)

With the Red Wings win today against the Blackhawks and the Penguins win over the Hurricanes last night, both the Pens and the Wings are 1 win away from a rematch of last years cup final. Of cores both series are not done yet but just think about it the Canes need to win 4 in-a-row to knock off the Pens and the Hawks need to win 3-in-a-row to defeat the Wings. So if you just think about it realistically the Cup final will probably be the Pens V.S the Wings.The Stanley Cup Final will begin on June 5th 2009.

Written By Andrew Di Pardo

Possible Stanley Cup Final start dates

Today the NHL announced the possible dates for the Stanley Cup Final for 2009.If both conference finals end in 4 games, the Cup Finals will begin Thursday, May 28th 2009. If either series goes more than 4 games, the Cup Finals will start Friday, June 5th 2009. If both the Penguins and the Wings win their series it will be the second straight year that the Penguins will face the Wings in the final.

Written By Andrew Di Pardo