Penguins vs Red Wings: Stanley Cup Finals

[pensodyssey]

He doesn't own any $100 shirts?

My shirts are so expensive, I can only afford to lease them.

[jonzr]

Yeah, Wings in 6 sounds about right.  Those bastards are a machine.  Should be a great series.

 

[Y2Joyce]

Detroit? Jerome Bettis is from there.

[Y2Joyce]

I was watching NHL Network the other night and some guys (Malkin, Zetterberg, Datsyuk, and Sidney Crosby) were referred to as the "Big Four" and it was intimated that they would cancel out.

Excuse me, but Crosby's the best f'n guy in the league and I like the Pens in six.

[Finnegans Wake]

Wasn't something up with The Kid's ankle?  That OK?

I'm sticking with Pens in 7.  Home teams win until the final game.  If the Pens do win this, I may need to start following another damned sport...

[Y2Joyce]

Good point. Sid's ankle is still hurting. He does lead the NHL in playoff scoring, though.
 

[pensodyssey]

I was watching NHL Network the other night and some guys (Malkin, Zetterberg, Datsyuk, and Sidney Crosby) were referred to as the "Big Four" and it was intimated that they would cancel out.
 

What this line of thinking fails to account for isthe fact that Datsyuk and Zetterberg play on the same line.  That makes it somewhat easier for the Pens D, we can have our best defensemen on the ice against both pretty consistently.  

The beauty of Malkin and Crosby is that they create severe matchup headaches for the other team.  Having said that, the Wings second defensive unit is as good as our first, so, we shall see.

[pensodyssey]

And I sure as hell hope the series doesn't go seven, because on June 7th, I'll be right beside the paddock at Belmont Park, trying to decide where the other two of my trifecta are coming from.

[pensodyssey]

 

And here's the Detroit angle on the Crosby/Malkin-Datsyuk/Zetterberg matchup.

The one area in which Datsyuk and Zetterberg excel over Crosby and Malkin is in the defensive zone because both Wings stars are better all-around players than their Pittsburgh counterparts.

Is there any GM in the league outside of Detroit's who wouldn't trade Datsyuk and Zetterberg for Malkin and Crosby in half a second?

Neither Crosby nor Malkin kill penalties, whereas Wings coach Mike Babcock has steadily made Datsyuk, 29, and Zetterberg, 27, regulars on Detroit's penalty-killing units over the past three seasons.

Well, Staal and Dupuis are great penalty killers.  That's something that's, in fact, in the Pens favor.  Datsyuk and Zetterberg have to be on the ice to kill penalties, because, I guess, there's no one else on the squad who can do it?  

Datsyuk and Zetterberg also are finalists for the Selke Trophy, awarded to the league's top defensive forward.

The Selke, the Lady Bing, and, to a large extent, the Norris, are a function of reputation as much as anything else.  Kind of like making the Pro Bowl in football.

And, again, there's no mention of the fact that Datsyuk and Zetterberg play on the same line, whereas Malkin and Crosby center their own lines... with world-class Hossa there too.

Loved Bowman's contribution to the article, too.  Dude sounds like he watches hockey about four times a year.

[Y2Joyce]

Is there any GM in the league outside of Detroit's who wouldn't trade Datsyuk and Zetterberg for Malkin and Crosby in half a second?

Nobody on earth would trade Crosby for the two of them.

Neither Crosby nor Malkin kill penalties, whereas Wings coach Mike Babcock has steadily made Datsyuk, 29, and Zetterberg, 27, regulars on Detroit's penalty-killing units over the past three seasons.

This is wholly untrue. Granted, Sid Crosby has been seeing limited minutes at best on the PK but he's still out there at the end of penalties, often with Malkin and the two defensemen. Malkin has seen some good time on the PK here and there. Is it because he is inept defensively that he's not out there upon every opportunity? No, not really. As Penso pointed out the Pens have Staal, Talbot, Hossa, Dupuis already who are some of the top PKs around. I could've sworn it was Malkin who scored the sig goal of these playoffs on the breakaway SHG in game one with the Flyers?

PS: How about the broad posting the ages of Datsyuk, 29, and Zetterberg, 27, in the middle of that paragraph like it aids her case? It aids her case about as effectively as a case of AIDS would.  Neither one of those guys have won anything in their lives. Well, Zetterberg did get a Sweden gold a few years ago but Rangers G Henrik Lundqvist was the big hero of that competition. You might remember him as the guy who nearly gave up 30 goals in a 5 game series loss to the Pens.

Crosby, 20, and Malkin, 21, have never been nominated for the Selke. Strike one up for the Wings! However, they've each finished in the top 2 in NHL scoring the past two years. Both went top two in their drafts. Both have have been nominated for the M-V-NotthefuckinSelke-P!

 

And, again, there's no mention of the fact that Datsyuk and Zetterberg play on the same line, whereas Malkin and Crosby center their own lines... with world-class Hossa there too.

I think they may have to split them up at some point. In the 'Burgh the Pens get the final change and have the option of placing Jordan Staal (by name=playoff clutch....his last name's on the cup and his first name is wellll it's Jordan fercrissakes), 19, with Ruutu and Ty Kennedy as our best checking line versus their most skilled line. If they play to a draw it's all over, yo. Crosby. The Malkin line. Which one gets matched up with old-ass McCarty, old-ass Drake, and old-ass Draper? One Pens reject Mike Samuelsson? F that.

I'm no hockey expert and I respect Detroit (even though Chris Chelios is 184 and their coach has a haircut that makes him look like the gay(er) Jack Del Rio) but the Pens have a huge opportunity to win this thing, shock this world, and set themselves up for a great, bright, fun, swell, little future.