Why I have to Appreciate the Penguins Too

Charlie Klein

Opinion

Those of you who know me well know that I cannot stand the Pittsburgh Penguins. More importantly, those blessed few know that I think both Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin are second to Alexander Ovechkin, yet those two players are involved in meaningful games while the NHL's Kobe Bryant is watching the games on whatever ridiculously big screen he owns in Washington. The manner in which the Penguins have steamrolled the Carolina Hurricanes demands the respect of everyone in the hockey community. These games have not even been close with Pittsburgh's other good team up three games to none in their best of seven Eastern Conference Finals matchup with the Hurricanes.

Evgeni Malkin, the regular season points champion has finally decided to show up scoring a hat trick in game two, including one of the most beautiful backhand goals I have ever seen. Sid the Kid and Geno lead the NHL Playoffs with 14 and 12 goals respectively. What makes the Penguins such an unstoppable force is not just the play of their two stars, but also the goaltending of Marc-Andre Fleury, or McFleury as some refer to him. McDonald's franchises in the Pittsburgh metropolitan area may want to start selling those as their goaltender's perfomances are proving why the Penguins made him a number one overall pick in 2003. Even Hal Gill, aka the most uselessly big defenseman in the NHL, has managed not to play the world's best screen on Fleury.

I would just like to reiterate for anyone who is curious, I AM NOT DECLARING MY FANDOM FOR THE PENGUINS OR RED WINGS.

At the close of the movie Dark Knight, the joker remarked that the meeting of him and Batman was what happened when an unstoppable force met an immovable object. The Stanley Cup Finals appear to be Act II of that declaration. I personally cannot wait to see if the Penguins can strike back like the Empire in Star Wars and take the twelth Stanley Cup away from the Red Wings. Maybe Marian Hossa will wish he'd have stayed after all.