Charlie Klein
Sometimes it is really good to be wrong. A few days ago on this blog I predicted that the Detroit Red Wings would win the Stanley Cup. To the shock of everyone outside of the city of Pittsburgh, the Penguins defeated the defending Stanley Cup Champion Red Wings 2-1 in Game 7 last night in Detroit.
Maxime Talbot, and not Sidney Crosby or Evgeni Malkin, was the star of the show last night at Joe Louis Arena. Talbot scored the only two goals Pittsburgh would put behind a sub par Chris Osgood. Talbot's second was his best. Poor defensive play by the Red Wings lead to a 2-on-1 on which Talbot capitalised and fired above an out of position Osgood top shelf to put the Penguins up 2-0.
The Red Wings were not done. With 6:07 left in the third period, the Wings got on the scoreboard on a fantastic shot by defenseman Jonathan Ericsson, who beat Fleury's glove to the top shelf. The Red Wings then rocketed into overdrive and were pushing the tempo right up until the dying seconds of the game. It just felt like they were going to score, after all, the are the Red Wings. Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury had other ideas. With but few seconds remaining in the period he spectacularly stopped Red Wings captain Niklas Lidstrom, a four-time Stanley Cup Champion, by diving quickly to his right and bodying the shot wide as time expired.
The Pittsburgh Penguins are worthy champions. Having been written off by pretty much the entirety of the sporting press at the commencement of the series, the Penguins were told that they were not good enough. Understandably so, given the way the Stanley Cup Finals went a year ago when Detroit comfortably won the series in six games.
Additionally, the Red Wings just looked to strong with too much veteran savvy to lose to a team full of inexperienced younger players. Sidney Crosby became the youngest captain to hoist Lord Stanley's at 21 years of age. Evgeni Malkin won the Conn Smythe Trophy, awarded to the best player in the playoffs, and Geno is only 22 years old. The Penguins coach, Dan Bylsma, became the 14th rookie coach in NHL history to win the Stanley Cup, and Bylsma is 38 years of age.
It was particularly satisfying to see the dejected red bearded face of Marian Hossa watching his former team lift the Cup. Hossa left the Penguins after the close of last season for less money to play for Detroit because he thought it would give him a better chance to win the Cup. Karma has its way of showing itself in sports and it was definitely present last night in Detroit.
This series was a fantastic series, one of the best in Stanley Cup Finals history. It is too bad that no one even talked about it and few people watched it.
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