HeyNow71871929

I understand Zetterberg and Datsyuk are tremendous players. But people on here make it seem like the Selke award is everything. All of your comments seem to have something with Selke in it. It's a nice award sure, but we can just as easily bring up the fact Malkin is a Hart Trophy candidate and the fact Crosby won 3 trophies last year. And you don't need to be nominated for a particular trophy to be good at it. Just because Hossa wasn't nominated for the Selke doesn't make him any less defensively aware and defensively intelligent then your boys Zetterberg and Datsyuk.

Has it ever occurred to you that maybe these teams got shutout because the goaltender was playing out of his mind? Does it ever occur to you that maybe the goaltender had something to do with a team getting no goals, rather than the team not having heart to play. Let alone tanking in the regular season, your assumptions that teams tank in the playoffs is absolutely ridiculous. It makes a whole lot of sense. Players and teams try real hard to get to the playoffs and then they decide to tank cause they don't want to play anymore and compete for the ultimate prize. Not sure how many games you actually watch.

The reason Crosby gets the attention he gets around the NHL moreso than players liek Datsyuk and Zetterberg is because Crosby was donned the title "The Next One." He is already considered as the next best thing since Mario Lemieux by many people around the hockey world. On top of that, he was a first overall pick in a draft that contained arguably one of the biggest sweepstakes in the history of NHL drafts. Another reason for this is because Sid has more than lived up to hype in the NHL that was expected of him and the NHL wants to make sure the people who don't watch hockey as much hockey as me any you realize this. He is the youngest captain of an NHL team in history. He is the youngest player in North American sports to win the MVP of his league. These are some huge honors if you ask me. And that is why he gets and deserves the hype he gets. I mean the kid's first national interview was when he was friggin 12 years old man. Case in point, Evgeni Malkin. Look at what this guy has done this season but yet he doesn't get the hype that he deserves, because he is overshadowed by the 20 year old captain on his own team. Get used to it. He is basically the posterboy for the NHL atleast until someone else comes in that creates the same hype Crosby creates.

So, you're saying the Ottawa Senators tanked in Game One against the Pens? You're saying the New York Rangers tanked in Game Two against the Penguins? Are you also saying that the Philadelphia Flyers, in desperation must-win mode, in Game 5 tanked against the Penguins? Are you also saying the Red Wings tanked when the Blues and Stars shut you out in the regular season?

It's not even that. It's just that there are so many on here that believe that the Wings are gonna walk all over the Penguins. You guys make it seem like it would be useless for the Penguins to even dress up to play in the Finals because nobody can skate on the same ice as the Red Wings. And it's also the fact a lot of folks here don't respect a lot of the players on the Penguins. A lot of which people here have barely seen any games of. You guys underestimate the importance of character guys like Gonchar, Orpik, Hossa, Scuderi, and even Fleury. I'm not going to sit here and point out fingers at Wings players. Cause I respect a lot of them. Zetterberg, Datsyuk, Lidstrom, Rafalski, etc... are phenomenal talents, but I'm not gonna sit here and say that the Wings are going to be dominated by the Pens and that Zetterberg and Datsyuk can't skate on the same ice as Malkin and Crosby. Because I do realize Zetterberg and Datsyuk are as close to the skill level of Malkin and Crosby as there is in the NHL.

Well it's not in the job prescription for guys like Malkin, Crosby, or Ovechkin to shut down opponents each and every night. I can say the same thing about Niklas Lidstrom that unless he puts up 100 points every season, he shouldn't be considered the best player in the NHL. There is a very fine line between being the best defenseman in the world and being the best player in the world. When people think about the best players in the world, they look at stats, goals, assists, points. They don't look at how a guy shuts an opponent down each and every night and they don't even look at +/- . The bottomline is, Niklas Lidstrom is absolutely unbelievable. One of the best Dmen I have ever seen. The guy brings it every night. But when you look at skill level and ask just about any hockey fan outside of Detroit who the best players in the world are, just about all of them will pick a forward. And skillwise, stride for stride, I don't think that there are many who matchup with the likes of Crosby, Malkin, or Ovechkin. These are the guys who will bring hockey to a new level.

Ok ok. This tanking this complete and utter BS. No NHL team just tanks a game. Do you realize the statistics in that game against the Flyers? 1) We played everyone but Crosby in that game. If we really wanted to tank wouldn't we have scratched Malkin, Gonchar, and Fleury as well? 2) Flyers beat us 2-0 (1 goal was an EN) 3) The Flyers only outshot the Pens 22-20 So, what you're saying is, just because our star player wasn't playing and a few words from Cryin Bryan Murray about us tanking, means we actually tanked? Trust me, we would have been comfortable playing any team in the first round. I think we took care of the Flyers rather easily, we were not scared to play them. And knowing the competitive nature and the willingness to win attitude from our 20 year old captain, he would never want us to tank a game. You play every game to win. And I think it is very insulting and unfair to consider that a tanked game. Utter BS.

HA! You're one to talk, hypocrite. You and your Wings fans make it seem like this series is a cakewalk. Us Pens fans are just looking for you guys to show some respect towards what the Penguins have done to get this far. One poster in this thread said Lidstrom is the best player in the NHL. Now come on. Take your Red Wings glasses off and come in touch with reality. There is no doubt Lidstrom is the best dman in the NHL and the World, but best player? Come on. It just seems like everyone here thinks all things Red Wings is the best and Penguins are nowhere near them. It's ridiculous.

The Penguins also played the Atlantic Division 32 times this year. The Atlantic is arguably the best division in hockey. They contain 3-4 elite top tier goaltenders in the division. I don't think this series is going to be as easy as many of you think it will. I hope it hits you folks hard and real fast. We are every bit talented as the Red Wings are. Clearly, many of you have not watched enough Penguins games to realize how monsterous Hal Gill has been for us since the trade deadline, or how shutdown type physically overmatching Brooks Orpik can be. And you guys completely underestimate Marian Hossa. I have seen enough Datsyuk and Zetterberg, and I think Marian Hossa IS THE BEST BACKCHECKER IN THE GAME. He just sneaks up behind you, lifts your stick, and takes the puck away in one smooth motion. And boom 2 strides the other way and no one is going to catch him. Oh well, who am I to be telling you guys all this. You all will find out soon enough what I am talkign about.

I respect your opinion but everything you just said is unjustifiable. This team is 12-2 in the playoffs. And trust me, watching this team all year, having heart is the last thing that this team doesn't have. They show heart in each and every shift. And if you think Crosby and Malkin aren't selfless defensive hockey players, I don't know what Penguin games you've been watching. They are tremendous offensively and just as fundamentally sound defensively. Jordan Staal has already developed into a defensive stud at the age of 19. I think the Penguins are just as deserving of a championship this year as the Wings are and that's why I believe this is going to be one of the finest Cup Finals we will see in quite some time.

So tell me again, how does it feel to be watching your team golf? The conferences teams play in have no bearing in this conversation at all. Both are very elite conferences with terrific players in both. PIT beat Dallas in the regular season. Pit beat ANA in the regular season. Pit was also 8-1-1 against the Western Conference this season. I can agree to a point about your case regarding the Ottawa Senators. We ran into them at the perfect time. But to call the NYR a bad defensive team? Come on. Get real. They have a goalie who is a Vezina candidate. Their defense was one of the best in the NHL this season as well.

I think it is going to be a very close series. It will be a defensive struggle for 7 games and I wouldn't be surprised if we see 3 or 4 of these games go into OT. I believe this is going to be one of the most exciting and best Finals people will see in a long time. But you say that you have Lidstrom to shut down Malkin and Crosby. We have Sergei Gonchar to SLOW DOWN Zetterberg and Datsyuk. I think it is impossible to completely shut down the likes of players like Zetterberg, Datsyuk, Crosby, Malkin. But you have a good chance of winning if you can clow this guys down. Anyway, Sergei Gonchar, in my opinion, was robbed of a Norris Trophy nomination (Lidstrom will obviously win it) only because our defense started off real slow and sluggish in the beginning of the season. Gonchar is most known for his offensive abilities, but he is so underrated defensively. The guy is very positionally sound. And I also believe the Pens have more depth down the middle. I'm not saying this as a homer comment, but I really believe this. Our top 5 or 6 are scary good. And we proved it against the Flyers. If they Flyers shut down the Malkin line, Crosby's line came up big and vice versa. I love the matchups both teams have however. I mean, very even goaltending. Without a doubt the two best goaltenders in the NHL Playoffs thus far. Defenses are very mobile with some bruisers. Offenses have a lot of depth. It is going to make for one helliva series. Buckle Up ladies and gentlemen.

Hey. First time poster on an excellent forum you guys got over here. I'm a Pens fan but by no means am I here to troll. But I believe these accusations are very off based. I've been a Penguins fan for a long time and us fans endured a lot of crap o the ice for five years to the point we are at now. We have gone from the days of McKenna, Rico Fata, Dan Focht, Konstantinov Koltsov, Milan Kraft, Kelly Buchberrger to the days of present such as Crosby, Malkin, Staal, Fleury, Hossa, Malone, Sykora, etc... Just saying that the Penguins did not tank for five years to get these high quality players. It was a tough time financially and we were forced to get rid of the whole core of the team after the 2001 season. Losing players like Jagr, Kovalev, Straka, and Lang one after the other makes it real hard for a team to continue to compete. We rebuilt the whole team since then. And that rebuilding process has brought us to where we are right now and I am proud of the team for where they are right now. And with the product we have on the ice right now, forget the last 5 years, I would have been willing to endure 10 years of suffering if I knew we were going to put together a team like this in the future. Anyways, it's gonna be a great Stanley Cup Finals. There can't be a better matchup in the Finals for the NHL. And even though the Penguins finished number 2 in the East, I believe they are a better team than the Canadiens and I think that the Stanley Cup Finals boasts the two best teams in the NHL. That hasn't happened very much in recent Stanley Cup Finals history. Also, when I first came on this board I was very pleased to see how classy Wings fans are. I immediately thought about how opposite Wings fans are from Flyers fans. And as a Penguins fan, I really respect that. It's nice to see two fanbases have mutual respect and class towards each other.