DMAC 25

sad to see him go but he wasnt doing much anymore, at least he got his life turned around

or have them be sold at the Joe and have fans where them there while chicago is in town

does that mean we're over the cap a little and have to give someone up like lebda or lilja like everyone keeps sayin?

haha thats awsome i might have to get one now

Years from now, as the Pittsburgh Penguins reminisce about their Stanley Cup championship of 2009, you can imagine one of them looking at pictures from the Game 7 aftermath and saying, “Who’s that guy?†Chances are the mystery man will be Ryan Kraft, a Washington Twp. resident and lifelong Penguins fan who took advantage of postgame delirium on June 12 to sneak into the winning locker room at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit. He has about 40 photos to prove it, including one of him hoisting the Cup and another with Penguins owner Mario Lemieux, his hero. He even got Lemieux to autograph a champagne bottle. A 32-year-old salesman for the water treatment company RainSoft, Kraft is the leading scorer in Centerville High School hockey history, tallying 343 points from 1992-96. He captained the club hockey team at Wright State, graduating in 2004. This Penguins devotion comes from his father, attorney Michael Kraft, who educated Ryan about the great Lemieux at an impressionable age. Recently, at the suggestion of his 7-year-old nephew, Akaius, Ryan honored the team’s current superstar by naming one of his dogs Sidney, the other Crosby. In his words “After the game, me and my buddies, Brian Fisher and P.J. Paslosky, moved down a little closer to take some pictures. As we’re shooting, the Penguins are skating around with the Cup, then taking a team photo. At this point, family members are let onto the ice. “So I go over in position where a family member might be, and after about 15 minutes, (defenseman) Philippe Boucher skates over and points to the guy in front of me. When that guy raises his hand, I raise mine. The security guard sees both of us, opens the door and everyone just assumes I’m a relative. “Once on the ice, it’s open season. I have access to the tunnel back to the locker room and it’s just a big celebration — players everywhere, hanging out, playing music and spraying champagne. “A couple players pick me up and swing me around. I’m spraying a bottle of champagne. Amazing. “I’m in the hallway to the locker room and Lemieux is walking right toward me. My heart is racing, getting ready to pound out of my chest. I put my arm around him, put my camera out and snap the picture. That might be my favorite. “I didn’t know if I had gotten the Cup picture. In the locker room, when the Cup was being passed around, I say to a guy, ‘You’ve got to get my picture with the Cup.’ But the red light on the camera is flashing. I kiss the Cup, put it above my head and the guy takes the picture just as the battery dies. I didn’t know I’d gotten it until I got back to Dayton at 7 in the morning. I was so relieved. “It’s a great story. I won’t let it die. I take a couple of those pictures with me anywhere I go. It’s fun. What an amazing night, once in a lifetime. I’m glad it happened to me.†i was bored and was online and was looking to see if i could find anymore information on whats going to happen with the Joe and i found this delete this thread if u want to

thanks for putting the link up, i must have not been thinking to not put the link up. anyway the guy is lucky as hell i mean just from the pictures he even got to lift the stnaley cup

mccarty or downey

didnt they just sign lids to a short term contract, not saying he cant retire but i dont think he would unless something major happend

lids is not going to take a pay cut that big, i could maybe see 5 or so but not 3 unless hes 50 and still playing

please tell me why does everyone want to get rid of rafalski??

agreed, little advice maybe they shouldnt spend so much money on a forward for so long, now that will put them in cap troble

well could this mean that hossa will go without a cup in his career?

i want wings and devils in the finals, revenge from '95 haha

In Holland We Trust

hmm maybe ericson? someone other than pronger, end of discussion

didnt we own him in the conference finals?

http://www.hockeybuzz.com/blog/Eklund/UPDA...Datsyuk/1/21439 could be a mistake for philly

wings versus rangers next year, i'm calling it already

Marian Hossa says he has no regrets after watching Penguins win Stanley Cup Saturday, 06.13.2009 / 12:38 AM / News Canadian PressDETROIT - The only thing Marian Hossa would like to change is the final result of Game 7. After watching his former teammates celebrate with the Stanley Cup on Friday night, Hossa wasn't feeling any regret about his decision to sign with the Detroit Red Wings last summer. He bolted Pittsburgh to win a championship in Motown but is going to have to wait at least one more year to achieve that goal. "Regret? I don't regret it," Hossa said after a 2-1 loss to the Penguins in Game 7. "It could be different circumstances if I sign in Pittsburgh, they probably couldn't sign some other players and they'd be a different team. "We could sit here for hours discussing this, but it would be a different team and it could be different things." Hossa looked like a different player during this Stanley Cup. The talented winger didn't even score a goal during the final and admitted that the pressure of playing the Penguins got to him. He was asked about it repeatedly over the past couple weeks. "Whether you like it or not, there's lots of pressure," said Hossa. "You learn when the pressure is on and you learn how to handle it. It's squeezing you. It's a pretty tough one, I tried to battle hard but I couldn't get anything done offensively." He had been one of the rallying points for a Red Wings team that has done a lot of winning in recent years. Forward Kirk Maltby, a four-time Stanley Cup champion, said he felt bad that they couldn't get another for Hossa. After going up 2-0 in this series, the Red Wings lost four of five games to the upstart Penguins. The offence went particularly dry in Games 6 and 7, when they scored just two goals combined on goalie Marc-Andre Fleury. "It's not from a lack of effort," said Maltby. "They block a lot of shots, they clog it up." Even though there wasn't any excuses being made in the Red Wings dressing room, it's hard to ignore the fact that a little luck wasn't on their side. They had to play without Hart Trophy finalist Pavel Datsyuk and star defencemen Nicklas Lidstrom and Brian Rafalski for stretches during these playoffs. On top of that, fatigue might have caught up to them in the final. "I thought we looked out of gas pretty much all series," said coach Mike Babcock. "I thought we competed, and I thought we tried. But I never thought we got to the level we'd have liked to." They'll spend plenty of time going over what went wrong. A year ago, the Red Wings celebrated a championship win over Hossa's Penguins on the road at Mellon Arena. As the Detroit players came out for interviews in their dressing room at Joe Louis Arena on Friday, the Penguins could clearly be heard partying it up on their ice. It was a strange feeling for a franchise that had won four straight Stanley Cup since last losing one in 1995. "You learn from this too," said Henrik Zetterberg, one of many Wings who shaved his playoff beard before speaking to the media. "We had our win last year - now we're on the other side. It's going to make us stronger. "We've got a great group of guys here, everybody's going to build and learn from this." Hossa is an unrestricted free agent again this summer and hopes to remain in Detroit. Even though the season ended with disappointment, it was one of the best of his career. "I still had a great year in this organization," said Hossa. "Great guys, great people around. It could go both ways, just one goal makes a difference. You score one more and you celebrate. "Sometimes that life and you just have to move on. It's a great life experience." sounds like someone had a problem with to much pressure

i hate both teams, but i'm sorry i dont know if its because the penguins won but i think i like the ducks over the penguins. please dont kill me for saying that

detroit in 4 next year!

yes its disappointing that the wings lost but you have to congradulate the penguins, they gave detroit a good series. i just remembered after the game that detroit did lose in the '95 cup finals and ever since that they had won every finals they were in. so hopefully it will be the same as that but just a little encouragement to everyone thats upset about the loss, wings will still be dominent and maybe get revenge on the penguins next year haha

come on hossa, game winning goal please

god i want to go over there and give them crap but i probably shouldnt user name probably thegreat40 haha

o yea he sure wants the cup bad doesnt he, hes putting up great numbers to help his team out. how about we put zetterberg on him again and if he wants it so bad then he can get around him. he is supose to be the next great one right?