ANOTHER Conference Final...

[Guest ToMaToToWnWinGsFaN_24]

The Pittsburgh Penguins are off to their 2nd straight eastern confrence final..

with that said..does anyone think this team will be in the conference final in the many years to come?

people have their thoughts on crosby and the pens but really..this team is fun to watch and i believe this franchise will have a great playoff future! anyone else agree??

Edited May 14, 2009 by ToMaToToWnWinGsFaN_24

[SDavis35 140]

Wings are looking to make a third straight appearance in the Conference Final, which would be sweet and better than the pens. Although i don't think the Pens are going to be an appearance there every year, especially not with the League's "parity" movement. I think they've got a good core and all, but we'll see.

[jpd88 0]

this is a red wings site get that s*** out of here

[mjlegend 155]

Both of the last two seasons have been roller coasters with major coaching drama, huge trades and injuries to their stars that just seem to cripple them for weeks at a time. I don't see how that's a sustainable hockey business model.

They have some excellent building blocks in place but until the cap goes up, they're going to be up and down like the price of oil because they can't afford to have all those superstars and good team chemistry.

[MsRedWingFan 0]

The Pittsburgh Penguins are off to their 2nd straight eastern confrence final..

with that said..does anyone think this team will be in the conference final in the many years to come?

people have their thoughts on crosby and the pens but really..this team is fun to watch and i believe this franchise will have a great playoff future! anyone else agree??

Who the H cares!!! only reason they are there is because Sid is Buttman's boy and probably the same reason the Hawks are in WCF. If Dats and Z were North American boys they'd be the top dogs in Buttheads world.

[themoose 0]

i live in pittsburgh and crosby is so overrated its insane hes good but not that good the true hero of that team is malkin but yes the team has a futer with staal and all there other young players...does anyone on this forum care most likely not.

[10 Minute Misconduct 104]

If we played in the East we would have swept the "i dont know how to play defense", Capitals.

[C-TownWing 0]

The Pittsburgh Penguins are off to their 2nd straight eastern confrence final..

with that said..does anyone think this team will be in the conference final in the many years to come?

people have their thoughts on crosby and the pens but really..this team is fun to watch and i believe this franchise will have a great playoff future! anyone else agree??

Just a word of friendly advice: get ready to get dogpiled hardcore any time you say something remotely approaching nice about the Pens.

To answer the question, yes, I think they're in good shape. There was a point last year, where I thought they'd become the Sens or Lightning in cap hell, but since then they've made some smart moves. Crosby and Malkin are in at reasonable cap numbers for a while. So is Fleury. Staal too for that matter. Basically, they have their stars in and still have the flexibility to keep trying to upgrade their team. They're going to be one of the better teams in the league for about the next 4-5 years, after which this might catch up with them.

That said, conference finals every year is asking kind of a lot. Even the Wings, as good as we've been since 1997, have only made the conference finals 5 of 11 seasons. Hopefully 6 of 12 after tomorrow, but that's still only half the time.

[wingsdiehard13 33]

this is a red wings site get that s*** out of here

What is your point? It's called General Discussion, not just Red Wing Discussion.

[10 Minute Misconduct 104]

P.S. If we lost tomorrow Hossa's gonan feel like s***.

[wingsdiehard13 33]

P.S. If we lost tomorrow Hossa's gonan feel like s***.

I think everyone will.

But to answer the OP's question... Yes, I think the Pens will be a mainstay in the conference finals for years to come. Unless Shero completely fails to put talent around their good young core.

[ChitownWingsfan 54]

P.S. If we lost tomorrow Hossa's gonan feel like s***.

Then thats more incentive for Hossa to make sure we win tonight

[NeverForgetMac25 483]

this is a red wings site get that s*** out of here

This site is here to discuss the Red Wings, the rest of the NHL and hockey in general. If you don't like it, I suggest you take your own advice. The OP did nothing wrong.

[DMAC 25 18]

This site is here to discuss hockey and the rest of the NHL. If you don't like it, I suggest you take your own advice. The OP did nothing wrong.

letsgowings.com? hmmm maybe its about the wings anyone else agree

[jpd88 0]

I just believe that in this deep of a series on a website called letsgowings.com, we should have the decency to hold back our curiousity regarding other NHL topics and concentrate on the task at hand tonight. I know that the Penguins are a hot commodity and of general interest to all NHL fans (mainly because most people love Crosby and his cheese stash), but today (and yesterday for that matter) true Wings fans should be concentrating on nothing more than our game 7 tonight in Detroit. I know I have no authority on this website, but in my opinion these types of discussions should be suppressed until the conclusion of game 7 tonight (which im hoping the Red Wings will dominate).

[Reds4Life 51]

I don't like Crosby, but I have to admit I am impressed. He took his game to another level.

[sean 19]

who cares?

the east has become a lesser league

[betterREDthandead 58]

Who the H cares!!! only reason they are there is because Sid is Buttman's boy and probably the same reason the Hawks are in WCF. If Dats and Z were North American boys they'd be the top dogs in Buttheads world.

lollerskates buttman ha so funy

What the hell does the marketing of Sidney Crosby have to do with the Pens in the ECF? The league markets Ovechkin just as hard and he didn't make it. The Pens are there because they won eight playoff games. Period. Not because of Gary Bettman.

[Ms_Hockey 0]

My god, some of you people are so ridiculously rude. The OP asked a perfectly legitimate question and you're all up in arms because it's not regarding the Wings?

Grow the hell up. If you don't like the topic, don't read and/or respond to it. End of problems.

To answer the OP's question (since I'm not a whiny little kid), I think the Pens' have a great core to their team.. but it's still 50/50 at this point. I mean, they just had to get a new coach and they barely squeaked their way into the playoffs. Things need to be a little more consistent in the management/coaching department before we can tell for sure. As it stands, though, if they keep the core players they have.. they can build that up and definitely become a force in the future.

[wingsdiehard13 33]

letsgowings.com? hmmm maybe its about the wings anyone else agree

I suggest you click on the Forums link at the top of the page and read what it says under General Discussion. If you're too lazy to do that I'll just show you what it says.

Discuss the Detroit Red Wings, NHL, or hockey in general here!

I'm done talking about whether this topic should be here or not. Clearly it should. Move on.

[nkuehnl 0]

Definitely getting a kick out of the people complaining about the one non-Detroit thread in a sea of terrible Detroit related threads.

Pittsburgh has some definite problems that could blow up on them at any point.

-Malkin disappears for stretches at a time

-Staal is nowhere near worth 4 million dollars and if he doesn't improve his offensive play, he's an overpriced Draper playing on the 3rd line

-Pittsburgh has thus far found two guys -- Hossa and Kunitz -- that play well on the wing for Malkin or Crosby; Fedotenko, Guerin, Sykora, and Satan is like a who's who of players that once had upside and now masquerade as 1st liners despite producing very little offense

-Fleury's play ranges from world class to just decent to downright terrible and there's really no rhyme or reason to it

-Pittsburgh's defense suuuuuuucks. Gonchar won't be playing much longer and none of their other guys are capable of stepping up to fill that void. Gill is atrocious and guys like Letang, Orpik, and Scuderi aren't consistent enough to be anything more than 2nd pairing defensemen.

Crosby's been ridiculous this year and he deserves all of the credit he's been receiving (hell, he could put up 35+ points in the postseason; that's insane). However, that team will never win unless the supporting players step it up and I really don't think they have the personnel to continue to make the Conference finals.

Edited May 14, 2009 by nkuehnl

[Guest ToMaToToWnWinGsFaN_24]

woo!

well its good that i have some back up support!

and i thank those for that...

i mean yes...tonight is a crucial game..and ill be watching it with my insane buddies..half duck half wings fans...lol so if anyone doesnt wish comment anymore then i understand...just that this is a general discussion forum..so anything can be brought up and not just about the red wings...

thats what i like about this site...you can voice your opinions on anything thats going around in the nhl...not like other sites where you get bitched at for even bringing up such a matter...its good to have a friendly community board where anyone is welcome..but if you say something impolite...or be all negative..then you brought the ugliness only to yourself...

anywhoooo...with that said..im done!

....ps:

GOOOO WINGS!