Greetings from Pittsburgh

[Dabura 12,207]

But I think the Wings are going to have a much harder time with them.

I don't deny that possibility. What I deny is this notion that merely one season from being dismissed from the SCF, the Pens are suddenly and miraculously not only on par with the Wings, but superior to them. In terms of assets, if there's one thing the Pens have that the Wings don't, it's two scoring machines. Beyond raw scoring ability (in the EC), the Wings have the Pens' number in just about every category. Do you honestly think the Pens' depth at forward stacks up against the Wings'? The Wings' third line could be the first or second line on more than a few teams, and damn if it hasn't been getting the job done lately. The Wings' D -- the blue line and overall team D -- is unmatched. That's not homerism. Just about any hockey analyst would tell you the same. To a man, every Red Wing is committed to defense-centric play and capable of playing it very, very well. And, as we saw last season, defense wins championships. The Penguins are an offense-oriented team, and no matter how much they've grown from last year's heartbreak, they're not even close to the Wings' level of defensive play. Much of that owes to the difference between the WC and EC. Specifically, a team needs to have one hell of a defensive game if it's going to amount to anything in the WC, whereas the same really can't be said of the EC. The Pens had to go through the Flyers and Capitals. The Wings would have swept both, maybe gone to five against the Caps. Why? Because those teams simply suck at playing defense. Suck at it. The Ducks pushed the Wings to the brink because they play an unbelievably strong game of defense and boast the most dominant line in the NHL. And they're bigger, stronger and nastier than any team in the East. The Ducks matched the Wings almost blow-for-blow because they have the tools to do it. The Pens have two scoring machines -- who, as I recall, didn't exactly looking like scoring machines in last season's SCF. Take away Hossa and last season's SCF doesn't even go to six games.

Edited May 25, 2009 by Dabura

[sidthekid 0]

It's just so funny how these Pens' fans are so against talking about their team defense, or lack thereof. Instead they are in denial that their One Line Wonder stands a chance in the SCF.

Pens are a great Eastern Conference Team, but they would be an average Western Conference team at best. And their goalie is a complete joke.

Pens fans, chant this in the finals:

"TEAM DEFENSE"

"TEAM DEFENSE"

"TEAM DEFENSE"

Because you'll need it. Your team won't stand a chance without it.

how are we a one line wonder? we have 2 good scoring lines centered by crosby and malkin. plus the staal line can kick a few goals every now and then. some of you have no clue.

now anaheim is a one line team. their strength was defense. their forwards are so so and their goalie is a new playoff goalie who looked very average at times. fluery is a very good goalie on the other hand.

look no one is going to bow down to the mighty red wings. that's what you all want, right? it's as if no other team in the NHL even exists. too bad you people can't make cars the way you trash talk. you want the cup - you'll have to beat us for it....that is if you make it. but of course quenville is a retard and the hawks have no goaltending so that shouldn't be an issue.

Edited May 25, 2009 by sidthekid

[chrisdetroit 189]

I think it was pretty close. The Red Wings owned in Games 1 and 2, due to the Pens lack of experience, and the element of suprise you guys brought to us. We hadn't faced anybody that good yet. However, once we woke up after the first 2 games, the total scoring was even at 10-10. think about it, it was damn even after Games 1 and 2. And don't forget the Pens were inches away from putting Game 6 into OT.

Ok fine, Spin it any way that you want to make yourself feel better. It wasn't close but if you want to pick specific games and say those were close, well knock yourself out. Sure, the last 4 games were close, but by then the series was for all intents and puposes, over.

As far as playing the "if" game, that's pretty silly.

IF the puck had gone in game 6 it would have gone into OT

IF the Pens would have won OT, there would be a game 7 and

IF the Pens had won game 7 at Joe Louis, the Pens would have been champs.

How 'bout this

IF one of those 24 shots on goal that the Wings threw at Fleury had gone in during the 3 OT's of game 5, this would have ended in 5 games. In the first OT the shots were 13-2.

But none of this means anything.

It wasn't close last year and at least ON PAPER it won't be close this year. Now what the final result will be, we will have to wait and see.

[Coffey77 0]

Ok fine, Spin it any way that you want to make yourself feel better. It wasn't close but if you want to pick specific games and say those were close, well knock yourself out. Sure, the last 4 games were close, but by then the series was for all intents and puposes, over.

As far as playing the "if" game, that's pretty silly.

IF the puck had gone in game 6 it would have gone into OT

IF the Pens would have won OT, there would be a game 7 and

IF the Pens had won game 7 at Joe Louis, the Pens would have been champs.

How 'bout this

IF one of those 24 shots on goal that the Wings threw at Fleury had gone in during the 3 OT's of game 5, this would have ended in 5 games. In the first OT the shots were 13-2.

But none of this means anything.

It wasn't close last year and at least ON PAPER it won't be close this year. Now what the final result will be, we will have to wait and see.

Some of you are way, way, way too cocky. But whatever, we'll see what happens.

[chrisdetroit 189]

how are we a one line wonder? we have 2 good scoring lines centered by crosby and malkin. some of you are really dumb.

He meant that you have 2 god scorers regardless of line combinations.

Malkin and Crosby combined have 33.3% of the Pens points. 33%!

For referecne, our top 2 scorers only have 24% of our points.

[sidthekid 0]

Ok fine, Spin it any way that you want to make yourself feel better. It wasn't close but if you want to pick specific games and say those were close, well knock yourself out. Sure, the last 4 games were close, but by then the series was for all intents and puposes, over.

As far as playing the "if" game, that's pretty silly.

IF the puck had gone in game 6 it would have gone into OT

IF the Pens would have won OT, there would be a game 7 and

IF the Pens had won game 7 at Joe Louis, the Pens would have been champs.

How 'bout this

IF one of those 24 shots on goal that the Wings threw at Fleury had gone in during the 3 OT's of game 5, this would have ended in 5 games. In the first OT the shots were 13-2.

But none of this means anything.

It wasn't close last year and at least ON PAPER it won't be close this year. Now what the final result will be, we will have to wait and see.

no one plays hockey on paper. and the series was close last year if you take away the first 2 games in which the inexperience factor played a big role. bottom line is you guys were good last year but not great. by how y'all talk, you should have swept the "inferior" pens or at least won in 5.

and when we got to our first final (for the current team) we didn't choke like you did against the devils. that was perhaps the biggest choke job in all of sports.

remember the yanks lost in 01 to the inferior d-backs and again to the marlins. the pats lost to the giants. it can happen this year too.

Edited May 25, 2009 by sidthekid

[Detroit # 1 Fan 2,204]

The East isnt that bad. But the Ducks would still manhandle the Pens. We had good depth too, and in the end that's what won. Because the Ducks know how to handle star players. Yes, the Finals will be tougher this year, but the Wings will still win. Pittsburghs time will come soon, but it isnt this year. They need a stronger defence, Gonchar is a meh #1 and Hal Gill will never win a Stanley Cup, but other then that the Pens are looking pretty good, just not good enough to win this year.

[tweekvp 0]

the fact that you couldn't put a ducks team away in 5 or 6 shows you are vulnerable.

the team has not played with the same heart they played last year. it's foolish to think that just because a team reaches the conference finals that they've played with heart and determination. maybe they have some killer instinct but not as much heart as i've seen in the past.

The wings were down their #2 dman for most of that series, and have been without one of the top faceoff men for most of the playoffs. Add to that that the ducks were the best defensive team in the playoffs and it is understandable they could take the series to seven games.

Now if I'm not mistaken the Pens had won three straight against the Caps and couldn't close out the series in their own building. That smells of lack of killer instinct.

[Hocketownwest 11]

And don't forget the Pens were inches away from putting Game 6 into OT.

It would not have been even close except the refs felt sorry for the Pens and decided to swallow their whistles when Datsyuk was tripped up going for the empty net.

Game should have ended with the Wings on a powerplay at the very least. But then again that wouldn't have been very exciting now would it.

[sidthekid 0]

The wings were down their #2 dman for most of that series, and have been without one of the top faceoff men for most of the playoffs. Add to that that the ducks were the best defensive team in the playoffs and it is understandable they could take the series to seven games.

so who cares? all i hear from you people is your depth. you won last night without some importance pieces, right? so what's the excuse now?

[Coffey77 0]

It would not have been even close except the refs felt sorry for the Pens and decided to swallow their whistles when Datsyuk was tripped up going for the empty net.

Game should have ended with the Wings on a powerplay at the very least. But then again that wouldn't have been very exciting now would it.

Yeah the refs are all just trying to win the Pens a cup. Jeez, same old, same old. It's not that the Pens are good. It's just that the refs are conpsiring for the Pens.

[Drake_Marcus 890]

WE'RE LEVEL HEADED..

.. save a select few.

The real sad thing is that just reminded me about an article I read this morning: Keanu Reeves has been cast as Dr. Jackel and Mr. Hyde in the upcoming movie. *sigh* That f***** makes Cage look like an actor with range.

[Pasha13 0]

so who cares? all i hear from you people is your depth. you won last night without some importance pieces, right? so what's the excuse now?

I don't follow...what's the excuse? Uhr...I think more than anything, yesterday was an example of our depth. Three great players, including two of the best +/- players in the league (Lids and Dats) were out for game 4. Our best forward, our best defenseman, and our best face-off man were gone and we managed to put a thrashing on Chicago in their arena. That's depth...If Gonchar and Malkin and (???-not sure who their best faceoff man is) were all injured, Pitt would likely get run the **** over...

[chrisdetroit 189]

no one plays hockey on paper. and the series was close last year if you take away the first 2 games in which the inexperience factor played a big role. bottom line is you guys were good last year but not great. by how y'all talk, you should have swept the "inferior" pens or at least won in 5.

and when we got to our first final (for the current team) we didn't choke like you did against the devils. that was perhaps the biggest choke job in all of sports.

remember the yanks lost in 01 to the inferior d-backs and again to the marlins. the pats lost to the giants. it can happen this year too.

Yea we got demolished by the Devils. Do you remember that? It was in 1995 which was 14 years ago. I'm not sure how that is relevant. Very few of those guys will be playing this year.

As far as the Yankees and d-backs, again I'm not sure what baseball has to do with it. Yes, anything is possible, but it works both ways. The Buffalo Bills lost in the superbowl 4 straight years.

It is possible for the Pens to win the Cup but it just isn't likely.

As far as last year being close, the Wings should have won it in 5, and if not for an unbelievable performance by Fleury in the first OT of game 5 when we outshot the Pens 13-2 we would have won it in 5.

I'm obvoiusly not going to change your opinion - you seem to think it was close last year and that you have a chance this year despite what all the "experts" say.

Fine. You are entitled to your opinion. All the hockey writers are going to say that the Wings are heavy favorites. If you want to believe otherwise, more power to you.

[Drake_Marcus 890]

Yay, someone thats come to join me... and they aren't a stupid Yinzer-Bandwagon-toolshed.

Ehhhhh... you weren't exactly a saint when you came here, though. I appreciate your apparent willingness to reform your easily aggravated ways!

[Trapt1307 81]

And don't forget the Pens were inches away from putting Game 6 into OT.

And they were also 30 seconds away from losing in 5.

[8 Legged RedWing 367]

remember the yanks lost in 01 to the inferior d-backs and again to the marlins. the pats lost to the giants. it can happen this year too.

Hmmm, I am pretty sure we are playing hockey in the stanley cup finals but I could be wrong

[Coffey77 0]

Yea we got demolished by the Devils. Do you remember that? It was in 1995 which was 14 years ago. I'm not sure how that is relevant. Very few of those guys will be playing this year.

As far as the Yankees and d-backs, again I'm not sure what baseball has to do with it. Yes, anything is possible, but it works both ways. The Buffalo Bills lost in the superbowl 4 straight years.

It is possible for the Pens to win the Cup but it just isn't likely.

As far as last year being close, the Wings should have won it in 5, and if not for an unbelievable performance by Fleury in the first OT of game 5 when we outshot the Pens 13-2 we would have won it in 5.

I'm obvoiusly not going to change your opinion - you seem to think it was close last year and that you have a chance this year despite what all the "experts" say.

Fine. You are entitled to your opinion. All the hockey writers are going to say that the Wings are heavy favorites. If you want to believe otherwise, more power to you.

Do you really think it matters about what the experts say? I hope the Red Wings are as cocky as some of you are. They're in a for a surprise. We're not gonna sit back and let you walk on us. You were obviously the better team last year. This year is going to be a lot closer. Who is gonna come out on top? Who Knows? But the Penguins have a lot more depth than they did last year and they are very resilient.

[Nev 1,085]

no one plays hockey on paper. and the series was close last year if you take away the first 2 games in which the inexperience factor played a big role. bottom line is you guys were good last year but not great. by how y'all talk, you should have swept the "inferior" pens or at least won in 5.

Well, yes. Games 1 + 2 the Pens got absolutely brutalised. 3 + 4 were pretty even and a split was a fair result. Game 5, aside from the 1st period was all wings. When Rafalski got that 3rd, lets be honest, you thought it was all over. And it should have been. If Franzen had simply banked the puck off the boards the Wings would have deservedly won the Cup in 5. He didn't, several seconds later the puck is in our net on just about Pittsburghs only chance that period. Fleury stood on his head the rest of the way and Hudler gave you a PP in triple OT to win it.

Having said that, mark me down in the "Pittsburgh scare me more this year" camp. Personnel wise, I think you are worse, but you got rid of that whining whiny whiner of a coach and Crosby is playing like a man possesed. Last year the only place we were outplayed was by your PP which we simply couldn't handle and our PK has been ATROCIOUS all season long. And I fear the refs will have us on the PK a lot against St Sydney the Divine this year.

Couple that with the players out or who will be playing injured

Our best Dman (Lidstrom)

Our best forward (Datsyuk)

Our best faceoff man (Draper)

Our best Penalty Killer (Lilja)

Our best player at being hit to the ice (Kopecky)

OK, ignore the last one But depending on when the series starts our best players will be carrying injuries.

I think it will be a MUCH closer series than last year when all us Redwings were proved right about our faith in Team Defence and Depth over 2 superstars. The team that plays best will win.

One last thought - Malkin terrified me before the finals last year, but Filpulla exceeded everyones expectations of him by totally outplaying him. This year, with Z and Pav split up mostly, what chance Datsyuk and Malkin matching up head to head to determine the best Russian centre in the game (we know its #13 btw )

Yeah the refs are all just trying to win the Pens a cup. Jeez, same old, same old. It's not that the Pens are good. It's just that the refs are conpsiring for the Pens

The last 2 minutes of that game were a joke. A complete BS hooking call on Hudler that wouldn't be a penalty in the first period of opening night, then a blatant trip on Datsyuk that stopped an ENG and led to the Hossa chance. I was so mad I couldn't even celebrate properly (and neither could the Wings - watch them all standing round when the buzzer goes. Cleary doesn't know what the hell to do).

[HadThomasVokounOnFortSt 878]

Do you really think it matters about what the experts say? I hope the Red Wings are as cocky as some of you are. They're in a for a surprise. We're not gonna sit back and let you walk on us. You were obviously the better team last year. This year is going to be a lot closer. Who is gonna come out on top? Who Knows? But the Penguins have a lot more depth than they did last year and they are very resilient.

I agree with you, Penguins look scary good or there just got the cake walk to the Stanley Cup Finals. I see the only challenge you guys had was Capitals but it can go both way. It should be a good and fun series.

[8 Legged RedWing 367]

Do you really think it matters about what the experts say? I hope the Red Wings are as cocky as some of you are. They're in a for a surprise. We're not gonna sit back and let you walk on us. You were obviously the better team last year. This year is going to be a lot closer. Who is gonna come out on top? Who Knows? But the Penguins have a lot more depth than they did last year and they are very resilient.

You keep repeating yourself like you are trying to make yourself believe it. I would be surprised if the wings didn't win in 4 or 5 games to be honest with you. Pens worse then last year plus wings better then last year equals sweep.

[chrisdetroit 189]

Do you really think it matters about what the experts say? I hope the Red Wings are as cocky as some of you are. They're in a for a surprise. We're not gonna sit back and let you walk on us. You were obviously the better team last year. This year is going to be a lot closer. Who is gonna come out on top? Who Knows? But the Penguins have a lot more depth than they did last year and they are very resilient.

We won't know until we actually play the games. The Pens have more depth? I don't follow...

You lost Whitney, Malone, Roberts, Ruutu, Sydor, Hall and Hossa and you added Guerin, Kunitz, Fedotenko, Cooke, Satan, Adams, Letang and Eaton.

Do you think that the guys that you acquired are better than the guys you lost? Really? IMO none of those guys are close to losing just Hossa.

[Coffey77 0]

You keep repeating yourself like you are trying to make yourself believe it. I would be surprised if the wings didn't win in 4 or 5 games to be honest with you. Pens worse then last year plus wings better then last year equals sweep.

Other than the loss of Hossa, how are we worse?

-Crosby is playing better

-Malkin is playing better

-Our defense is much better ( Scuderi and Eaton and Orpik are all playing well)

- Better coaching

- Fleury is the same....makes highlight reel saves, and lets in bad goals

-Kunitz and Guerin playing solid hockey

-Loss of Hossa

How are the Red Wings better?

-Holmstrom playing worse

-Datsyuk...playing good but not producing

-Osgood- no better, no worse

-Loss of Lilja

[Dabura 12,207]

Our best forward, our best defenseman, and our best face-off man were gone and we managed to put a thrashing on Chicago in their arena. That's depth...If Gonchar and Malkin and (???-not sure who their best faceoff man is) were all injured, Pitt would likely get run the **** over...

I was just about to make this point.

The Pens are not nearly as deep as the Wings. And in the postseason, depth counts for a s***-ton. Maybe not against the Flyers and Capitals, but certainly against teams that are legitimate contenders -- e.g. the Wings, who, as you said, just proved that they can be the best team in the league even without two of their top players. And that's because they don't rely on 3-4 players to carry the load like the Penguins do. Whether they want to admit it or not, the Pens -- and their fans -- know that if any of those 3-4 players start feeling the heat, their team is in trouble. The Wings don't work that way; they are a bona fide team, as opposed to a few stars and a supporting cast. Hell, the Wings' checkers and role players have arguably been carrying more of the load than their star forwards throughout this run.

[Coffey77 0]

Talk means nothing. What the Experts say mean nothing. Last year means nothing.

What we think means nothing.

Let's just wait til the series.