Pittsburgh Penguins advance to Stanley Cup Finals

[chuklz 15]

I got nothing to say here. We are the defending Stanley Cup Champions. We got the goods and then some. The Pens have nothing on us but a losing record. We knew we had it last year. We know we have it now. All this cute penguin posturing has me chuckling softly at the keyboard.

[BewareThePenguin 1]

Without getting into a "Why the Steelers won the Super Bowl" discussion on a Red Wings forum... Larry Fitzgerald had 1 catch for 11 yards going into the 4th quarter. James Harrison intercepts on the goaline and runs 100 yards for a TD. Defense wins championships

Crosby and Malkin are, of course, getting better, but what everyone else is failing to mention is that so are Zetterberg, Datsyuk, Hossa, Franzen, Kronwall, Cleary, Filppula, Hudler, etc. The Pens aren't the only team getting better. If Crosby and Malkin only do half what they did against Carolina and Washington, the Pens will lose.

My only concern going into these Finals is the health of the team. Datsyuk being out is bad, but manageable I think. If Nick Lidstrom is out or very limited, I think it will be very tough for Detroit to win.

And how many yards did Fitzgerald have IN the 4th quarter? As for Harrison, he scored before the half -- that's not when games are won or lost. The Steelers had great defenses every year under Cowher, never won a Bowl until Roethlisberger showed up. Then they won two in 4 years. You think that's some coincidence?

With Detroit's depth, they're capable of winning with just about anyone they put onto the ice. I don't argue with you there. But as for the "if they only do half" -- remember, the Pens almost took it to Game 7 last year with Crosby and Malkin essentially doing nothing.

Edited May 27, 2009 by BewareThePenguin

[chrisdetroit 189]

I'm right there with ya. I don't know why, but I have a bad feeling about this series... ya know... assuming we play them

Here come the Negative Nancys. Of course when we win they will say "I knew it all along".

[BewareThePenguin 1]

Can you image if the Wings win the cup this year and they clinch it on the Pens ice.

Just image Hossa skating around Mellon Arena with the cup held over his head in a Red Wings Jersey.

Wow! would that ever piss off the Pens fans. That would be sweeeeeeeeeeet

I can think of a few other words to describe that scenario than "sweeeeeeeeeet" -- as a Detroit fan you've had to witness a certain ex-player of yours in a similar situation, so I guess you know pissed off.

As for "sweet," that would be Crosby buzzing by Hossa as Sid waves the Cup in Hossa's traitor face, saying "well good thing you went to Detroit where you had a chance to win a championship, eh?" In fact, that would be what you'd call "poetic justice."

[Drake_Marcus 890]

And how many yards did Fitzgerald have IN the 4th quarter? As for Harrison, he scored before the half -- that's not when games are won or lost. The Steelers had great defenses every year under Cowher, never won a Bowl until Roethlisberger showed up. Then they won two in 4 years. You think that's some coincidence?

With Detroit's depth, they're capable of winning with just about anyone they put onto the ice. I don't argue with you there. But as for the "if they only do half" -- remember, the Pens almost took it to Game 7 last year with Crosby and Malkin essentially doing nothing.

It should be noted that the puck that slid through the mouth of the net was too late to cross the goal line anyway. If you slow it down you'll notice that the clock hits zero before the puck gets through the goal mouth. Even if the puck was directed short side (which is hard to imagine in the situation), it's tough to say it'd go in before the buzzer anyway.

And like others have said- the Wings were even closer to sealing it in 5 games. Moreover, if Datsyuk wasn't pulled down before he shot the puck into the empty net in game 6 the game would've been sealed. Not even mentioning that the Pens got away with a free penalty when they literally pulled Dats down infront of an empty net before he shot the puck.

Regardless, it's not fair to say Crosby and Malkin were essentially doing nothing as if they just chose not to show up. They were shut down by the Wings defense and defensive forwards. As Babcock said after the series- Hossa was your best player in the finals.

[Dabura 12,232]

Wait, so people honestly believe this Pens team is better than last year's? I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around this. I feel like the "experience" card is being way overplayed.

[Shaman 713]

Im gunna repost this, because I think its a huge point and why the Pens fans shouldnt be as cocky and nonchalant about it as they are.

The difference in GAA between the wings and pens is .5, now that doesn't seem impressive to the pens fan, but, lets use the regular season as a good sample size for what .5 GAA difference between 2 teams really means.

This year the Pens had a 2.80 GAA which isn't great, but they made the playoffs and now the SCF. If you add .5 to that you get 3.30. Whats the significance of 3.30 gaa? Well its pretty simple, the team that had that this season currently has the #1 overall draft pick this year. .5 GAA is massive, its the difference between a playoff team and a nonplayoff team. Just some food for thought for the pens fans.

[Doc Holiday 0]

And how many yards did Fitzgerald have IN the 4th quarter? As for Harrison, he scored before the half -- that's not when games are won or lost. The Steelers had great defenses every year under Cowher, never won a Bowl until Roethlisberger showed up. Then they won two in 4 years. You think that's some coincidence?

With Detroit's depth, they're capable of winning with just about anyone they put onto the ice. I don't argue with you there. But as for the "if they only do half" -- remember, the Pens almost took it to Game 7 last year with Crosby and Malkin essentially doing nothing.

I hate people like you that make up bulls*** to make your point more valid.

They didn't almost take it to game seven. They almost took it to overtime where they might have maybe won the game perhaps. This was after a bulls*** Hudler call, a missed interference call on Lilja (which was the reason Hossa was able to tip the second goal in), and a missed tripping call on Datsyuk with 15 seconds to go, which would have been an empty netter and a series clincher.

Your Pens did not deserve to be so close in game six, and they relied on Fluery in game five. The Pens can't afford to do that this year considering Fluery is incredibly inconsistent.