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VM1138

Do the Pens Have the Cup Locked Up?

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Nobody wins the Cup in March. Seriously, how many times have we seen the Wings dominate in March, then get knocked out in the first or second round? The playoffs are a totally different game. Everybody gives a little extra. There's a little more fighting in the corner for loose pucks. More willingness to give up the body to block shots. More willingness to stand in front of the net to chip in a loose puck or deflect a shot. All these little things make a big difference in the postseason. Winning in the regular season is all good and fine, but they won't be playing Carolina, Winnipeg, Isles or Leafs in the playoffs and the good teams they'll be playing will be playing much differently than they are now. I'm not saying they won't change themselves, but winning a bunch of games in the regular season doesn't prove anything. Our fan base has learned that lesson a bunch of times.

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But what about the Rangers, they spent $12 mill on the biggest free agent this summer, Brad Richards? :P

Only real thing locked down is Columbus will win the Toilet Trophy, it'd be hard for them to lose that. Followed closely by Edmonton again ... speaking of which, how many terrible years do you need to turn a team around .... damn, it looks like they've been having the top pick like 3 years in a row.

If edmonton is lucky enough to win the draft lottery that would make 3 1st overall picks in a row. Hall, Hopkins, Yakupov??? Scary lol

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Nobody wins the Cup in March. Seriously, how many times have we seen the Wings dominate in March, then get knocked out in the first or second round? The playoffs are a totally different game. Everybody gives a little extra. There's a little more fighting in the corner for loose pucks. More willingness to give up the body to block shots. More willingness to stand in front of the net to chip in a loose puck or deflect a shot. All these little things make a big difference in the postseason. Winning in the regular season is all good and fine, but they won't be playing Carolina, Winnipeg, Isles or Leafs in the playoffs and the good teams they'll be playing will be playing much differently than they are now. I'm not saying they won't change themselves, but winning a bunch of games in the regular season doesn't prove anything. Our fan base has learned that lesson a bunch of times.

:thumbup:

And we promptly forget it at the beginning of every season.....myself included. :rolleyes:

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Are we even sure that Crosby can stay healthy for more than 10 games? How do we know that he'll hold up to the physical grind of the playoffs?

I'm sceptical.

Nope, we aren't sure...which is why I suggested that if Crosby and Letang are able to play the rest of the regular season and enter the playoffs healthy, then Pittsburgh probably is the favourite. I think the rest of the regular season should give some indication of whether Crosby will be able to stay healthy, I think there will be enough physical play down the stetch to test him.

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Some team early in the playoffs will become frustrated playing against the Pens, frustration leads to more physical play against the opposing team's star players. I doubt Crosby's durability to take on the physical game if it comes to that.

Besides, it's the NHL. Who the hell knows what two teams will wind up in the finals.

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It is situations culminated together like this that can win or lose a serious for you, regardless of talent.

Look at the 1996 Wings. The 2009 Sharks. The 2009 Wings for f***s sake. Anything goes in the playoffs and anyone has a chance to beat anyone. I don't care how good the Penguins are right now. They will never be the lock to win the cup until they win the deciding game in the Cup Finals.

Bingo.

Pitt will certainly have a well-rounded roster assuming full health. The Blues, for example will likely have a hard working gritty team per usual as most of this season.

They definitely should be respected.

Nor should any team be taken lightly just because they might not be as talented on paper.

While the Wings struggles are frustrating obviously as of late, with a healthier roster you never know what's going to happen in the postseason.

No team - Pitt, St. Louis, Detroit, etc. is a slam dunk to win the Cup.

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It is situations culminated together like this that can win or lose a serious for you, regardless of talent.

Look at the 1996 Wings. The 2009 Sharks. The 2009 Wings for f***s sake. Anything goes in the playoffs and anyone has a chance to beat anyone. I don't care how good the Penguins are right now. They will never be the lock to win the cup until they win the deciding game in the Cup Finals.

Well let's take a look at this.

The '96 Wings team lost to another power house, the Avs. It's not like the Avs snuck into the playoffs, they were #2 in the west by a large margin.

The '09 Sharks lost to Anaheim, a team that was 2 years removed from a cup. The same team that came close to beating the Wings.

The '09 Wings lost to the Pens, in game 7 of the finals. The Pens were #2 in the East, and had made the finals the year prior.

Essentially what I'm trying to say is those examples don't really showcase the "anything can happen" mentality. The teams that won had every right to win. You rarely see low seeds winning the Cup. They are a low seed for a reason. The '09 Anaheim team is probably the best 8 seed in the past decade.

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Well let's take a look at this.

The '96 Wings team lost to another power house, the Avs. It's not like the Avs snuck into the playoffs, they were #2 in the west by a large margin.

The '09 Sharks lost to Anaheim, a team that was 2 years removed from a cup. The same team that came close to beating the Wings.

The '09 Wings lost to the Pens, in game 7 of the finals. The Pens were #2 in the East, and had made the finals the year prior.

Essentially what I'm trying to say is those examples don't really showcase the "anything can happen" mentality. The teams that won had every right to win. You rarely see low seeds winning the Cup. They are a low seed for a reason. The '09 Anaheim team is probably the best 8 seed in the past decade.

Couple comments:

'96 - yes, teh Avs were #2 in the West, but the West was pretty s***ty, #3 had 94pts. They were 10pts up on #3, but Detroit was 27pts ahead of them.

'09 - Anaheim was not only the 8th seed in the West, they were actually the worst team (points wise) going into the playoffs (East and West combined) that year.

It is true...anything can happen in a 7 game series, nothing is guaranteed. There are several examples of that, some of which apply to Detroit (2006 is another good example). How about the '86 Oilers. They scored 424 goals in the regular season, they finished 30pts ahead of the team that beat them in the playoffs.

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Somebody seriously negged my original post?

Anyway, the reason I love hockey is that anything goes in the playoffs. It just seems too storybook, and we all know Crosby gets special treatment (Just like all league favorites do in every sport). Shoot, he'll probably get injured in the first round and then come back the final game and score the game winner, that's just how his career goes. It's not that I doubt the Wings, the Crosby-fest the past few years have just made me cynical when it comes to the Pens, I guess.

I do feel like once the playoffs start the Wings have a good chance at wiping the slate clean and making a deep run. If the team is healthy.

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If the playoffs start as the standings are currently, if the top 4 teams in the east move on to the 2nd round, the Penguins potential opponents in the east are the Flyers, Rangers, and if they make it past those 2, the ECF would be Pens/Bruins. If they win the cup, they'll certainly have to earn their way against the 3 toughest (physically and skilled) teams the east has to offer. here's hoping that the Flyers beat the piss out of them and win or they soften them up for the Rangers/Bruins.

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I don't really care if they do or if they don't. I don't concern myself with the goings on of teams that aren't the Detroit Red Wings.

Lol why did you get negged for a simple, honest response?

To say the Pens have the cup locked up is kinda ridiculous. They may be one of the favorites but nobody is a lock and that's why they play the games. I know Crosby doesn't look rusty now which is insane considering how many games he has missed but the playoffs are a different beast and I will be interested to see if he will still be able to match the high tempo of play as everyone else for 4 full rounds.

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I guess the Pens suck too just like the wings... have lost 3 of 4... including an 8-4 loss at Ottawa and now after tonight's loss, lost both games of a home and home with the Islanders... I bet they are freaking out too :rolleyes:

Come on guys, we know the wings are a really good team... Let's get after the Preds tomorrow!

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Lol why did you get negged for a simple, honest response?

You got me swingin'. Not to put too fine a point on it, but no one has the Cup locked up until there's 30 seconds left in the 3rd period of the clinching game and the winning team has a >1 goal lead. Anything can happen. Cliche yes, but it's a cliche for a reason. Crappy teams can come out of nowhere and win everything, while world-beaters can get their asses handed to them. We've seen it happen to us, we've seen it happen to other teams.

So tell me again why we're worried what Pittsburgh is doing? We wouldn't theoretically see them until the Cup finals anyway, should we progress that far. It's not like we're talking about a potential WC opponent.

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Does a team that plans on winning the Stanley Cup have to be playing well going into the playoffs? If the six previous seasons since the 2004-05 NHL lockout is an indication the answer is yes.

Only the 2005-06 champion Carolina Hurricanes had piled up fewer than 10 wins in their final 20 games of the season. The 2006-07 Anaheim Ducks (13-3-4), 2007-08 Detroit Red Wings (12-6-2), 2008-09 Pittsburgh Penguins (15-3-2), 2009-10 Chicago Blackhawks (11-6-3) and Boston Bruins (10-6-4) all put together 24-or-more point finishes in their final 20 games.

Interestingly, the two hottest teams entering the playoffs will clash in the first round this spring.

Here are the final 20-game segments for the 16 teams that made the 2012 Stanley Cup playoffs:

Pittsburgh 15-4-1--31 points

Philadelphia 13-5-2--28 points

New Jersey 13-5-2--28 points

Chicago 12-4-4--28 points

Los Angeles 12-5-3--27 points

St. Louis 11-5-4--26 points

Nashville 12-7-1--25 points

Vancouver 11-6-3--25 points

Washington 11-6-3--25 points

Phoenix 10-6-4--24 points

Boston 11-8-1--23 points

San Jose 10-7-3--23 points

Florida 8-6-6--22 points

NY Rangers 10-9-1--21 points

Ottawa 9-9-2--20 points

Detroit 7-10-3--17 points -- Yikes, :angry:.

http://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/opinion/2012/04/flyers-pens-enter-the-playoffs-on-a-roll.html

Hmm... Interesting theory.

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