This time of year, penguins of the aviary persuasion make their long march toward their ultimate goal, somewhere near the south pole. At least that's what we learned from Morgan Freeman in the
National Geographic movie from a few years ago.
Last night, Penguins of a more northerly kind ended their trek to find their ultimate goal, the Stanley Cup. And it ended as anyone would hope - in a Game 7 against the defending champion whom had defeated them the year before. Maxime Talbot scored both Pens goals as Pittsburgh hung on to fend off a massive third period surge from Detroit to win the game, series and Cup 2-1 last night at Joe Louis Arena.
A couple of weeks ago, the Eastern Division Final really looked to be merely who would get the chance to bow to the Red Wings in the Cup Final. That theory seemed well on its way when Detroit took the first two games against Pittsburgh at the Joe. The Pens defense looked like little more than sticks swatting at pucks. Every time a Pens defenseman played the puck instead of the body - which was often - it seemed the puck bent the twine in the Pittsburgh net. Still, Pittsburgh had managed to come back from a two-games-to-zero deficit against the Washington Capitals in the Eastern Final. Could lightning strike twice?
Well it hadn't happened before for a Cup winner, and the Pens resilience came through again for the following two games at the Igloo in Pittsburgh. Wings veteran goaltender Mark Osgood became human again for Games Three and Four, and the team in front of him appeared to have remained behind in the Motor City. The Penguins capitalized, and left the back-to-back home games with a tied series.
As much as those games put the Pens back in the series, Game Five was nothing short of a disaster - a 5-0 shutout - that appeared to put Pittsburgh away. Osgood was nothing short of a wall between the pipes. At the other end, Marc-Andre Fleury seemed more beatable than at any other time in the playoffs, and was taken out of the game late in the second. Pittsburgh's youthfulness looked more like inexperience, and their frustration was blindingly apparent. The swagger was back with Detroit, and Game Six back in Pittsburgh looked like more of a formality than anything else.
Which, of course, was not the case. The Pens gritted out a 2-1 win on home ice, when they weathered an intense comeback effort from the Red Wings to set up Game 7.
Game 7. Did anyone really think it would come to this? Well it did, and it wasn't what the first six games would lead you to expect. Detroit's backcheck through the first two periods seemed designed to turn the puck over, but Osgood did all he could to stifle the Pens offense. Henrik Zetterberg, who was everywhere in early in the series, all but faded into the boards. For the Pens, Max Talbot had the game of his life. Fleury was outstanding as well, making the save he couldn't make last year in the Finals, and light years away from how he looked in Game 5. Evgeny Malkin, who was the leading scorer in the series with 8 points, took the Conn Smythe trophy.
Detroit's fans were impressive. The entire crowd seemed to stay until just about the time the Pens left the ice with the Cup. Early in the presentations the boo-birds loudly made their presence known. At first it seemed they were classlessly booing the result, but no, it was clearly Commissioner Gary Bettman where they aimed their disdain. OK, I can give them that. The Commish realizes his job is not the result of a popularity contest. I might have done the same.
With the frequency of Stanley Cup Championships seen in Detroit, it might not have been all that surprising if Wings fans left to beat the traffic. Still, they stayed, and that says a lot, especially in a town full of dire news right now.
Now that the Hershey Bears have claimed yet another Calder Cup in the AHL, Hockey Season 2008-09 is now officially over. Damn. But is hockey season ever really over? The NHL Entry Draft is June 26-27 up in Montreal, and the World Junior Championships follow this summer. Shortening the summer, too, will be preparations for the Winter Olympics.
Before you know it, October will be here.