Official Stanley Cup Finals Thread: Pens vs. Wings

Who will win it all in how many games?

  • Total voters
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cjkuehn said:
As for sid, running at the mouth. If you're referring to him talking tothe linesman, do you know for SURE what he was saying, or just speculating? Do no other captains talk to the refs/linesman?
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C.J. - No, thats actually not what I am referring to... I don't know what they show on TV but at the game you can see each time Crosby gets the puck taken away from him or checked off the puck he is complaining and yelling at the refs immediately during the play still... if he transferred HALF of the energy he uses to run his mouth onto his on-ice play then he would be that much further ahead...

I have never called Sid the Kid a whiner in my life and I am still not going to do that, but I am just saying if he concentrated on his play instead of yelling at refs that don't call penatlies that may or may not be penalties then he might actually have some scoring chances.

I understand he is frustrated from being so dominated since he really isn't used to that, and it hasn't really happened since the Memorial Cup in 2005 in London when the Knights shut him down completely as well... Some players can elevate their game when put in situations like that and others self-destruct. I would say Sid and the rest of the Pens are more towards the latter at this point in time.

As a Captain you have to try to get your team motivated but if you are just complaining about supposed non-calls and obstruction then that definitely does not help.

I really think and hope that Sid will learn from this and become a better player because of it, but I just think his maturity level is not where it should be to lead his team in the Stanley Cup finals at this point in time...

With that being said, I hope they can re-group at home and at least take one game so they can say they at least won a game in the Stanley Cup Finals... and so Detroit can win the Cup at home...
 
SHedberg said:
I'm a fan of an Atlantic Division team, I see them all season long. They got away with a lot of stuff during the regular season and in the first 3 rounds of the playoffs, and the refs are calling them on it now.
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That's proof enough for me! Dirty rotten pens.....
 
gamebreakers said:
Dude, he was being sarcastic! The Pens are nowhere near a dirty team.
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I would agree with that for the most part... last night they looked an awful lot like a dirty team!!! Perhaps they were actually the Flyers dressed up in Penguins jersey's? :confused:

Sorry Chris... :rolleyes:

Rod
 
Why is it that a Ranger fan automatically believes the Pens are dirty? Because they beat his team in 5 games and it's IMPOSSIBLE that it's because they were simply better? No, it's because they're dirty. I'm a Sens fan and the Leafs beat us time and time again. However, they beat us because they played better playoff hockey, not cause they were dirty. Just deal with it dude. Your team lost to a better team

As for last night's game, the Pens lost their heads. Frustration was obvious. This team is very young and they look quite lost right now. The Sens looked similar last year against the Ducks. The Pens will go down in 5 but they'll gain knowledge and experience from this. They'll be back soon enough
 
gamebreakers said:
Why is it that a Ranger fan automatically believes the Pens are dirty? Because they beat his team in 5 games and it's IMPOSSIBLE that it's because they were simply better? No, it's because they're dirty.
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No... the Pens are dirty because they hook, hold, slash, dive, slew foot, and interfere all season long and never get called. Now they are getting called on it and they are furious.
 
SHedberg said:
No... the Pens are dirty because they hook, hold, slash, dive, slew foot, and interfere all season long and never get called. Now they are getting called on it and they are furious.
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I never knew that hooking, holding, slashing, diving and interfering made you a "dirty" team. I guess every team in the NHL is dirty then...
 
Good teams and marquee players always get as much critisicism and detest as they do love and accolades. It comes with the territory of being good. For all the blind love and hype the Pens and Crosby receive from a fan base without knowledge of the game specifics and first hand evidence, they are entitled to an equal amount of bad blood from a like minded group. I am not saying all Pens and Crosby fans are uninformed homers, I am saying there are alot of fringe individuals that don't really watch hockey but they've read a few stat lines and opinions of the sports media. They honk the horn that Crosby is the greatest thing since Gretzky even though they don't know who his linemates are, who coaches the Pens or anything else about him or the team.

The Pens are a young team with young stars that are spoken of frequently in the media. Thus they will have attracted a new young fan base and the die hard, long time Pens fans get lumped in with alot of outspoken and uninformed new ones. Same can be said about the Pens/Crosby haters. Some don't have a self created opinion of why they dislike. There are enough out there that no one need be creative.
 
Speaking of tissues, did anyone else find the file name of this picture (located on the nhl.com site) hilarious?

http://cdn.nhl.com/flyers/images/upload/2007/12/crosby_whining.jpg
crosby_whining.jpg


:laugh:
 
Please keep your remarks about the game and the teams ..... AND NOT DIRECTED AT THE MEMBERS HERE. I appreciate civility!!!!

Everyone is entitled to their thoughts and opinions - and is even welcomed to explain and try to sway the other party.
My $.02 worth.......

1) CJ - I agree with you that a player needs to be healthy enough to be out on the ice in this situation. As far as I am concerned - you can fore-check Franzen, back-check Franzen, catch him coming across the middles - and even finish your check on the end boards and try to paste him into a new sign on the rink............

BUT - when Roberts is quoted in the Detroit News with this explanation:
" I was trying to back check and he threw a shoulder into m. And my shoulder hit him, maybe hit him in the side of the face - but there was no intent to injure"
It is clear that Roberts was well aware what he was doing. And Whitney and Malone.
like I said - hit hard and often - I do not care, but hitting after whistles and giving shots to the head is not on the up and up.

If a Detroit player had started the series by slashing Crosby across the ankle (the bad one) - I am sure the tables would be turned.

2) Of course Osgood dove, are you telling me that no other goalies embellish???? Maybe they don't in the East - but the Academy Awards are always highlighted in the West.
maybe our goalies are better actors. But in the end - if Sykora had not touched Osgood in the first place the point would be moot. there was no reason for it.

3) Certainly Therian (sp) is reaching for straws and trying to get the refs attention. Good on him!!! He should be doing something to help turn the tide - his team is getting beaten at every aspect of the game at the moment!!!! If he can even get one lousy interference call in a ref's mind from his complaints - then he did a good job. Is he right??? No - but I will get to that later.


And now to the game.

4) Osgood has been stellar so far - but it goes deeper than just the timely save. Time and again he has handled the puck - kept it moving around the sides towards where he believes his d-men should be. Has he made an errant pass or two... yes but none costly.
This does two things - first it allows for the the flow of the game to continue and second it allows the best defensive transition team in the league to do what it is good at.

5) The defense of Detroit is just really controlling this series. The Pens are tested EVERY time they try to form an attack through the neutral zone. And they are tested by a defenseman AND a forward. It is very similar to the old left wing lock that Detroit used in the 6 years from 1996/2002. It is not hooking and holding - it is skating and hounding.
Tell me how many times you have seen the Pens coming into the Detroit zone without an escort from one of the forwards???

6) I am more impressed with Babcock after every series. These guys are more tempered than they were with Bowman as a coach. They are more talented than anyone even thought to give them credit for. they have an absolute game plan to win this series and they are executing it like surgeons. Let's see:
a) Would you trade zero points for Datsyuk - for zero points for Crosby??? Umm any day of the week. Crosby has not been able to do anything without his Russian shadow.
b) Did you really think that Malkin would be able to fly unimpeded through the neutral zone and have speed coming into the offensive zone??? Umm you must have been thinking of the Eastern Conference teams. Anaheim, San Jose and Dallas would not have let him either.
c) How about the stingiest defensive team in the NHL - were you guessing that they compiled the NHL's best record by letting other teams skate circles around them???
Nope - I know you think that your team is really good with the puck... but see d.
d) have you eve seen a team that plays a better kind of puck possession than the wings do??? They play a game that the Pens did not know existed (although they should have seen it on tape) - it is called keep away or monkey in the middle. A really simple concept when you break it down: you do not give up the puck unless it is necessary to make a key line change or because you believe that your teammate has a clear advantage in getting to it first. From the soccer style kickbacks to the defenseman if they do not see an opening to the crossing forwards to the tape to tape passing game - this is pretty interesting to watch.

The Pens can and should win one game in their building. It will not change the outcome that most of us now are now taking for granted. However they will have to change a few of their bad habits that are killing them. Quit giving up the puck so easy with dump-ins. Make the wings work top get the puck - don't hand it to them. Quit taking stupid penalties - you are playing with fire if you do not think that Detroit can all of the sudden pop in 3-4 PP goals. Pressure the puck on the points - instead of letting them play catch with it. And last but not least - make Osgood go side to side. why are you trying to score from in front of him???? He has a very average stick hand - but his glove is much better than average. And last but not least stop pointing fingers at different players. Malkin has as much offense as Sid does - or anyone else for that matter. The Wings are making the Pens look bad - it is not the other way around.

whew - I am a little long winded sometimes!!!!
 
Have the Pens even had one good dump-in yet? I swear, every time they try to enter the zone it's with no speed so the puck floats to Osgood or gets picked off by a D-man for Detroit for the counter-attack, or they dump it around the wrong st of boards where there's no support. I'm not saying there's an easy solution here, but you'd think the Pens would try something, I dunno, different? It's frustrating as hell to watch.

Oh, and can someone tell Malkin to leave all the fancy moves for the showers? He loses the puck 99 times out of 100 while poorly trying to dangle the puck around the Wings.
 
Hey Bruce!,

I have no doubt Roberts his was not clean (I actually missed seeing it,
had to get another plate of ribs...), my comment is, its going to happen,
clean, dirty, starting out clean but ended looking dirty, however it comes
down, its going to happen. So if a players health is in question, he should
sit out. Isn't that why he sat out games to begin with.

I don't think fleury has mastered the art yet, he is young, it will come.

As for the rest, basically the pens better revamp, if they lose game
3 this way, you will all here in Detriot, how the wings tanked game 4
so they could win in front of the home crowd.

still waiting on that beer.....
 
suitman19 said:
Please keep your remarks about the game and the teams ..... AND NOT DIRECTED AT THE MEMBERS HERE. I appreciate civility!!!!
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Maybe Bruce should be a hockey mod!:p

suitman19 said:
whew - I am a little long winded sometimes!!!!
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Nah, never, especially when it's Wings-related. Oh wait, that's the only time you talk!:laugh:

Excellent points all around Mr. Suitie!:cool:
 

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