Liam's Lament

At the end of the day or more appropriately, the end of the game, Detroit was just too much for Pittsburgh. Too much Zetterberg, too much Lidstrom, too much the whole experienced package. But what a final 1:27 of action. I felt so bad for Marc-Andre Fleury who put on a performance of the ages in game five, now ranked as the fifth longest game in Stanley Cup final history, only to allow a couple of weak goals get by him in the deciding game six. When Hossa deflected Gonchar’s point shot in at the 18:33 mark who else sat bolt upright and hung on for that final minute and a half? Literally another split second and who knows, maybe Hossa gets that puck in right at the end of the game. You could see it in the body language of the Detroit players on the ice, there was a moment of stunned disbelief that they had hung on. I believe when or if the Penguins watch any of that last game video they’ll see some of the same ailments that plagued them throughout the series. Couldn’t get the puck deep, couldn’t generate a fore check, and couldn’t generate enough shots on net. Even in the dying seconds, two or three times, pucks were shot into Detroit’s end only to be easily grabbed by the D and fired back out. I mean literally grabbed by the hand – Pittsburgh's shoot in was just not high enough or off the boards hard enough to get the puck deep. Sometimes when you have as talented a team as these young Pens are the tendency is to hang onto the puck. That’s all well and good down low, when you get it and are cycling or attempting to keep possession but sometimes the most successful game plan is the simplest one but there’s no question, against this particular Detroit defence at this time it was a very, very tough task.

Nice of Malkin to return from his vacation in game six. What a learning experience for him. He need look no further than across the hall at countryman Pavel Datsyuk who will turn thirty this July. Datsyuk scored three goals in his first thirty-seven playoff games as a Red Wing. Look at him now. Or Zetterberg, the Conn Smythe Trophy winner, same thing, at twenty-two and twenty-three years of age he was a spare part for the Wings. Malkin is twenty and a superstar in the making. My only thought is that when it was apparent he had hit the wall and it was painfully apparent – I would have sat him down for at least a game. His giveaways’ and complacency added up to extreme ineffectiveness that should have been addressed in a dramatic fashion in my view. Sydney Crosby will lead Canada to a gold medal in Vancouver in 2010. His vision is Gretzky like, he’s a bull down low with the puck, he’s excellent on the draws and I believe he’s a great team guy. Why is he hated by so many fans? I don’t get it. I guess either I’m showing my age because I remember Gretzky’s first few years in the league or I’m more open minded. Crosby could have dove a dozen times and probably drew an additional 4-5 minors on Detroit but he did not. He tied for the points lead in playoff scoring in his second time ever in the playoffs. If he has a relatively healthy season in 2008-09 he will win the Art Ross again by 10-15 points for fun.


For the record – Nick Lidstrom becomes the fourth Cup winning captain born overseas. He is the first born and bred European captain but not the first to have been born across the ocean. Dunc Munroe with the 1926 Montreal Maroons, Charlie Gardiner with the 1934 Chicago Blackhawks were both born in Scotland. Johnny Gottselig with the 1938 Chicago Blackhawks was born in Russia. Speaking of Lidstrom and the rest of team Sweden, AKA Detroit, it’s been funny to listen or read so many people who are acting like this is the first time a Cup winner has had Europeans on it. Granted it is the least amount of Canadians on a Cup winner ever – nine. The previous mark of ten was held by the 1995 New Jersey Devils, thirteen years ago. On that squad were eleven Americans. The 1997 and 1998 Cup winning Red Wings each had five Russians on those respective teams. Numerous Europeans dotted the Cup winners o f Colorado in 1996 also. The trend deviated back to a very strong Canadian base of players with Dallas in 1999 and then again on the five Cup winners prior to this Red Wing team led by Anaheim’s nineteen Canadians who played at least one playoff game in their Cup run of 2007. So which trend goes forward you ask? Easy. The cycle continues. There has not been a team to win the Cup with all Canadian born content since the 1975 Philadelphia Flyers. Conversely no team has ever won it without some Canadian content nor will they in our life time. The bigger question is can the Red Wings repeat and duplicate what they themselves accomplished last in 1997 and ’98? You look at their cap room and their team makeup and you’d be hard pressed to not pick them next season. Only thing going against that is history at the moment. All of the Cup winning teams since 1998 have looked pretty good in winning their respective years. Yet nobody can repeat. Very, very tough physically to turn right around ten weeks later, report to camp and get right into it for the next nine months. We’ll see how it goes. For now, congratulations to them, they certainly deserved the Cup and Zetterberg the Conn Smythe.