For a hockey freak like me, the day after the Stanley Cup Finals end is always a dismal day, as I confront four months without the sport I love so much. Yesterday, the Detroit Red Wings put the final nail in the Pittsburgh Penguins' coffin, winning Game Six 3-2 in Steeltown: http://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/story/2008/06/04/det-pit-six.html. I'm no Red Wings fan, but I can certainly appreciate the skill level of the players on that team. To use a "Star Trek: The Next Generation" reference, Detroit is the Borg, i.e., "Resistance is futile". It redefines the term "well-0iled machine". The most amazing thing about the Red Wings is that they have retooled so much since their great run began 11 years ago, a testament to a management team that may be the best we have seen in the modern era. The team finds stud players everywhere and anywhere--Niklas Lidstrom, Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg were NOT blue chip, first round draft choices, and it never has salary cap issues. My hat is off to the team.............
On the other side, the Pittsburgh Penguins, despite their loss last night, will be stacked for years to come if General Manager Ray Shero can manage the salary cap well: http://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/story/2008/06/05/penguins-reaction.html. The Pens had a great run during the playoffs, and with a star nucleus consisting of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Marc-Andre Fleury, Ryan Malone and Jordan Staal, they will be the dominant team in the East for a long time (barring injuries or free agent defections, of course). The team also proved that it has plenty of character, as it showed in its Game Five, triple-overtime win in Detroit.
This sport has so much going for it. It's a shame that a goober like Gary Bettman is running it............right into the ground.
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