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They made it look like Canada vs. Kazakhstan today.

Crosby's dynasty isn't starting this year.

Game 1 Saturday at the Joe.

lemur68 wrote:They made it look like Canada vs. Kazakhstan today.

You know canada lost in the finals right?

I don't know why, but I never give Pittsburgh enough credit as a team. They're a lot more than Crosby, and their defense was very scrappy last night. I still don't think Flowers is a superstar goalie, but he's smart positionally, and that goes a long way.

This series is going to be better than I thought it would be, although I still think the Pens have a snowball's chance.

I don't know what to think of Pittsburgh. In the Conference Finals, Malkin disappeared after game 2 and Crosby just seemed like a regular skater. They got to the finals by playing a team game. I think they could've easily gotten this far without Malkin and Crosby. Their success up to this point has been the combination of their 6 defensemen playing very well, excellent fore and back checking and timely contributions from the 3rd and 4th lines. They limit second chances and are playing a very smart game.

Their most important player by far during this run has been Gonchar.

Unless the Penguins can get something from their 3rd and 4th lines, this series will be over very quickly. Both teams can shut down the other team's top 2 lines, which they both did in game 1.

The odd thing, is that this is likely Pittsburgh's best chance to win the cup for at least the next couple of years. They have a lot of UFA players. Malkin will have a big payday coming up and I'm sure some teams will be willing to sacrifice the draft picks required to sign an RFA. He'll get at minimum get the same money as Crosby.

It seems like over the last few years, the top lines get consistently shut down, and teams only win by having depth. I hadn't seen much from the Pens in the regular season, and a quick review of the score sheet would suggest that they're a 2 line team, but they've got some talent in there.

Yeah, it's mostly their D. Before the playoffs, I couldn't have named any of their D other than Gonchar, and I only know his name because it's fun to say, and I often use it as a swear word while muttering to myself.

And why is one of their players named Maxine?

Uncle Ovipositor wrote:It seems like over the last few years, the top lines get consistently shut down, and teams only win by having depth. I hadn't seen much from the Pens in the regular season, and a quick review of the score sheet would suggest that they're a 2 line team, but they've got some talent in there.

Yeah, it's mostly their D. Before the playoffs, I couldn't have named any of their D other than Gonchar, and I only know his name because it's fun to say, and I often use it as a swear word while muttering to myself.

And why is one of their players named Maxine?

It's Maxime, with an M.

game 1 was pretty evenly matched. 1st goal by samuelsson was quite nice. second goal was combination of bad play by fleury and defense and nice shot by samuelsson. 3rd goal, fleury should've had and last goal, was a nice shot, but looked like Pittsburgh had given up by that time.

Pittsburgh didn't get the lucky bounces they got vs. the Flyers even with the questionable officiating.

I guess I'm rooting for the Penguins. I have a lot more respect for Crosby than I did previously. I've seen him make several nice defensive plays. However, Zetterberg and Datsyuk just play the game the right way: creative, physical and responsible defensively. It's a toss up and I hope it goes 7 games with a 2-1 triple overtime victory for whoever.

lemur68 wrote:It's Maxime, with an M.

Hm. Funnier my way.