Hockey Madness

Let's do this!

I am not gonna lie, I haven’t seen a whole lot of the Detroit Wings all year long. I blame this on three things…

1. I live on the East coast so I don’t really give a crap about the Western conference in hockey until it comes down to Stanley Cup time.

2. I watch Sportscenter every morning, but seeing as how ESPN doesn’t own the rights to the NHL, they only show hockey highlights for about 2 minutes if we’re lucky.

3. Versus is just too hard to watch, I’d rather watch a re-run episode of CSI: Miami on Spike TV.

One thing that I have heard a lot of since the conference finals began, was that Detroit would be the “slight favorites” in the NHL Stanley Cup Finals regardless of who from the east they played. The odds makers have picked Detroit as their favorite in this series.

All the speculation is pointless anyway as it will come down to which team has good enough defense to shut down the opposing team’s powerful offense. So let the madness begin on Saturday and be sure to clear these days off of your schedule.(It's a schedule for you slow ones out there)

So if your like me, and you find yourself not knowing as much as you’d like to about the Detroit Red Wings, don’t worry. Just keep reading and check out some of the links to get familiar with boys from Detroit.

The Wings are one of the original 6 teams in the NHL, and are rich in hockey tradition. Detroit has even been referred to as “hockey town”, and there are plenty of banners hanging from the rafters of Joe Louis Arena, as they have won 10 Stanley Cups. You can read more about the team history right here.

It takes some dedication to go out, buy an octopus (lord only knows where you’d get one), lug it all the way to Joe Louis Arena, and toss it on to the ice. Like me, your probably asking yourself, why do they go through the trouble to do that? Here's why.

It also should be noted that much like other successful franchises in sports (Yankees, Red Sox, Lakers, Patriots, Duke for example) there is widespread hatred for the Red Wings outside of the friendly confines of Detroit, but many also adore them. Much like the other previously mentioned teams in this paragraph, you either love or hate the Red Wings. There is no in between.

Detroit Fans

Even More Hockey Links from Diego

So as we’re here in Pittsburgh trying to find out about the Red Wings, they are there in Detroit trying to figure out more about the Pens. Here is the Detroit Free Press' view of the Pens so far.

Not too sure why anyone asked him, but Coyotes GM Don Maloney compares Penguins-Wings final to the Lakers-Celtics classic championship’s from the 80’s.

Well everyone (including the NHL) got the teams they wanted in the Stanley Cup Finals. Even those crazy Canadians agree that this should be a Stanley Cup to remember.

I was watching Fox Sports yesterday while Mike Prisutta, Rob Cook, and Rob King had a round table discussion about the Pens. The future of the Pens was the topic, more specifically who’d they be able to sign in the offseason. I thought Cook made a good point when he said, even if we lose Hossa, there may be another “Hossa” available at the trade deadline next year. A veteran player who may or may not be in his contract year, who would be willing to come play for the Pens for a playoff run.

I thought this was a pretty valid point especially with the level (and age) of talent we have on the Penguins. It would be smart to trade draft picks and/or prospects in return for making another long playoff run.

And finally… a nice slide show depicting our severe beating of the Philly Flyers, save this one so you can come back to when you’re having a bad day. It should bring a smile to your face.

Snack's Empty Netter

Something has swept over Pittsburgh; that's right, we all have Cup fever. So now the question begs to be asked - what the hell do we do with ourselves until Saturday? I, for one, plan on going to a Bucco game or two (we've largely ignored them but they're almost at .500, which is f-ing amazing for those guys) and watching my ten disc collection of the Pens' greatest games to get me fired up. Feel free to post your off-week plans in the comments section...

And finally, I just wanted to throw a little more praise at your boy, my boy, Marc Andre Fluery. He's playing like he's Superman all playoffs long, and I have no doubt in my mind he'll keep his play up. And apparently he's the nicest guy on the team. Keep up the good work young man - maybe we'll be able to understand that gibberish that comes outta your mouth one day and properly congratulate you.

Until lata...