Stanley Cup Finals Game 1: Pens v Red Wings (L 0-4)
Well. That was 7 shades of ugly. I feel safe in saying we all had high hopes after the Pens came out on the dominating side at the end of the first period. But then what the hell happened?! Only 4 shots in the second and 3 in the third??? TERRIBLE. And did it seem like the ice may have been bad to anyone else? It certainly seemed like the puck was taking some really strange bounces.
Right hand to God, when Marc-Andre Fleury stepped on the ice and fell, I immediately thought, "Oh man, I hope that's not an omen..." And THEN the announcer called told the crowd that "Pittsburgh Captain Steven Crosby" was coming out for the ceremonial faceoff. W-T-F?!?! I don't know how you can work for a hockey team and not know the name "SIDNEY CROSBY" so I'm forced to assume that the announcer did it on purpose to be facetious. Anyhoo, Mario Lemieux and Steve Yzerman came out to drop the puck(s) for the ceremonial faceoff. It was a very cool moment:
Right as the game got underway, Sid made a hard run to cancel an icing play, but he slammed into the boards for his efforts. I nearly passed out. He wasn't hurt. It just looked awful and shaved 3 or 4 years off my life. Big Georges Laraque and Darren McCarty had a battle of words that toed the line of becoming physical. Big hitter Niklas Kronwall drilled Jordan Staal - it was the first of many hits from Kronwall. Ryan Malone nearly got a wraparound chance, but it was thwarted by Chris Osgood.
Flower blocked a shot by Jiri Hudler. At virtually the same time, Kris Letang was called for interference. The Wings' power play lasted only 11 seconds because Tomas Holmstrom was called for high sticking Brooks Orpik. On the ensuing 4-on-4, Marian Hossa had a shot blocked and MAF lost his helmet after Valtteri Filppula went hard to the net. It felt like forever until the refs noticed MAF's exposed head and blew the whistle. Neither team scored on the 4-on-4 or their respective 10 second power plays.
A few scrums developed between the teams tonight. One happened after Holmstrom kept poking away at MAF after he froze the puck. Later, MAF made a beautiful save on Kirk Maltby. Jarrko Ruutu and Kronwall had words after Kronwall made an attempt to freight train Ruutu. Sid set up a spectacular play that got the puck to Pascal Dupuis, who then sent it to a wide open Hossa. But Osgood made a great save on Hossa's shot.
Niklas Lidstrom was called for hooking Bugsy. Detroit had an odd man shorthanded rush that Sergei Gonchar cancelled out nicely. Despite a pair of near misses, the Pens didn't score on their power play. We were told that 13,000 Pens-crazy fans showed up at the Mellon Arena to watch the game on the jumbotron. At $5.00 per ticket + Ticketmaster waiving all fees on the tickets = $65,000 for the Mario Lemieux Foundation!!!!!! :)
Darren Helm was called for tripping. Gonch broke Dan Cleary's stick with a shot. Osgood made a great save on a ricocheted puck that came off Sid's chest. Hossa and Tyler Kennedy both had unreal near-misses, but the Pens didn't score on this power play. With 4:40 left in the period, Lidstrom fired a shot that found its way to the back of the net. NO GOAL was immediately called by the refs because Holstrom put his stick between Flower's legs. In addition to the no goal call, Holstrom was given a penalty for goalie interference. Coach Mike Babcock nearly stroked out as he protested the call. On the ensuing Pens power play, Kronwall drilled Bugsy, and the Pens didn't score. With 59.2 seconds left in the period, Hal Gill was called for highsticking. The Red Wings didn't score on this half of their power play, and the period ended.
The Red Wings had just over a minute left to work on their power play, but they failed to capitalize on their advantage. The Pens got control as the penalty ended, but Gill had a split second issue coming out of the box, so he didn't get a breakaway chance. Kris Draper fired a shot that managed to hit one post, roll across the entire length of the crossbar, and bounce out off the other post. (It was quite amazing to see - probably impossible to duplicate. Well, not that anyone would ever want to duplicate it...)
Sid was called for a weak slash. The Red Wings didn't score on their power play. Later, the Saint made a beautiful lead pass to Dupuis, who was alone in front of Osgood. But Osgood made a great save on Dupuis, prompting the crowd to begin a chant of "OZZY!!! OZZY!!! OZZY!!!" Later, a fluky bounce negated an icing call, which enabled Filppula to fire a shot at MAF, who made the save. Sid was steamrolled by Pavel Datsyuk. Then, as Staal and Kennedy left the ice to make a change, Ruutu lazily sent the puck towards center ice. Mikael Samuelsson intercepted the puck and sped into the Pens' zone. MAF tightened up in the corner, so Sammy streaked behind the net and out around to the other side. Flower was unable to get to the other side, so Sammy stuffed it in for the first goal in over 30 minutes of play. [Pens 0, Wings 1]
Strangely, my text service sent me a message that Ruutu had scored for the Pens. I thought it was an isolated incident, but Friend of The Show Allison Y. sent me this screenshot from Yahoo! (click to enlarge):
It was about this time that the Pens' game did a 180°. They got too sloppy and - dare I say it - lethargic. Okay... Perhaps "lethargic" is too strong a word, but there definitely was no sense of urgency at all coming from them from this point on. And all the while the Pens played worse, the Red Wings play got better and better.
Immediately on the next play, Ryan Whitney took a penalty for holding. The Wings didn't score on their advantage. Henrik Zetterberg freight trained Sid. Flower made a great save on Datsyuk. Mad Max Talbot went full force at Kronwall, but Kronwall ducked and missed the brunt of the hit. (Mad Max would have sent him into next week if he had connected!) Whit fired a shot that was blocked. With 31.3 seconds left, Evgeni Malkin was called for tripping. The Wings didn't score on their abbreviated power play, and the period ended.
The third period began with GENO (← That spelling won by a LANDSLIDE! Over 92% of you preferred E over I.) still in the box. The Wings didn't score on the rest of their power play. A weird play started with MAF giving the puck to Geno in front of the net. Geno just kind of stood there as Samuelsson swooped in and swatted the puck into the net. Was it miscommunication? Who knows. What's certain is that things only continued to get worse after this goal. [Pens 0, Wings 2]
After the Pens had a great shift, Samuelsson and Sidney nearly came to blows as they went to their respective benches. A linesman came in to keep the peace. Sidney kept setting guys up, but the Pens just seem to be a split second off from their timing. This was DEFINITELY not the same Penguins team we've seen blow through 3 rounds with just 2 losses, that's for sure. Right off a faceoff, Hossa fired a shot that hit the post. Sid then tried to tip the puck in, but it bounced in favor of Osgood for the save.
Lidstrom was called for interference on Hossa. On this Penguins power play, Sid absolutely drilled Brad Stuart and knocked him down. Perhaps the Saint was venting a few pent up frustrations.
Sid had no way of knowing it was about to get worse though... A few seconds later Stuart cleared the puck the length of the ice. The puck hit the boards and bounced right to Cleary, who was in the perfect spot in front of MAF to fire the puck into the net for the shorthanded goal. [Pens 0, Wings 3]
Even then, the onslaught wasn't over. The Pens didn't score on their advantage, and with 1:52 left in the game, Ruutu was called for slashing. With just 12.2 seconds left in the game, Zetterberg scored the power play goal. [Pens 0, Wings 4]
At the presser after the game, Babcock was being a jerk to a reporter when said reporter asked about the goalie interference call. He threw a mini-tantrum then abruptly demanded to change the subject. Contrast that with Coach Michel Therrien's rather quiet, dejected demeanor. Yikes. I almost feel bad for the Pens - no doubt Therrien's going to give them a tongue lashing tonight!
The Pens remain in Detroit "Ock" City for Game 2. Hopefully they've learned as much from this game as they learned from the 2007 playoff series against Ottawa...
GO PENS!!!!!!!!!!!
Right hand to God, when Marc-Andre Fleury stepped on the ice and fell, I immediately thought, "Oh man, I hope that's not an omen..." And THEN the announcer called told the crowd that "Pittsburgh Captain Steven Crosby" was coming out for the ceremonial faceoff. W-T-F?!?! I don't know how you can work for a hockey team and not know the name "SIDNEY CROSBY" so I'm forced to assume that the announcer did it on purpose to be facetious. Anyhoo, Mario Lemieux and Steve Yzerman came out to drop the puck(s) for the ceremonial faceoff. It was a very cool moment:
From this picture, it almost seems like Yzerman is star struck by Lemieux - but who could blame him?
Right as the game got underway, Sid made a hard run to cancel an icing play, but he slammed into the boards for his efforts. I nearly passed out. He wasn't hurt. It just looked awful and shaved 3 or 4 years off my life. Big Georges Laraque and Darren McCarty had a battle of words that toed the line of becoming physical. Big hitter Niklas Kronwall drilled Jordan Staal - it was the first of many hits from Kronwall. Ryan Malone nearly got a wraparound chance, but it was thwarted by Chris Osgood.
Flower blocked a shot by Jiri Hudler. At virtually the same time, Kris Letang was called for interference. The Wings' power play lasted only 11 seconds because Tomas Holmstrom was called for high sticking Brooks Orpik. On the ensuing 4-on-4, Marian Hossa had a shot blocked and MAF lost his helmet after Valtteri Filppula went hard to the net. It felt like forever until the refs noticed MAF's exposed head and blew the whistle. Neither team scored on the 4-on-4 or their respective 10 second power plays.
A few scrums developed between the teams tonight. One happened after Holmstrom kept poking away at MAF after he froze the puck. Later, MAF made a beautiful save on Kirk Maltby. Jarrko Ruutu and Kronwall had words after Kronwall made an attempt to freight train Ruutu. Sid set up a spectacular play that got the puck to Pascal Dupuis, who then sent it to a wide open Hossa. But Osgood made a great save on Hossa's shot.
Niklas Lidstrom was called for hooking Bugsy. Detroit had an odd man shorthanded rush that Sergei Gonchar cancelled out nicely. Despite a pair of near misses, the Pens didn't score on their power play. We were told that 13,000 Pens-crazy fans showed up at the Mellon Arena to watch the game on the jumbotron. At $5.00 per ticket + Ticketmaster waiving all fees on the tickets = $65,000 for the Mario Lemieux Foundation!!!!!! :)
Darren Helm was called for tripping. Gonch broke Dan Cleary's stick with a shot. Osgood made a great save on a ricocheted puck that came off Sid's chest. Hossa and Tyler Kennedy both had unreal near-misses, but the Pens didn't score on this power play. With 4:40 left in the period, Lidstrom fired a shot that found its way to the back of the net. NO GOAL was immediately called by the refs because Holstrom put his stick between Flower's legs. In addition to the no goal call, Holstrom was given a penalty for goalie interference. Coach Mike Babcock nearly stroked out as he protested the call. On the ensuing Pens power play, Kronwall drilled Bugsy, and the Pens didn't score. With 59.2 seconds left in the period, Hal Gill was called for highsticking. The Red Wings didn't score on this half of their power play, and the period ended.
The Red Wings had just over a minute left to work on their power play, but they failed to capitalize on their advantage. The Pens got control as the penalty ended, but Gill had a split second issue coming out of the box, so he didn't get a breakaway chance. Kris Draper fired a shot that managed to hit one post, roll across the entire length of the crossbar, and bounce out off the other post. (It was quite amazing to see - probably impossible to duplicate. Well, not that anyone would ever want to duplicate it...)
Sid was called for a weak slash. The Red Wings didn't score on their power play. Later, the Saint made a beautiful lead pass to Dupuis, who was alone in front of Osgood. But Osgood made a great save on Dupuis, prompting the crowd to begin a chant of "OZZY!!! OZZY!!! OZZY!!!" Later, a fluky bounce negated an icing call, which enabled Filppula to fire a shot at MAF, who made the save. Sid was steamrolled by Pavel Datsyuk. Then, as Staal and Kennedy left the ice to make a change, Ruutu lazily sent the puck towards center ice. Mikael Samuelsson intercepted the puck and sped into the Pens' zone. MAF tightened up in the corner, so Sammy streaked behind the net and out around to the other side. Flower was unable to get to the other side, so Sammy stuffed it in for the first goal in over 30 minutes of play. [Pens 0, Wings 1]
Strangely, my text service sent me a message that Ruutu had scored for the Pens. I thought it was an isolated incident, but Friend of The Show Allison Y. sent me this screenshot from Yahoo! (click to enlarge):
Awful.
It was about this time that the Pens' game did a 180°. They got too sloppy and - dare I say it - lethargic. Okay... Perhaps "lethargic" is too strong a word, but there definitely was no sense of urgency at all coming from them from this point on. And all the while the Pens played worse, the Red Wings play got better and better.
Immediately on the next play, Ryan Whitney took a penalty for holding. The Wings didn't score on their advantage. Henrik Zetterberg freight trained Sid. Flower made a great save on Datsyuk. Mad Max Talbot went full force at Kronwall, but Kronwall ducked and missed the brunt of the hit. (Mad Max would have sent him into next week if he had connected!) Whit fired a shot that was blocked. With 31.3 seconds left, Evgeni Malkin was called for tripping. The Wings didn't score on their abbreviated power play, and the period ended.
The third period began with GENO (← That spelling won by a LANDSLIDE! Over 92% of you preferred E over I.) still in the box. The Wings didn't score on the rest of their power play. A weird play started with MAF giving the puck to Geno in front of the net. Geno just kind of stood there as Samuelsson swooped in and swatted the puck into the net. Was it miscommunication? Who knows. What's certain is that things only continued to get worse after this goal. [Pens 0, Wings 2]
After the Pens had a great shift, Samuelsson and Sidney nearly came to blows as they went to their respective benches. A linesman came in to keep the peace. Sidney kept setting guys up, but the Pens just seem to be a split second off from their timing. This was DEFINITELY not the same Penguins team we've seen blow through 3 rounds with just 2 losses, that's for sure. Right off a faceoff, Hossa fired a shot that hit the post. Sid then tried to tip the puck in, but it bounced in favor of Osgood for the save.
Lidstrom was called for interference on Hossa. On this Penguins power play, Sid absolutely drilled Brad Stuart and knocked him down. Perhaps the Saint was venting a few pent up frustrations.
Sid had no way of knowing it was about to get worse though... A few seconds later Stuart cleared the puck the length of the ice. The puck hit the boards and bounced right to Cleary, who was in the perfect spot in front of MAF to fire the puck into the net for the shorthanded goal. [Pens 0, Wings 3]
Even then, the onslaught wasn't over. The Pens didn't score on their advantage, and with 1:52 left in the game, Ruutu was called for slashing. With just 12.2 seconds left in the game, Zetterberg scored the power play goal. [Pens 0, Wings 4]
At the presser after the game, Babcock was being a jerk to a reporter when said reporter asked about the goalie interference call. He threw a mini-tantrum then abruptly demanded to change the subject. Contrast that with Coach Michel Therrien's rather quiet, dejected demeanor. Yikes. I almost feel bad for the Pens - no doubt Therrien's going to give them a tongue lashing tonight!
Sid = STUNNED
The Pens remain in Detroit "Ock" City for Game 2. Hopefully they've learned as much from this game as they learned from the 2007 playoff series against Ottawa...
GO PENS!!!!!!!!!!!
Labels: playoffs, recap, Stanley Cup Finals
posted by snoopyjode at 10:47 PM
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50 Comments in The Friends' Zone:
I am extremely sad. I am speechless as well. I know it's only Game 1 but this game was a test. They need to get it together if them wanna win this. I still have hope, but I have about 50% less hope than I did before this game. It's hard to see them lose but it's not over. They know how to take it game by game and that's all they need to do.
Come on Pens. We can beat these guys.
I'm having flashbacks!!!
We looked just like the Pens did in the beginning. That being said, we obviously came back pretty strong. And I have all the faith in the world that this was a learning experience and the next game will be MUCH better.
That Osgood is a wall. My advice to the Pens? GO HIGH!
And who in the hell is Steven Crosby?????
LOL, stephanie, i yelled that at my tv. what a dumbass announcer. exactly how do you work for an nhl team and not know sid's name? i think he did it to be a jerk.
Lesson 1 learned ...
*sigh*
Sucks, but it had to come some time.
there are not even words to describe the intense amounts of anger that is currently inhabiting my body.
They started out by calling sid "steven", you have to be a complete and total moron, who is living under a rock to not know who he is, that is completely unacceptable.
After the 1st goal by Samuelsson ( i don't think there is any relation to Ulf Samuelsson, the old Pen who now coaches in Phoenix) everything just went down hill. There was so much that they could have done to get themself back into the game and they just couldn't get it together.
I'm just hoping that everything that went on was just some nervous jitters because of the fact that this group of young guys has never been to the Stanley Cup Finals before.
yeah, we pretty much sleepwalked through the whole game pretty much after samuelsson's two goals, but we are going to come back in game 2! we will not let a sweep ensue!
and snoopyjode, where's the geno/gino post that was here before this one!? i set the picture of sid as my desktop background but i forgot to save it in my pictures folder :(
aaaaahhhh wait, nevermind the last part of my comment, my page loaded weirdly and now i see the post. sorry about that !!!
click here stace.
The whole "Steven" episode was completely unacceptable. The man sounded very old, so who knows? But still, you can't be any more rude than that! Even if you make a mistake, you need to correct it! He didn't even sound like he knew he made the mistake!
As soon as Marc-Andre fell coming onto the ice, I felt a bad omen for the Penguins...did anyone else feel that?
As soon as Marc-Andre fell coming onto the ice, I felt a bad omen for the Penguins...did anyone else feel that?
hahaha, melissa - you and i must be on the same wavelength. i've got that written in my recap almost verbatim. ;)
You know it ain't good when your goalie face-plants on his way to the ice. But MAN, that was funny.
There are 6 other games. I expected them to have a tough time tonight--game one on the road is almost impossible to win. It sucks, but it's understandable. The Pens will come back, they always do :)
(Dear Detroit: let the octopus thing GO! it's disgusting!)
Weather we win or lose, Im proud of the guys. And I think we did well most of the game. The guys are fast learners and I believe next game will be much diffrent... But all and all, I believe in them. I believe.
One more thing....
PENGUINS FANS ROCK!!!
All those people at the Mellon...got me a little misty, I tell ya!
Are they planning on doing that for all the away games? And so awesome that it's for a great cause as well.
Kudos! :)
I was worried fleury was nervous (hence the trippage) but he played pretty well for the part of the game where we were still in it.
I was SCREAMING by the end of the game because I was so frustrated at Malkin and others. The wings just got better and better at stopping the usual carrying into the offensive zone that he does and he stayed one dimensional the whole game.
What happened to the guy who takes games over when teams put a ton of pressure on syd's line?
*as an addition, at least the Baby Penguins won! They're in the cup finals for their league too.
definately as soon as Fleury tripped i thought, oh man this can't go well.
and then on top of that they got sid's name wrong. like wtf honestly how does that happen?
the penguins definately can win, but detroits really strong, and they'll need to put in so much more effort and work together
I agree with Lisa on the octopus thing. Ick!
Oh, man...I almost cried when Fleury fell. :( It's bad enough that the crowd was booing them when they came out. At least they didn't all laugh at him...
Yzerman might have been awe-strucked by Mario, but he kind of looks like he's stoked to meet Sid. After all, I think Yzerman is one of Sid's hockey Gods so that was probably an awesome moment, playing in the Stanley Cup finals and shaking the hand of your hero before you start playing. Too bad it didn't turn out the way we wanted it to.
When Sid drilled Stuart, I laughed and told my friend, "Well, someone's getting pissed! Maybe this means he'll start scoring..." (She was shocked by his behaviour and my reaction; she loves Sid but would rather he was a perfect gentleman on the ice *shaking head*)
It's really too bad he wasn't able to turn his frustration into points like he normally does, but seriously how many more plays could her have set up? Jodie, I agree totally: the timing was always just the TEENIEST bit off... and WHAT WAS UP with that one play of Geno's? I thought I was hallucinating...
HOWEVER, when some of the boys were interviewed after practice the other day (the vids on KDKA) they said how not having played Detroit this season was making it difficult to prepare for game one. I think they'll use what tonight's experience to their advantage and come back swinging in game two. And even if they can't win that one, well, we're back in Mellon arena by Wednesday and we all know what that means :)
CBC didn't show any shots of Mellon tonight, but I KNEW it would be near-capacity even for game one. In 2004, they opened up the Saddledome for away games and it was EXACTLY the same, only I don't think they donate the proceeds to charity so Points to Pittsburgh for their philanthropy!!
Pens: stop, relax, regroup and KICK SOME DETROIT ASS on Monday!
GO PENS!!!!!!!!!!!
To get my mind of this depressing loose, I went searching on GettyImages and don't know if you know but if you search Geno, you will see him and Sid have a bunch of pictures together, they are all sorts of amazing, esp. when both of them are smiling =D
Come on people (girls seemingly from the comments I've read). Sidney Crosby isn't royalty. It's not a crime to accidentally make a mistake with his name.
For those who know anything about hockey should know that the Detroit Red Wings PA Announcer is a man named Budd Lynch. Mr. Lynch is 91 years old. He's been working with the Red Wings since the times of Jack Adams. Also, Mr. Lynch is a member of the HHOF and Foster Hewitt Memorial Award Winner. So automatically he should deserve your respect. Perhaps more than Sidney Crosby does at this moment (at 21, not yet. but at 35 or 30, definitely) And even if he did do it on purpose. Big deal. Crosby's a professional who's been under the spotlight since he was 12 years old. I think he can handle it and I don't think it affected his game.
The people leaving comments about the announcer's egregious error might want to look at their team's performance on the ice. It was dreadful in the second period and third period.
I felt so bad when Fleury fell comming onto the ice! :( he was allready nervous he didn't need any help by falling! and the wings fans were laughing at him :(
duly noted, ryan b. but two things you might want to look at:
1.) the pens' "dreadful" play in periods 2 and 3 was indeed addressed
and
2.) talk to me about how upset you are when they announce "detroit captain nathan lidstrom."
I love how, in the picture of the ceremonial face off, everyone's posing nice for the picture and Sidney's still like "puckpuckpuckpuckpuckpuckpuckpuck!" You could so tell he said "I won it! I WON IT!" after it was dropped and he touched it.
And Babcock is notoriously testy. He's from the rival univrsity (McGill--booooo!) ergo my feelings of hostility are well deserved and deeply rooted ;)
I know they are allowed to, but I have never seen so much "let's stand in front of the goalie and wait for it" crap in my life! The Wings were zippy, had great passes, and seemed like a well oiled machine...but what the hell is that? Like I said, I know it's allowed, but somehow it just felt dirty.
If anything, the game felt like a role reversal. The Pens are usually the ones making smooth passes and blowing past center ice as if there's no one in their way. I truly felt bad for our defense, MAF did his best, but Gonchar and the rest were being POUNDED. It looked exhausting. By the way did anyone see that AWESOME spin move Gonchar did to avoid being checked?! He definitely needs to save his own body because we can't afford to have him be black and blue.
yes, that was a very dissapointing game. However, I am stoked for game 2 because i think our guys are very fast learners and will undoubtably figure out how to break osgood.
(I'll be attending that game as well and will be sure to send you pictures!)
As a Red Wings fan, I was upset and embarassed by them calling him "Steven Crosby"! But I do agree with you about Sid being a professional, and I don't think it affected his game at all. Sid played great last night, and did what he needed to do to set up his teammates. They were just unlucky. A few bounces here and there and it could have been a whole different story!
That did not look like our Penguins out there... we'll get em next game! =)
While seeing dead octopus on the ice is really gross (save an octopus! beat the Red Wings!), I fully respect the tradition and story behind it(the eight legs representing the eight games it used to take to win the Cup). At least it's not just throwing them out there for the sake of something to throw (I'm looking at you and your catfish, Nashville.)
And just wait. They will bring them to Pittsburgh. Just warning you.
Maybe that's why the ice seemed bad....octopus gunk! The Wings are used to it...it's their secret weapon!
melissa, that is the only part of ryan's little sexist rant with which i agreed. but "those who know anything about hockey should know" that sid rarely lets anything affect his game. ;)
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08145/884539-13.stm
The scorers at the game actually got that first goal wrong. I was following the event summary and listening to the online broadcast, so I knew when it popped up Ruutu, it was wrong. It took them 3-4 minutes to get it changed, so Yahoo! just happened to be one of the outlets that got bad information. It generated from the official scorers at the game.
first off - that's why we have 7 games
for flukes like this one -- I ain't scurrred.
second - the beginning was a disaster on Detroit's part (or as my brother likes to call them, Detroilet). Steven Crosby??? C'mon. And I had to witness yet another Octopus murder. Get your shit together, Detroit.
Third - So we got our asses handed to us. Maybe we were expecting them to be soft because of how soft the Western Conference seems to be. I for one, think that if we get Monday, then its anyones series. No one expects it to be easy ON THE ROAD in the STANLEY CUP FINALS.
Don't give up people.
WWSCD??
and no, I don't mean STEVEN.
Just putting it out there, but perhaps the anouncer was thinking about having to introduce Steve Yzerman as he was introducing Sid? The camera (at least on the CBC feed) was on Steve has the announcer started introducing the ceremonial faceoff. They were waiting for Mario and Steve to walk out. That was my first thought anyway, that he was
introducing Steve (which was why the camera was on him) but then I realized he said "Captain" and "Crosby".
That aside, the game wasn't the best, but now that they've seen exactly what Detroit beings in the Stanley Cup Finals they will be more ready for it tomorrow and be able to deal wth it accordingly.
I felt sooo bad for Marc-Andre when he fell, I think my hands were covering my face for at least a full minute, poor guy.
MAF has a sense of humour about the fall. He was practising it today.
http://penguins.nhl.tv/team/launch.htm?type=fvod&id=18542&catid=459
25 seconds into video.
Honestly, as gargantuan of a Red Wings fan, you'd think I would say how well the Wings did, however- I am also a Penguins fan too (how weird, right?) Anyway- they did good, considering they are a bunch of youngsters. I mean not the best they could have, but everyone has to realize how the Wings play too. They top energy and defense, regardless of where they are at, and I think maybe, just maybe the Pens can consider that too.
how many of us have called it as a six game series? anyone? anyone? bueller?
right, lots of us did/have/are doing so. and a six game series means, surprise surprise, WE ARE GONNA LOSE TWO GAMES! losing game one just means we got one of those out of the way :)
and to be honest, while i doubt the Pens expected to get their asses handed to them in such a spectacular fashion, I know if they were entirely expecting to win game one. it was like a trial run, testing out the waters to figure out how deep it is (insert depth jokes here) and how far you have to jump not to get yourself killed. (and yes, it's a brutal analogy, but it kind of works, eh?)
the advantages of a seven game series...
Hello Crosby fans,
I have a weird question that maybe somebody can answer me. Does anybody know what pendant hangs from Syds chain? Just wondering. Also it is funny that hockey players wear gold chains often because I never see men wearing them otherwise. Go Penguins! I'm thinking that they will come back - they are too good to let one bad game throw them off the goal.
hey, anon! you've come to the right place. ;) it doesn't come across in this scan of the photo, but this picture appears in the espn magazine 10th anniversary issue, and in it, you can see that the charm on his chain is an "87." :)
and i agree - it was a terrible start to the series, but there's still PLENTY of time for our boys to recover.
anon @ 1:16 - I think the pendant is an 87. I could be wrong but I have seen a few pics that made me think that.
Jodie you beat me to the answer. No fair, because you get to read the questions before they are posted.
Can't wait for the game!!! Go Pens Go!!
carroll - MWUAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
okay, that was supposed to be an evil genius type laugh... i know. i'm lame. :P
Hey, according to the Pens website, Scary Gary will play tonight! (but that means BGL is out...bummer)
I have a good feeling about tonight. We will see a different Pens team than we did on Saturday. And we've lulled the wings into a false sense of security....go in for the kill!!
My prediction:
Penguins 3
Dead Things 1
GOOOOOOOOOOOOO PENS!!!
The pendent is of an 87. He received it after he graduated high school from his parents.
Here's the link:
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080524/SPORTS05/80524009/1053/SPORTS05
Most of the guys wear crosses if I remember correctly. Gino's broke in a scrum earlier in the playoffs. He quit fighting to look for the cross on the ice. It was pretty amazing!
"This year, we know what we can be," Whitney said. "We can be an elite team."
I found this in an article from last summer when the Pens signed Whit to his 6-year contract; it was his reply to the question of why he was so excited to be contracted to the Pens.
They knew they could be elite, and so they are... fingers crossed, re-crossed for the game tonight. Hopefully our boys will be the elite team they (and we) all know they can be.
Calling Sidney "Steven" wasn't the only name mistake coming out of that game. If you go to ESPN and look at the pictures from the game, after the 3rd goal from the red wings, there is a picture of the 3 forwards I guess, and they said "whil Darryl Sydor skates by" and it was obviously Gonchar not Sydor.
We are going to kick but tonight!!!!! LETS GO PENS!!!!!
Thanks Melissa and everyone else. Great answers!
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Despite the bad calls, the Wings won the series. I'm sorry for you loss; but the better team won.
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