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STANLEY CUP PREDICTION:

SHARKS OVER FLYERS

The Pittsburgh Penguins gritty performance proved the most skilled team doesn’t always win in the end.

It’s the team with the most will to compete and block shots, drive the net and basically do whatever it takes to win.

Friday night in Detroit at the “Joe” the Pens did what almost no one outside of them and their fan base thought, beat the Wings in their own building to take the Cup.

I’m happy to say that Hockey God predicted a Pens win at the start in this series but even I thought it would be difficult if the series went seven as this WAS very much a home and home series with the home team winning every game except the most critical one last night.

Pittsburgh did out play the Wings for most of the night for a very deserving victory but there were some moments where M-A Fleury had to come up big against the Wings skill.

I for one love the fact that Grit beat Skill last night as I believe that a team should be built with your top 6 skill guys combined with your gritty plumbers spread out across the balance of the forward lines. Same thing on D combine skill with grit with the willingness to sacrifice your body game in and game out.

Detroit is a very well coached hockey club and is full of skill but in my mind outside of Daniel Cleary they don’t have the grit in their line-up that they have had years ago.

Long gone are the Stevie Y’s, Brendan Shanahan’s and long in the tooth are the Kris Drapers and Darran McCarty who were around for the Wings big Cup wins previous. The Wings are trying to get back to that with guys like the youngster Darren Helm who has more than proven that he should be an everyday player next season.

In the end the Wings are so over skilled and talented but the Wings management may want to go about adding some muscle like most other teams do in today’s NHL because in the end they lost and that’s the reason why.

Pens Sidney Crosby is the youngest captain ever to lift the Cup and did it on a bad knee as he was hurt in game seven but it didn’t seem to bother him when he took the Cup the first time around the ice. For me that was great to see because he takes so much abuse from the genius media about his play to which most of them know nothing about.

Crosby and Mike Babcock had an interesting exchange at the end of the handshakes where Babcock said “you played great” with the two of them to be guaranteed to be joining forces later this summer for Canada’s Olympic team camp in August.

But today the very young Pens are Stanley Cup Champions and that sounds great !

For Hockey God I’m Dave Frost

Chris Pronger and his family are staying in California and will continue in LA LA Land !

The Los Angles Kings have landed Pronger but not without paying a large price.

Pronger to Kings for Jack Johnson and the Kings first round draft pick which is fifth over-all.

This trade should be made official before the NHL Draft as per the CBA.

According to the NHL’s collective agreement, no trades can be completed until after the conclusion of the Stanley Cup playoffs.

MARC CRAWFORD COACHING THE KINGS

CRAWFORD LANDS STARS JOB

For me personally I usually like when a GM goes out and gets a young fresh face coach that has put in his time and deserves a chance to show what he can do just like Stanley Cup Finalist Dan Bylsma did along with the Florida Panthers head coach Pete DeBoer he was plucked -taking him fresh out of Major Junior.

Stars named Marc Crawford as their new coach Thursday, bringing in a well-traveled NHL veteran to replace the fired Dave Tippett.

The coaching change is the first significant move by general manager & former Leafs player and recent executive Joe Nieuwendyk since he was hired May 31.

Crawford is the exception of my “younger fresh rule” of hiring recycled coaches that need to move over and make room for new blood.

Crawford’s last gig was in L.A with the Kings where he got shafted and was let go and not allowed to stay the course and develop his young roster which still leaves many scratching their heads.

This hire by GM Newy is a very good one and was obviously something that was important for Newy if you look at how fast the turn around was with these moves.

Tippett in my mind no matter which way you cut it threw one of his own players under the bus whether Sean Avery deserved or not is not the question. When you are the coach you deal with your players issues internally and never with the idiot media who will blow anything that is said so far out of proportion that is said anyways.( Please refer to every article ever written by suns simmons)

Tippett can coach but what he did going public on Avery rubbed me the wrong way and I’m sure as much as players would like to kick Avery in the teeth themselves wouldn’t want their own coach to do the same thing publicly. It’s just not the way to handle your dressing room and probably a main reason he is looking for work today.

SUTTER FROM SWAMP TO FARM

Believe me speaking from experience it ain’t easy for someone to walk away from Devils boss Lou Lamoriello unless it’s done his way with his blessing.

It would probably have been easier for one to walk away from New Jersey Mob Boss Tony Soprano in the hit TV show than tell Lou ” Um yeah Lou I’m quitting”.

Sutter will bide his time if that’s what it takes and wait the season he has left on the contract with the Devs, but in the end whether it’s this Sept or next he will coach the Calgary Flames. That will all depend on how Lou determines how he wants this to work with his former very high paid coach at $2 million plus a season on a three year deal.

Sutter is tough gruff guy just like his bothers and specifically the one in charge already with the Flames GM Darryl. The two Sutter’s will be a great fit once the Jersey Boss allows it to take place.

Maybe the Sutter’s need to go to Jersey for a good old fashioned ” Sit Down” to complete the deal.

LEAFS HIRE GEM

Toronto Maple Leafs boss Brian Burke has made a massive move by landing Patrick Roy’s former coach to take the Leafs goalie coaching/consulting job.

The Toronto Maples Leafs hired Francois Allaire who was working with Burke’s former team in Anahiem and you just know to leave that weather and lifestyle in CA there must have been some serious dollars changing bank accounts.

“We consider Francois to be one of the best in the world at his craft,” said Burke in a statement. “He brings a tremendous amount of experience and I know that he will make an immediate impact with our goalies.”

Burke with this move has just improved the all important goaltending position with one hire showing once again he is a very savvy General Manager while working his way through the issues at the ACC.

For Hockey God I’m Dave Frost

PENS TAKE GAME SIX

If last nights game is any indication for the younger Pens the Wings are very beatable in game seven even at the all dreaded “Joe” in Detroit.

This series as I was afraid of at the start for the Pens would be a home and home and now it has happened with Friday’s game seven @ 8pm.

With saying that if you asked the Pens if they could play one game in June for the Stanley Cup even if it was in Detroit they obviously would take it.

These Pens are better and smarter than last year to that there is no question but to beat the Wings on home ice for the Cup they will have to score if they can manage to dominate AGAIN early in the game like they did in Detroit in game five.

Not scoring after out playing the Wings in that game along with the weak goaltending of Fluery especially on the first goal put an early nail in it for the Pens who need to stay calm and play a smart game that includes playing and staying very physical like they did last night.

Now last nights game was won by the grinders with not only getting goals from role players Staal and Kennedy but some great physical play from the normally gutless Matt Cooke made a huge difference as he ran over several Wings.

So the Pens will play a game seven for all the marbles no thanks to the brutal calls by ref Bill McCreary who called two calls with under 10 minutes left to try to allow the Wings to tie the game.

The Pens beat both the ref and the Wings killing off both penalties to hold on to the lead. Unless it’s a scoring chance or attempt to injure the refs should put the whistle away and let the teams decide the outcome of the games when the stakes are this high.

Nothing pisses players off more than marginal calls late in games or any time really by cocky refs who think they are somehow the reason fans watch the games. Trust me with all the players I’ve been around for years as a coach and player agent the game is about the players, they are the entertainment and don’t like the league mandating shitty petty calls deciding games.

For Hockey God I’m Dave Frost

PENS 4 WINGS 2

In hockey when you are coaching your team you often think to yourself that your best players who’s job it is to score, have to score for your team to have any chance in the big games.

Well, last night in Pittsburgh the Penguins tied the series at two games a piece in the Stanley Cup Final that now heads back to the “Joe” for game five.

How did they do it? They did it from huge performances from the best players starting with finally a solid performance from Marc-Andrea Fleury in the net along with the usual suspects Crosby, Malkin, Staal and a ton of grit work done by the plumbers.

If the Wings win this series it won’t be like last year because the Pens lost an early home game in that series that cost them the Cup.

Now with the series knotted at two a piece the Wings better show up at home and not get out worked as they did last night by a wide margin.

The Wings power play was brutal and it cost them a shorthanded goal by Staal who may have changed the series around with that key goal to tie up the game. Then the Wings could not stop the bleeding as the Pens rolled over the Wings in every facet of the game there after.

Shockingly last night HNIC’s Don Cherry said he thought that the Pens Malkin would win the MVP of playoffs mostly because of his point production but what is so surprising is Cherry is no fan of Russian players.

My question is why does everyone dis Crosby so much, he only leads the league in playoff goals with 15 and has been dynamite consistent the entire playoffs for the Pens.

Speaking of CBC coverage of HNIC on television here in Canada there is always something going wrong with their audio breaking up with static during games.

It happens so often on their coverage that any time the game is also on another channel I will watch that over HNIC. To make matters worse they have chosen to add to their intermission lineup this very odd i-desk portion with a good reporter Morrison but what the hell is this useless little shit Jeff Marek doing on TV?

My wife who wouldn’t know Marek if she fell over him ( She actually could he is so small) asked me who is this idiot did he win a contest to do this ? As I laughed all I could think of is why the hell would Morrison be a part of this or at least why not allow Morrison on his own to bring some professionalism or belief to the thoughts, cause Marek just doesn’t do it for anyone that I have talked to about this segment.

Wow- here’s hoping TSN gets the rights to hockey full time in Canada over the low rated CBC.

SACCO TO COACH AV’S

I hate to say this because I like when teams give new fresh blood the chance to take over teams like the current Cup finalists Pittsburgh Penguins did with Dan Blysma.

The list where it has worked goes on & on and has been a success around the league look at also the Capitals improvement under Bruce Boudreau or the Sharks under Todd McLellan this season. Panthers much improved season under Pete DeBoer who did an outstanding job right out of Junior.

But this hire of Joe Sacco is simply to keep the seat warm until the team is better and is ready for Patrick Roy who turned the job down a week earlier with the Av’s.

For Hockey God I’m Dave Frost

GAME 3 HIGHLIGHTS

PENS 4 WINGS 2

Chris Osgood was screened on the 3rd period game winning goal by power play specialist Sergei Gonchar to allow the Pens to finally get on the scoreboard in this series now down to 2-1 Wings.

The Wings were dominant in this game which they lost for the first time after being out played and still winning in games one and two in Detroit.

Pitt played a strong third period and came away with the series saving victory thanks to the before mentioned power play rocket from the point.

Frankly they were out played by a wide margin for most of the first sixty minutes and will have to turn around their over all play in both ends of the ice to take down the Wings in this series.

This may have tightened up the series but if the Pens can’t play much better they are still toast for the Cup.

AVS CLEAN HOUSE   

The Colorado Av’s have cleaned house today firing coach Tony Granato who was very unfairly left hanging since the end of the season all the while they offered the job to Patrick Roy.

President Pierre Lacroix has fumbled this team ever since the NHL Owners lock out and his recent hiring of the teams assistant GM will probably work as good as the last time when the result was in the firing of Francois Giguere who was in over his head from the start.

At-least this time Lacroix tried to hire the right guy in Roy but failed to convince Roy that this team is in good shape for take over.

Look for Roy to wait until the team gets better before coming in to take over which based on the teams lack of goaltending could be a few more seasons.

Pete DeBoer when hired by GM Martin in Florida

MONTREAL GRABS VETERAN COACH

Very odd that Montreal GM Bob Gainey would over-look Patrick Roy not to mention many other very qualified coaches in and out of work for the Habs bench boss vacancy in the crazed hockey market with rabid fans.

Yes, Jacques Martin the former NHL coach turned General Manager has been loured back behind the bench to take over the struggling Habs who were bounced in the first round by Boston of this years playoffs.

DEBOER GM ?

Martin leaving the Florida Panthers will either leave his hire and current coach Pete DeBoer as the natural choice as GM or the team will be in search for a GM with a coach already in place which is always a little odd.

Don’t put it past this owner to go after his former GM Mike Keenan who recently became available after be fired by the Calgary Flames.

DeBoer would be a great choice in Florida after proving last season he can certainly coach after years in Kitchener in the OHL. The Panthers ownership situation is very uncertain as the word is Al Cohan will sell the team or at least a stake in the team and that is what made Martin jump ship.

This is a shocker for the Habs and not a very good move for Gainey who takes on a coach that stopped coaching because many thought he had ran his time behind the bench and was far to defensive but will give the Habs a french speaking coach.

NEWY NEW GM IN DALLAS

The Toronto Maple Leafs lost a piece of their front office after the Dallas Stars brought their former star player back to the fold naming Joe Nieuwendyk as General Manager.

Brett Hull and Les Jackson who were co-Gm’s for the Stars last season will stay on in different roles with the Stars organization.

This was a great hire for the Stars as Newy is a very savvy smart guy that will do a great job in Dallas and is ready for this job after some time in both Florida and then the Leafs on the management side.

WINGS UP 2

The Detroit Red Wings mixed in some lucky bounces, timely saves by Chris Osgood and goals from some unknowns to jump out and take a 2-0 series lead in the Stanley Cup finals.

The Wings are tough to beat at the “Joe” any time but when they are getting the type of goaltending they are getting from Ozzy along with the tight checking willingness from the Wings stars they were not going to be denied in game 1 or game 2.

Wings star Zetterbergh shocked me with his willingness to take on head to head Pens superstar Sid Crosby who was held goalless after literally having his way throughout these playoffs.

For the Pens to get back into this series they are going to have to battle through the Wings defensive traffic and get some production from the top line with Crosby, Kunitz, Guerin not to mention some more goals from Malkin who fought Zetterbergh at the end of the game last night.

Pens need to win both games at home or this series is over because the fact that they cannot seem to win in Detroit even when they carry the play in stretches like they did in parts of games 1 and 2.

Pens need Fleury to be better with zero more weak goals and the team grit and scoring to get back to where it was when they beat the Capitals and Canes.

This series needs to go seven now for the Pens to have any chance of knocking off the Cup Champs.

For Hockey God I’m Dave Frost

PENS YEAR TO COME OUT ON TOP

The Pittsburgh Penguins are the younger more feisty team and certainly with the injuries to all star defenseman Nik Lidstrom and top line forward Pavel Datsyuk the more healthier of the two finalists.

The Wings have been beaten up on the way through to the finals and getting great efforts from some call-ups and seasoned vets along the way pushing the veteran Wings to the Cup.

If Detroit is to win this series they would have to do it short staffed and in my mind the only way is for them to push this series to a seventh game at home at the “Joe” where they would have the edge of repeating as Champions.

But this is Pittsburgh’s year you can just feel it for Crosby and Malkin who will be asked and needed to out play Datsyuk and Zetterberg to win the Cup for the Pens.

Crosby and Malkin lead the NHL in scoring again in these playoffs all the while playing on separate lines for the dangerous Pens attack.

Crosby has veterans Bill Guerin and recent Cup winner Chris Kunitz playing on his wings which have been a major success.

Chris Osgood has three Stanley Cup rings- one as a backup:

He continues to prove that when the shit hits the fan and the games are on the line he stands up and plays very solid. With saying that the Wings won’t lose this series because of Ozzy but they will watch the Pens younger M-A Fleury slightly out match their tender in this series.

Fleury has gotten better and better throughout the playoffs and his confidence has grown with each series it seems to the point where he was so calm in the semi’s that the series was never in doubt and he was solid if not excellent at times.

The coaching aspect of this series is very interesting as the Wings Mike Babcock who won his first Cup last season is a high strong quality coach who loves his team and the depth they have with injuries or not.

But you can bet he is hoping that injuries do not play a part in this series because it’s one thing to beat the inexperienced Hawks and quite another to beat the Pens who have been here before and gained valuable experience by losing last seasons Cup.

Pittsburgh has to win one of these home games in Detroit and steal away home ice and they simply cannot allow this series to go past game six or the Wings will have the advantage.

This series has to be over in six or better for the Pens and rely heavily that the Wings injuries are to much this time to over come.

Dan Bylsma :

Has the players ears in Pitt without the NHL coaching experience to fall back on like Babcock. He relies heavily on the fact he is a players coach who stays calm, cool and collective during the games and seems to be very wired in on what is happening on the ice.

The edge goes to the Wings here I suppose but the Pens coach knows his team and has pushed all the right buttons ever since he took over and they have gone on an unreal run to the finals.

PREDICTION:

The Pens will take this series because they are healthier and ready to make the major step of knocking off the Cup winning Wings this time around and it will be Crosby & Malkin’s true coming out party so to speak as Stanley Cup Champions being added the their already impressive resume.

For Hockey God I’m Dave Frost