1) Congrats to the RedWings and their organization for obtaining their 11th Cup (4th in the past 11 years) last night. There is no doubt they were deserving of winning. Like they have for each of the 6 games, the Wings outplayed the Penguins. To the credit of the home town Pens, they never gave up, even after falling behind by 2 goals late, and nearly pulled even in the waning seconds as a Sid Crosby shot was stopped by Chris Osgood to secure the victory.
2) Not to beat a dead horse, but goaltending was overall a non factor in all but Game 5 when Fleury was the difference in the Pens victory. Last night he was ordinary, and could be held directly responsible for the 3rd Detroit goal. On the other side of the ice Osgood saw little rubber of quality most of the night, but did make a couple of nice stops, most notably the aforementioned last gasp Crosby attempt. Certainly he was not the reason they won.
3) Nice to see the first European captain finally carry the Cup. If someone were to listen to Lidstrom interviewed and didn't know he was a native Swede, they probably wouldn't be able to tell listening to him. He has little detectable accent, and sounds more like a western Canadian than a European. With his 4th Cup, and next week his 6th Norris his name will probably (and deservedly so) be placed among the all time greats of defensemen of all time with Orr, Potvin, Bourque, Coffey, etc. Additionally he performs this quality with class and without having to resort to Chris Pronger-like tactics
4) On a side note it was classy for Pens fans to stay and to applaud politely as the Wings circled the ice with their booty, but it always seems a bit anti-climatic when a visiting team wins the Cup. The raucous atmosphere of a home win can never be duplicated. Additionally were we the only ones who thought that Gary Bettman felt unusually uncomfortable out there? He was twitching even more than usual, and he seemed like he had a plane to catch when he quickly gave Lidstrom the Cup and almost sprinted off the ice.
5) All this quickly brings us the the off season. No meaningful NHL games until October, 4 months away. Between now and then we have some important dates.
- First are the awards ceremonies next week.
- Followed by the NHL draft when there are sure to be many a deal.
- Following this the free agent season commences. This year will probably not be as interesting as last with so few quality players available, but some important players will be changing uniforms for sure.
- Summer rookie player camps usually take place in mid July for those of us who need a quick hockey fix.
- Training camps in mid September
6) As such we at FAUXRUMORS will probably not be posting quite as frequently over the summer. However, look for regular updates as the rumor mills begin to churn in earnest now that the season is over for all 30 teams. We have a post soon about officiating, and one we are working on about Power forwards. Look for them in the upcoming days/weeks. As always, keep it here for all the latest!
6 comments:
Yes Congrats to the Champs and much credit to the Pens! Have to agree with you there.
Though the horse may be long dead, I am going to beat it once again! I think goaltending WAS a factor in the series. Think back to Game 1 and 2 where Osgood shut out the Pens. Both those games the Pens had moments where they outplayed the Wings and Osgood was the difference while the Wings found their Cup legs.
Game 5 you mentioned as being Fleury's difference maker, and I would argue that Osgood's shakey play in Game 5 was also a factor, as was Fleury's shakey play in game 6. Two of the three goals he let in were saves that a stanley cup champ goalie needs to make.
So goaltending was a factor, but perhaps not in the way many wish it was.
I also think the Euro Captain angle is way over played. How many teams actually have Euro Captains? Sundin, Alfredson.
And something tells me this is going to be a busy off season. Several coaching moves which will likely lead to many player moves either trade or free agency route.
One other thing! I think you are over thinking the Pens fans sticking around. While I guess they didn't boo or such, I think they were watching the Cup being awarded more then making some giant classy gesture.
Faux hear anything about our coaching sitaution up here. As usual the papers here are full of rumors and few facts.
I'd love to see Tortorella get the job.
when you get on a rant here faux you never give up. It was clear that Osgood was betetr than Fleury over the 6 games. Fleury may have had the game of his life in game 5, but the other 5 games Ozzy was the betetr goalie. The team with the best goalie usually wins. It happened again this season regardless of what you nmight want to think
No one watch here in quebec no good quebecer on team winning cup stanley.
Not much of a surprise who the Champs ended up being, but there were some glimpses of great hockey in the series.
I think draft day may not be as interesting as many think. We kept hearing the same thing about trade deadline and a lot of big deals never materialized.
The free agents available this year seem pretty low key and if the handful of high profile guys sign early it could be a long off season.
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