Pittsburgh Penguins: Emperors of The NHL!

1) With their amazing Game 7 showing last night the Pittsburgh Penguins are the true Emperors of the NHL. We at Fauxrumors wish to congratulate the entire Penguin franchise for winning despite the enormous odds going on the road for a game 7. Winning their 3rd Cup, and first in 17 years. 3-4 years ago it wasn't a forgone conclusion that Pittsburgh would even still have a team let alone be atop the hockey world!

2) We shouldn't be surprised though that this team defied the odds last night. We have seen them defy the odds all season. Going from the 10th seed a mere 2 months prior to the end of the regular season. Pushing GM Ray Shero to make the ultimate move that in our opinion solidified the Cup run- The firing of Michel Therrien and replaced him with Dan Bylsma. Despite the team making it the the Finals last year we never were big Therrian fans and we believe that move had the biggest impact.

3)Other possible impact moves made by Shero were the addition of Kunitz and Guerin. Even though neither had huge numbers in the Finals, their presence alone probably freed up room for the other players to succeed. Is it a coincidence that Marion Hossa finds himself at the wrong end of another Finals? We say no. Like Therrian we are NOT fans of the Slovak sniper. he is mega talented, but not worth the big bucks and wasn't a factor when the rubber met the road in the Finals! Again, Congrats to Pittsburgh.

4) All this quickly brings us to the off season. No meaningful NHL games until October. A HUGE 4 months away. However between now and then we have some important dates.

• First are the awards ceremonies next week. (Look for our updated picks for the various awards)
• The NHL draft in Montreal when there are sure to be many a deal. (A post on this upcoming)
• Following this the free agent season commences July 1. This year will probably be as interesting as last with so many quality players possibly available. With some important players 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

5) 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 Power forwards, and one we are working on about possible moves this draft day. Look for them in the upcoming days/weeks. As always, keep it here for all the latest!