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Advantage: Pittsburgh
posted by Mike Boone at 10h06 EST on Jun 3
The first is psychological. In the crazy final minute of the third
period last night, Henrik Zetterberg and Johan Franzen had the Stanley Cup on
their sticks. Zetterberg failed to shoot the puck deep from the neutral
zone, Franzen couldn't clear the Detroit zone, and Bingo!, tied game.
That has to be a monumental mind-f.
Then there's the physical advantage. Young legs will recover faster from 110 minutes of pressure-packed hockey.
Check the Time on Ice last night: Nicklas Lidtsrom, 45:24. Bear in mind that the best defenceman in hockey is 38 years old.
Ryan
Whitney is not a Norris Trophy finalist. But he's 25, he playted 50:46
in Game 5 and he'll be fresher than Lidstrom for Game 6.
Brian Rafalski is 34 and played 42:06. Brooks Orpik played 42:11 ... but he's 27.
Chris Osgood is 35. Marc-André Fleury, who was otherworldly last night, is 23.
And on down the line: Sidney Crosby is 20, Jordan Staal is 19, Evgeni Malkin is 21.
Don Cherry's Conn Smythe candidate, Gary Roberts, is 42. But he's a fitness freak. Roberts will be ready tomorrow night.
The Red Wings outshot Pittsburgh 27-6 through the third period and the first period of overtime. For the last 30 minutes of OT, Pittsburgh had a 12-11 shot advantage.
That's the youth advantage.
Remember how poorly Dallas played in the first game of the Western Conference final. The Stars still felt the effects of that OT win over San Jose.
I think the Wings will suffer a more severe OT hangover than the Penguins.
Detroit plays elegant hockey, but Game 6 will be age over beauty.
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I found it funny that Mike has an excuse for Roberts despite his being the oldest of the bunch = "he's a fitness freak" . . . especially when he's not a major part of the team and it's not like Lidstrom or Rafalski are in questionable shape.
I think one also has to remember that Gonchar can't be near 100% - who knows what the injury is but if it's a soft tissue one the swelling will only make it worse.
I also like the Whitney fresher than Lidstrom logic - as if fresher is more important than better. I'll be fresher than any of these guys - i spent last night lying on my ass watching hockey. Think the Wings could use me? I'd be good for one solid shift a la Gonchar in overtime before someone clocked me and/or I ran out of gas, and Gonchar was a factor in the game winner. Why not me, Babcock?
I hope Detroit wins. I can't bear to see Crosby hold the cup knowing that Habs could have and probably should have had more of say in the events of these Stanley Cup playoffs.
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1. February 19th, 2008, a day which will live in sublimity.
Hell I'm pooped, late and fun night watching that one last night. The young kids made a lot of mistakes last night, but between Flury and all the pipes around him and second effort by most of the Pittsburg team they managed to extend back home for game #6. Fun game to watch but I have to get a seniors 40 winks to catch up on my beauty sleep!
John Tortorella's reign as coach of the Tampa Bay Lightening has ended after 8 Years and he'll be paid for the remaining year on his contract, it's now official.
Beauty sleep deprived Mike Boone's commentaries remain as sharps as usual and always eager to exposed the laughable matter of this world.... '' God bless him '' ! ( as would say an emotionally saturated Don ).
I agree that Pittsburgh have a slight psychological and physical advantage over Detroit for game 6 but I also believe that Detroit is a better team despite the fact that Fleury seems better than Osgood at this stage.... all and all ''we'' officially DO have a ''serie'' now ... enjoy it while it last ... if it matters at all.
They were talking like they had already won the Cup before the game last night on the Detroit sports talk radio stations.
Detroit is the closest team to the Habs in my opinion. No way can you say that Pitsburgh is faster than Detroit. The speed and skill of Detroit this year is uncomparable and i dont see any possible way of Pitsburgh winning as Detroit will play twice as strong next game.
I can see the overall speed of our team this last season as being better than Pits and on a par with that of Detroit and I believe for one that teams built around mid-sized players to have a skating edge and definite advantage providing they have enought talents and a Bab Cock like system under which they go about performing.
I think slower skaters like Holmstrom and specially Hainzen need to demonstrate obvious reasons to be kept in a line-up as forwrads.... when they do, like those two have aboundatly demonstrated in Detroit..... then you have the Red Wings... which is a good thing.
It sounds very sensible put like that, but I think both teams will be pretty equally tired.
I mean, no matter how old you are, if you're on the ice 30-50 minutes, it takes a toll. The young legs will recover faster, but 40some hours is not much of a recovery time stretch.
Detroit are winners. If you think they're gonna let the Penguins and their young legs run circles around them in Game 6... Im not saying the Pens can't win. I guess what im saying is its gonna be a really good game.
Ex nihilo nihil fit
I hear what you're saying Mike, but without Fleury's stellar performance last night the Pens would have been thumped. There were long streches in regulation time when the Pens barely touched the puck and were hanging on for dear life. If I were Detroit, I'd dress Chelios (for a variety of reasons) and look to create more havoc and distractions in front of the Pittsburgh net. I would also make sure that Scuderi and Sydor handle the puck as much as possible. Babcock may have to equalize the play of his 3 defensive pairings and roll over 4 lines in order to combat the fatigue factor (paging Carbo).
Now if this goes to game 7, then your point will still be valid even though Detroit gets two days off before Saturday's game. At that point in time, mental fatigue would be just as important as physical fatigue. When it's all said and done, I feel that this will still come down to Fleury vs Osgood. Fleury has to be fantastic if he wants to win the Cup - Osgood only has to be very good.
The Original 24 Cups
Very entertaining hockey, especially by Detroit. But, let's get this over with already!!!!
As has been noted after many playoff games, the officiating was suspect! Detroit dominated much of last night's game and there should've been a big celebration in
Detroit after the game, but instead we go back to Steeltown and have to put up with more June hockey without the Canadiens.
If that's not bad enough, we have to see more of Therrien... ugh!
To top it all off, I'm no Pittsburg fan and would much prefer the Red Wings take the prize (doesn't help that Hossa - aka rent-a-player - is there and doesn't give a crap about the Pens and will be charging a high premium to another franchize in the fall)
What a game last night! The performances by Fleury, Talbot, Malone and the rest of the Penguins makes a tired day at work well worth it. I have given up trying to predict what will happen for the rest of the series. After last night's tying goal by Talbot, nothing will surprise me. I remember screaming at the TV, "Why is Max Talbot on the damn ice?" Boom, Goal. In OT, I found myself nervous for the first time since the Habs were eliminated.
Has something like that ever happened before? Has a team ever been 30 secs away from winning the Stanley Cup, only to lose in OT? I know I can't recall anything quite like it, but my memories are limited to post 1990, plus any old replays.
I agree that the Pens have an advantage because of their age. But, I think that is offset by the fact that Detroit is clearly the better team. Detroit clearly dominated for long stretches of the game last night. Had it not been for Fleury Detroit could have easily scored a couple more goals and collected their rings.
Also, being a more veteran team, I think Detroit will recognize the situation they've placed themselves in by not ending last night and play with a little more desperation and determination. And if not, they win it at home in game 7... Just my opinion.
Oh yeah, La Presse reports today that contract negotiations have started with AK46