At least Detroit now has a world championship this year eh?

Detroit has always been all about hockey, hence the term, ‘’Hockey Town'’ and on Wednesday night, they finally won their 11th title, winning the 2008 NHL Stanley Cup Finals series 4-2 after beating the Penguins, 3-2 in Game 6 at the Mellon Arena in Pittsburgh.

After the Pittsburgh Penguins managed to stop the Red Wings’ victory parade in Detroit after Petr Sykora scored a power-play goal in the third extra session to give the Penguins a 4-3 victory in Game 5, the Red Wings knew dropping another game to the Penguins will just be too risky.

After all, after beating the Detroit Red Wings in Game 5 to stay alive in this championship series, the Penguins all of a sudden had the momentum coming into Game 6. And momentum in these playoff wars, is a HUGE factor, no matter how good a team’s players are.

‘’We have a great thing going right now. We just wanted to win this game,'’ Pittsburgh Penguins player Petr Sykora said after winning Game 5. ‘’We didn’t really look ahead. Now we’re going back home. We’ve got nothing to lose. We know what we have to do and hopefully we can bring it back here to…'’

Read More » Detroit Red Wings won the 2008 NHL Stanley Cup

At least this OTHER team from Detroit has the chance to win a world title eh?

While I’m still reeling from the Pistons’ Game 6 loss to the Celtics last Friday, I can’t help but be happy for Detroit of having the opportunity to win the 2008 NHL Stanley Cup Finals this Monday with their Red Wings against Pittsburgh.

And although I really don’t watch hockey that much, the chance of seeing the Detroit Red Wings win the Stanley Cup in Game 5 should be reason enough for Piston fans like myself to smile a little bit. Yep, and I’m not even entertaining the idea of seeing this Red Wings team, with a commanding 3-1 series lead, to lose three straight games and miss out on the NHL world title.

After the Red Wings smashed the Pittsburgh Penguins on their home ice the same day when the Pistons had their season ended by Boston, the Red Wings gave themselves a shot of winning the trophy back in Hockeytown.

Game 5 of this best-of-seven series goes back to the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, setting the stage for this Red Wings team to celebrate with that big-ass trophy in front of their fans at home.

If the Red Wings win Game 5 and wins the 2008 NHL Stanley Cup title, they will skate around the ice WITH the title for the 11th time in the history of their franchise.

Meanwhile, the Pittsburgh Penguins will be looking for…

Read More » Can the Red Wings win the Stanley Cup in Game 5?

Tying this series.

That’s the mindset the Penguins should be in coming to Game 4 of the 2008 NHL Stanley Cup Finals this Saturday. They are down in this best-of-seven affair, 2-1, against the Red Wings but with Game 4 to be played in Pittsburgh, the Penguins have a good chance of bringing it back to square one.

The Pittsburgh Penguins should be confident too. After all, they did win their first game of the Stanley Cup finals at home, winning Game 3 to improve to a perfect 9-0 at the Mellon Arena in the postseason. Their 3-2 win over Detroit last Wednesday was also their 17th straight win on their home ice, making Pittsburgh a one nasty place to play hockey if you are a visiting team.

After the Detroit Red Wings simply dominated Pittsburgh during the first two games of the Stanley Cup finals, the Penguins fought back in Game 3, fueled by the support of their fans at the Mellon Arena.

The Penguins scored their first goal of the 2008 Stanley Cup Finals in the very first quarter of Game 3 after suffering shutout losses in games 1 and 2. The Red Wings were playing catch-up all game long since, as Pittsburgh were already in a comfortable 2-0 lead before Detroit got their first goal of the game.

‘’Whether it was me or anybody else, we just wanted to get the first one,'’ Sidney Crosby said. ‘’We wanted to get a goal, find a way. That was the mind-set going in, and it was nice to…'’

Read More » Can the Penguins win Game 4 and beat the Red Wings?

I guess homecourt DOES mean something in sports eh?

While home teams in the NBA playoffs, more often than not, win everything, the same can now be said of the 2008 NHL Stanley Cup Finals after Pittsburgh finally won one, beating Detroit 3-2, to cut the Red Wings’ series lead to 2-1.

After two empty games in Detroit Red Wings territory, the Pittsburgh Penguins returned to their home turf Tuesday facing a 0-2 hole, trying to find answers for the stifling defense of Detroit.

‘’We need to find a way to hate that team,'’ Pittsburgh Penguins star Gary Roberts said after losing Game 2. ‘’We haven’t played any hockey against them the last few years. They play a game that they’re not really in your face. They just play a puck-control game. They don’t really make you that mad at them.'’

The Red Wings outscored the Penguins 7-0 in taking the first two games of the series on home ice. The Red Wings knew things will be a lot different in Pittsburgh since the Penguins are 8-0 at the Igloo in the playoffs and have won 16 straight on that very ice since February 24.

‘’This is a big one,'’ Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby said before…

Read More » The Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Detroit Red Wings, win Game 3 of the 2008 NHL Stanley Cup Finals

Detroit is once again, HOCKEY TOWN.

The Detroit Red Wings return to the chase for the Stanley Cup championship title after earning the ticket for the 2008 NHL Stanley Cup Finals against the Pittsburgh Penguins following a six year drought.

The Detroit Red Wings started the 2007-2008 NHL regular season with a bang, racing to a 10-2-1 back in October. They were 17-6-2 through November and 29-8-3 before the start of the new calendar year. This was en route to a seventh straight Central Division title, which was won by 24 points, the widest margin during any of the seven recent titles.

Coming into the 2008 NHL playoffs, the Detroit Red Wings faced the Nashville Predators in the first round where they had somewhat of a breakdown after having a 2-0 series lead over the Predators. But with playoff experience helping Detroit, they clobbered the Predators, outscoring them 5-1 to safely advance to the Western Conference Semifinals.

In the second round, Detroit matched-up against the Colorado Avalanche. The Red Wings swept them as if the Avalanche were nothing, winning in convincing fashion, 8-2 in Game 4 of the Western Conference Semifinals.

In the 2008 NHL Western Conference Finals, the Red Wings faced a more resilient and somewhat stubborn opponent in the Dallas Stars. But…

Read More » Detroit Red Wings are back in the Stanley Cup Finals

Domination. That’s exactly what the Penguins have showed in the postseason.

The Pittsburgh Penguins made it look easy all through out the 2008 NHL playoffs, earning a 12-2 record in the postseason on their way to the best-of-seven 2008 Stanley Cup Finals against Detroit.

These Pittsburgh Penguins showcased their talent right of the bat, needing just 68 seconds in Game 1 of the very first round to deliver the message that this year’s Stanley Cup is rightfully theirs. That’s when veteran Gary Roberts scored the first of his two goals during a 4-0 shellacking of the Ottawa Senators during a game in which he led his team throughout.

The Penguins, led by Sidney Crosby, were unquestionably the most prepared, most determined, most talented team in the Eastern Conference. They are where they are today because their best players really were the best players in hockey this year.

It’s as simple as that.

The Pittsburgh Penguins rolled through the 2008 Eastern Conference playoffs, winning the first three games of each series, losing only Game 4 in New York and again in Philadelphia before bouncing back with clutch series-clinching performances against the Rangers…

Read More » Can the Pittsburgh Penguins continue their domination of the NHL Playoffs in the 2008 Stanley Cup Finals?

It’s official people, the returning Red Wings will take on this year’s hockey kings when Detroit takes on the Pittsburgh Penguins for the title.

Yes, the 2008 NHL Stanley Cup Finals have all the makings of a classic match up as two powerhouse teams, the Detroit Red Wings and the Pittsburgh Penguins, play for hockey’s biggest prize.

The Detroit Red Wings are trying to win their fourth Stanley Cup since 1997. Led by Captain Nicklas Lidstrom, the Red Wings are trying to make Detroit, ‘’hockey town'’ once again.

The Pittsburgh Penguins, on the other hand, are led by the finest 1-2 punch in the NHL in Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. Pittsburgh is in the finals for the first time since 1992, when owner Mario Lemieux was leading the club to the second of back-to-back Cup wins.

Ironically, Detroit and Pittsburgh are the only teams to successfully defend a Cup championship since that era. (Detroit won in 1997 and 1998…)

A key match up between two goalies could be the very thing to watch in this series. Detroit’s Chris Osgood have the top goals-against average (1.65) and third-best save percentage (.927) heading into a…

Read More » Red Wings V Penguins, 2008 Stanley Cup Finals Begins

Alright, let’s take a brief timeout from the NBA playoffs and check what’s happening on the ice lately.

In case you don’t know it yet, the 2008 NHL playoffs are still on. On that note, we’ll try to get you what are the latest in NHL’s postseason wars, hopefully, this won’t bore you the way the Derby did us mercilessly.

From the Eastern Conference, No.2 seed Pittsburgh Penguins continue their run in the 2008 NHL Playoffs. Thanks mainly to their team captain Sidney Crosby. Sidney Crosby’s leadership has been the main factor, doing his part in scoring which is tied for second with 15 points in the postseason.

‘’He never takes a shift off,'’ forward Max Talbot said. ‘’That’s the thing about him. He’s the best player in the world and the best worker on the team. It’s impossible for that not to make an impression.'’

Taking game one of the best of seven series against the Philadelphia Flyers was big for the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Penguins are 6-0 at home in the playoffs for the first time in franchise history and they have a good chance of making it all the way to the 2008 NHL Stanley Cup finals.

Meanwhile, in the Western Conference, the Detroit Red Wings took game 1 of…

Read More » Penguins vs Red Wings in 2008 NHL Stanley Cup finals?

How about that? A Game 7 just so they can woo viewers to watching hockey instead of the more entertaining stuff they’ll get in the NBA.

The final game of the best-of-seven series between the San Jose Sharks and the Calgary Flames is set at the HP Pavilion at the San Jose Arena in San Jose, California on Tuesday night. Yup, unfortunately for most of us, the 2008 NHL playoffs ain’t done yet.

Calgary Flames goalie Miikka Kiprusoff brought his A-game in Game 6 against San Jose. Kiprusoff came up with his first playoff shutout since the 2004 Stanley Cup final in a 2-0 victory Sunday night that extended their opening round playoff series to a seventh game back in San Jose.

Kiprusoff stopped 21 shots for the Flames in what actually was a fairly easy performance after his team dominated the game in all aspects from start to finish.

‘’The most consistent effort, as opposed to complete effort,'’ said Calgary Flames head coach Mike Keenan. ‘’We’ve had some good efforts, but consistency has hurt us a little bit, but that was the most consistent performance we’ve had to this point.'’

The San Jose Sharks, on the other hand, will be looking to finish the series playing on their home ice.

‘’Well, it’s the seventh game; if you don’t win, you’re out,'’ San Jose Sharks head coach Ron Wilson said. ‘’If I have to manufacture desperation, we are in dire straits. Our players know what’s at…'’

Read More » The San Jose Sharks take on the Calgary Flames in Game 7 of the 2008 NHL Playoffs this Tuesday

While we’re still in awe of how crazy it has been in the NBA’s Western conference playoff race, somebody’s playing a hockey playoff game.

You read it folks, the 2008 NHL playoffs have started as those boys skating around in a skating rink begin their quest for the Stanley Cup. It’s time to play catch-up people and on that note, here are the games to watch on a Tuesday night.

Game 4 of the first-round playoff series between the Boston Bruins and the Montreal Canadiens is set at the TD Banknorth Garden Tuesday night. Marc Savard of the Bruins was the hero last Sunday, coming off the bench on a delayed penalty to score with 9:25 gone in overtime Sunday night as Boston beat Montreal for the first time this year, winning 2-1 in Game 3.

‘’We got the monkey off our back after 13 losses,'’ Boston Bruins head coach Claude Julien, who wasn’t with the team when Montreal started its 13-game winning streak against Boston more than a year ago, said. ‘’The game was a lot like last night’s,'’ Julien said, referring to their loss in Game 2. ‘’But this time Lady Luck was smiling upon us.'’

Tim Thomas made 27 saves for Boston, stopping several shots at close range in overtime. Carey Price stopped 29 shots for the Canadiens, who beat the Bruins in their last three tries last…

Read More » 2008 NHL Playoffs Continue (Yes, it already started…)