And we promise it’ll be a finish you shouldn’t miss.

The 2009 NHL Stanley Cup Finals turned out to be a fantastic one. We all thought the Red Wings would be able to finish off the Penguins in six games to win the Cup. After all, they did it last year.

But for some reason, the Pittsburgh Penguins managed to live another day this time. While they succumb to Detroit last year after six games, the Penguins made sure they will make Detroit work a little harder for the Cup this year.

The Detroit Red Wings struggled in Game 6. They went scoreless in the first two periods and their unstoppable offense that catapulted them again this deep into the postseason was nowhere to be seen.

The Penguins, of course, took advantage. They got on the board in the second period before scoring yet again in the 5th minute of the final one. The Red Wings didn’t score until the 8th minute. After that, they pretty much…

You bet because there’s no way in hell why this series is going to a seventh game.

It’s no surprise that the Detroit Red Wings are in full control of the 2009 NHL Stanley Cup Finals. After simply destroying the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game 5, there’s no way for you to think that Detroit doesn’t have the Cup in the bag.

It was an annihilation as the Detroit Red Wings got one step closer from being crowned as the 2009 Stanley Cup champions after humiliating the Penguins, 5-0 last Saturday. The win extended Detroit’s series lead to 3-2, putting them only a win away from their 12th Stanley Cup, their fifth one in 12 seasons.

Sure, every hockey fan who’ll be watching Game 6 live this Tuesday should be behind the Pittsburgh Penguins since the game will be played on their home ice but the fact of the matter is, the Red Wings know letting Pittsburgh extend this series to a Game 7 will be detrimental to their run for the title and they can’t give these Penguins any momentum whatsoever.

Sure, a Game 7 back in Detroit will be fantastic for Red Wings fans but if you’re Detroit, why would you risk extending it to another game when you can end it in Pittsburgh on Tuesday?

”The other game is three days away so I don’t know if [the shutout] has much…”

They have to, unless they want to get their asses swept in front of their home fans in the next two games.

The 2009 NHL Stanley Cup Finals continue on Tuesday in Pittsburgh where the Red Wings will try to take the commanding 3-0 lead over a Penguins team clearly struggling.

The Detroit Red Wings are halfway there people. They are only two games away from saving Detroit from what has been a tumultuous year and from winning their 12th Stanley Cup.

The Pittsburgh Penguins got beat after failing to come up with anything after the first period for the second time in this series. And while they managed to draw first blood this time in Game 2, thanks to a power play goal by Evgeni Malkin, the Red Wings just took over the rest of the game, scoring twice in the second period before sealing the game with another in the third.

Perhaps it’s fate that the Red Wings, once again, are going to Pittsburgh up 2-0, needing only two more wins to capture the Stanley Cup. Sure, they’re tired, beat-up and exhausted but the fact of the matter is, they are two more wins away from their 12th Stanley Cup and with the kind of year Detroit had, I reckon the Red Wings won’t…

The two teams that moved on, the Detroit Red Wings and Pittsburgh Penguins, find themselves in the same spot as last season.

In case you didn’t know, the Detroit Red Wings and the Pittsburgh Penguins will have a rematch of last year’s championship series after both advanced to the 2009 NHL Stanley Cup Finals.

You read it, the Pittsburgh Penguins are headed back to the Stanley Cup finals, clinching a return trip with a 4-1 rout of the Carolina Hurricanes that finished off a sweep in the Eastern Conference finals. Pittsburgh lost to Detroit last year in a six-game final series.

For the Detroit Red Wings, it was the right thing happening to the right team. The Red Wings were the best over 82 games, and they were the best among a ferocious Western Conference. And when they beat the Penguins last season, even if it took one game longer than it should have, general manager Ken Holland was rewarded for what he had put together.

This year however, the Red Wings are banged up against the Penguins with Detroit missing the likes of Nicklas Lidstrom, Pavel Datsyuk and Kris Draper. Maybe this best of seven series for the Stanley Cup will be a lot more competitive than it was the last time.

On defense, the Wings have finally figured a…

Don’t bet on it.

In case you missed it, things already got underway in the West as far as the conference finals in the 2009 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs is concerned with the Detroit Red Wings humbling the Chicago Blackhawks with a devastating 5-2 beatdown.

Inexperience was clearly on display as the Detroit Red Wings took advantage of the Blackhawks’ ineptitude. And to make matters worse for Chicago, a former comrade did most of the damage, ONLY this time, he was no longer an inexperienced Blackhawk but a Red Wing determined to make the most of his second opportunity.

Four years ago, when the league emerged from the lockout season, it was clear to Daniel Cleary that the Chicago Blackhawks didn’t want him anymore.

The Red Wings gave him another shot and four years later, he matched his playoff career high with two goals to lead the Red Wings to a 5-2 win against the very team that drafted him in Game 1 of the 2009 NHL Western Conference Finals where a spot in the Stanley Cup finals is at stake.

”I came here as a tryout,” Daniel Cleary said. ”They gave me a chance to be a player.”

Daniel Cleary only adds more flavor to this rivalry between Detroit and Chicago…

In case you didn’t get that, we’re referring to the Eastern Conference Finals on ice.

You read it, the 2009 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs continue and if you’ve been following the action on ice the last few days, you already know that the Conference Finals are here.

And while the Detroit Red Wings have already taught the Chicago Blackhawks a valuable lesson in the West to kick of that best of seven series, things are only getting started on the other side as the 2009 NHL Eastern Conference Finals kick off this Monday in Pittsburgh.

That’s right, the Carolina Hurricanes visit the Pittsburgh Penguins for a best of seven series that will determine who will be representing the Eastern Conference to play for the Stanley Cup. The Hurricanes are really looking primed to play for the Cup this year, having defeated the no.1 seed Boston Bruins to reach their third appearance in the Conference Finals. And if you’re a Penguin fan counting on the home-ice advantage to fend-off these Hurricanes, think again.

You see, the Carolina Hurricanes have been the postseason’s road warriors. It simply doesn’t matter…

Because for these sportsbooks, it’s never too late to milk some cash from the most die hard of sports fans.

The NHL’s whirlwind season is winding down to its conclusion as the 2009 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs are ow underway. The action is sure to be explosive and speculation is at an all time high regarding every possible scenario including fired coaches, MVP’s, rookie of the year and of course who will win Lord Stanley’s Cup.

This being the case, the self-proclaimed largest most successful sportsbook on the web, BetUS.com, posted odds on every possible angle there is to bet on. And by every possible angle, we mean that exactly.

Starting with the obvious, BetUS.com has odds on which team will win the 2009 NHL Stanley Cup.

Defending champions Detroit Red Wings are listed as the odds-on favorites to win it all at 13/4. It seems everything has gone wrong in Detroit these days with the Lions’ 0-16 season, the mess the Pistons pooped and the way Michigan State was crushed by North Carolina in the NCAA finals.

At 13/4, Detroit sees the Red Wings as its best chance for redemption. Let’s hope the ‘Wings pull through.

So which team from the playoffs would be able to…

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…”

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…

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…”