Heart of a Champion

I know I've been away for a while, I guess I truly do regress when there is no hockey. Plus, due to various engagements, I have actually not been able to watch much of the Stanley Cup finals, which was why I was so excited to see Game 6 last night. The only other game I saw was Game 3 where I saw the talent and heart of the Pittsburgh team that I had expected for the whole playoffs.

Last night, every thing that could go wrong did for the Penguins. To win the Stanley Cup, you need three important things (there are others but these are key). You need a solid goaltender, you need to play with high energy no matter what, and you need your best players to play like your best players.

Let's go in reverse order. One of the biggest knocks on Joe Thornton has always been that he fails to come through in the big playoff games and lift his teams to victory. This was one of the reasons Boston traded him away and one of the reasons that many people feel San Jose has failed to attain the success that many thought they would since he joined their team. Over the course of the finals Evgeni Malkin and Sydney Crosby have not been there for their team. The only time I saw Sydney play well was in game 3 when he scored 2 goals, was all over the ice, and Pittsburgh pulled out the victory. This is what you need in the playoffs and especially the finals. Malkin has been reduced as a contributor since the beginning of the Philly series when they got very physical with him and took him right out of the game plan. Losing this year will be a good learning experience for both men and if they are ready to be true superstars they will know what it takes to raise to that next level.

What surprised me the most last night was the attitude and the energy level of the Pittsburgh team. Once Detroit scored their first goal, Pittsburgh seemed to get the life sucked right out of them. Detroit seemed to be the one feeding off of crowd energy and seemed to have that extra jump. Some analysts doubted if the number of veteran players that Detroit had would be able to maintain their energy after the triple overtime marathon of two nights before, but Pittsburgh seemed to be the tired club. They ran full steam only until the goal was scored and then Detroit just took over. Though Pittsburgh scored twice, they were clearly not the better team last night.

Which brings me to my final point, goaltending. Marc-Andre Fleury will be a great goaltender. He made some amazing saves in the triple overtime game and did win some games during the playoffs. But last night he proved he was not ready to be a Stanley Cup winning goaltender just yet. Goals 2 & 3 were both very weak goals and ones that a playoff seasoned veteran would not have allowed. Fleury had poor rebound control and had no knowledge that he did not have control of the 3rd goal before laying back on it and actually knocking it in. Chris Osgood may not have many years left in the league but his ability to be consistent and handle the pressures of the postseason had him making big saves the entire series.

There were two glaring instances of experience making a difference. At one point, the Penguins were swarming and Osgood was in the butterfly trying to cover the puck. Niklas Lidstrom jumped into the play made one shove at the Pittsburgh player and then quickly got down and put his stick behind Osgood just to be sure that the puck didn't squirt through his legs and trickle into the net. This is experience and good hockey sense knowing what to do to help your goaltender out. For Pittsburgh, this experience will come. This year should have taught them that they have the skill to make it to the finals. Playoff experience makes you a better player and I think it will for Crosby & Malkin & Fleury. Those three have immense talent and potential. But this year, experience was too much and won the day. Congrats to the Red Wings on great season.