GAME DAY: SCP '09, FRIDAY JUNE 12, STANLEY CUP FINAL--PITTSBURGH AT DETROIT, 800 PM ET

davetherave wrote:The contest tonight is the 87th playoff game played this year.

Is the pressure on the Penguins?

Or on the Wings?

How many goals tonight?

Which players are the 'difference makers'?

anyone thing that 87th game of the playoffs and Sid's number might be a bad sign for Detroit fans? ugh, I hope the Pens don't win

87 will score 71 seconds in...

And 71... he always scores...

shabbs wrote:And 71... he always scores...

damn that guy lol, hey just seeing that made me think of the Tampa Bay Devil Ray highlights last night, anyone see that young couple making out in front of the 3 nuns? I think they are going to hell for that one lol.

shabbs wrote:

davetherave wrote:The contest tonight is the 87th playoff game played this year.

Is the pressure on the Penguins?

Or on the Wings?

How many goals tonight?

Which players are the 'difference makers'?

You tell us...

Hmm...thinking about those.

As is Pingu...

Here's what the Detroit News thinks:

YOU CAN EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED
Dave Dye, The Detroit News, June 12 2009

So who's going to be the Game 7 hero?

Toss out the stars -- Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk for the Red Wings, Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin for the Penguins -- because it's often a lesser-known player who swoops in to steal the spotlight at moments like this.

"You don't know who it's going to be, but it's going to be somebody," Wings defenseman Brian Rafalski said. "Everybody has to be ready."

Here are three of these less-likely potential heroes for both teams:

Red Wings

Tomas Holmstrom: Nobody is more due for a dirty goal than "Homer," the king of the net-front presence. He hasn't scored in the last 18 games, not since April 23. Going back to the regular season, he has two goals in 39 games.
Jiri Hudler: "Happy" hasn't been quite so happy lately. He doesn't have a goal in the last 11 games after scoring four in the first 11 playoff games. But he's still dangerous, especially on the power play, and he has had a knack for scoring some big ones at key times.
Darren Helm: It would cap a marvelous playoff run for the fast-skating rookie. He scored the clincher to eliminate Chicago in the conference final. He provides constant energy and has been as dangerous as anybody in recent weeks.

Penguins

Maxime Talbot: Could lightning strike twice at Joe Louis Arena? It was Talbot who scored in the final minute of Game 5 last year to help delay the Wings' Stanley Cup celebration. He also scored twice in Game 3 this year at Pittsburgh.
Pascal Dupuis: He doesn't have a point in 15 games during these playoffs, but there's something that stands out about this checking-line player's resume: He has appeared in two Game 7s during his career and has three goals.
Rob Scuderi: OK, he's obviously not a scoring defenseman by any stretch of the imagination, but he does so many little things for this club. He could just flip a puck toward the net and let the hockey gods take over. We've seen that stuff happen before in these situations.

davetherave wrote:Hmm...thinking about those.

Me too.

shabbs wrote:

davetherave wrote:Hmm...thinking about those.

Me too.

Enough thinking. It'll be Detroit going away. Osgood will stand on his head early in the first and Detroit will escape with a 1-0 lead after 20, on a double minor to Malkin (holding and unsportsmanlike for arguing). The Pens will get their own chance on a powerplay midway through the second but, again, Osgood will frustrate them leading to an interference call on, you guessed it, Malkin, as he crashes the crease during a goalmouth scramble. Now, this is where it gets real interesting. Fleury witholds the barrage and, just as after the penalty expires, Malkin is sent in on a clear breakaway. Osgood stops him and Malkin smashes his stick on the cross-bar out of frustration. That earns him another penalty, this time a delayed call, and as he scrambles back without a stick the Wings score again. Just before the end of the second Detroit pops in another goal that just rips the hearts out of the Penguins that still have theirs. It's complete domination in the third as the Penguins appear to be playing like boys against men. Detroit pops in a couple more, but no-one is really counting any more. The only number that matters is 12 -- the 12th time that the Red Wings win the Cup.

Osgood gets the 1st star and the Conn Smythe trophy. Poems and songs are written. Doves are released into the night skies. Yadda-yadda, you can fill in the rest of the blanks.

you didnt leave any blanks out there prags i think you have everything wrapped up in a nice little package

wprager wrote:

shabbs wrote:

davetherave wrote:Hmm...thinking about those.

Me too.

Enough thinking. It'll be Detroit going away. Osgood will stand on his head early in the first and Detroit will escape with a 1-0 lead after 20, on a double minor to Malkin (holding and unsportsmanlike for arguing). The Pens will get their own chance on a powerplay midway through the second but, again, Osgood will frustrate them leading to an interference call on, you guessed it, Malkin, as he crashes the crease during a goalmouth scramble. Now, this is where it gets real interesting. Fleury witholds the barrage and, just as after the penalty expires, Malkin is sent in on a clear breakaway. Osgood stops him and Malkin smashes his stick on the cross-bar out of frustration. That earns him another penalty, this time a delayed call, and as he scrambles back without a stick the Wings score again. Just before the end of the second Detroit pops in another goal that just rips the hearts out of the Penguins that still have theirs. It's complete domination in the third as the Penguins appear to be playing like boys against men. Detroit pops in a couple more, but no-one is really counting any more. The only number that matters is 12 -- the 12th time that the Red Wings win the Cup.

Osgood gets the 1st star and the Conn Smythe trophy. Poems and songs are written. Doves are released into the night skies. Yadda-yadda, you can fill in the rest of the blanks.

8-7 Wings in OT. Hossa with the winner.

HOSSA = WIN.

shabbs wrote:

wprager wrote:

shabbs wrote:

davetherave wrote:Hmm...thinking about those.

Me too.

Enough thinking. It'll be Detroit going away. Osgood will stand on his head early in the first and Detroit will escape with a 1-0 lead after 20, on a double minor to Malkin (holding and unsportsmanlike for arguing). The Pens will get their own chance on a powerplay midway through the second but, again, Osgood will frustrate them leading to an interference call on, you guessed it, Malkin, as he crashes the crease during a goalmouth scramble. Now, this is where it gets real interesting. Fleury witholds the barrage and, just as after the penalty expires, Malkin is sent in on a clear breakaway. Osgood stops him and Malkin smashes his stick on the cross-bar out of frustration. That earns him another penalty, this time a delayed call, and as he scrambles back without a stick the Wings score again. Just before the end of the second Detroit pops in another goal that just rips the hearts out of the Penguins that still have theirs. It's complete domination in the third as the Penguins appear to be playing like boys against men. Detroit pops in a couple more, but no-one is really counting any more. The only number that matters is 12 -- the 12th time that the Red Wings win the Cup.

Osgood gets the 1st star and the Conn Smythe trophy. Poems and songs are written. Doves are released into the night skies. Yadda-yadda, you can fill in the rest of the blanks.

8-7 Wings in OT. Hossa with the winner.

HOSSA = WIN.

Care to elaborate on that? A little? Add some detail.

Hockeyhero22000 wrote:you didnt leave any blanks out there prags i think you have everything wrapped up in a nice little package

Well, the model and color of the car that Osgood will get with the Smythe, which one of them will yell "I'm going to Disneyland!", the parade route. Plenty of blanks.

wprager wrote:

shabbs wrote:

wprager wrote:

shabbs wrote:

davetherave wrote:Hmm...thinking about those.

Me too.

Enough thinking. It'll be Detroit going away. Osgood will stand on his head early in the first and Detroit will escape with a 1-0 lead after 20, on a double minor to Malkin (holding and unsportsmanlike for arguing). The Pens will get their own chance on a powerplay midway through the second but, again, Osgood will frustrate them leading to an interference call on, you guessed it, Malkin, as he crashes the crease during a goalmouth scramble. Now, this is where it gets real interesting. Fleury witholds the barrage and, just as after the penalty expires, Malkin is sent in on a clear breakaway. Osgood stops him and Malkin smashes his stick on the cross-bar out of frustration. That earns him another penalty, this time a delayed call, and as he scrambles back without a stick the Wings score again. Just before the end of the second Detroit pops in another goal that just rips the hearts out of the Penguins that still have theirs. It's complete domination in the third as the Penguins appear to be playing like boys against men. Detroit pops in a couple more, but no-one is really counting any more. The only number that matters is 12 -- the 12th time that the Red Wings win the Cup.

Osgood gets the 1st star and the Conn Smythe trophy. Poems and songs are written. Doves are released into the night skies. Yadda-yadda, you can fill in the rest of the blanks.

8-7 Wings in OT. Hossa with the winner.

HOSSA = WIN.

Care to elaborate on that? A little? Add some detail.

Nope.

Well those that voted on the CBS widget overwhelmingly pick Pittsburgh by a 15 to 3 margin thus far.

Cap'n Clutch wrote:Well those that voted on the CBS widget overwhelmingly pick Pittsburgh by a 15 to 3 margin thus far.

Interesting...

Cap'n Clutch wrote:Well those that voted on the CBS widget overwhelmingly pick Pittsburgh by a 15 to 3 margin thus far.

What's the CBS widget and how is it relevant? Does it attract an elite type of clicker?

Tonight's game as seen from the heart of Red Wing Nation:

WHO NEEDS SUSPENSE?
Graham Couch, Mlive.com/The Kalamazoo Gazette, June 12, 2009

DETROIT -- It's a possibility hard to picture: NHL commissioner Gary Bettman gushing as he hands the Stanley Cup to Pittsburgh captain Sidney Crosby on the ice at The Joe ... (pause for collective Hockeytown cringe) ... in front of the Red Wings and their fans.

Or maybe, for the Red Wings faithful, the thought is just more sickening than it is unimaginable.

Not the pregame musing you were hoping for hours before Game 7 of the Cup finals?

My apologies. The Bettman-to-Crosby handoff shouldn't happen, and probably won't.

But the Red Wings would be smart to take the suspense out of it.

In the past couple days, both sides have talked aboot their childhood dreams on frozen Canadian ponds -- scoring the game winner in Game 7 of the Cup finals.AP Photo The idea of Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins hoisting the Stanley Cup at Joe Louis Arena makes Red Wings fans sick.

It's a hair-raising fantasy, gives you that tingly feeling.

Memo to the Red Wings: Amend it to note you'd prefer the decisive goal be scored in the first period.

Trying to live out make-believe drama from your childhood can get you beat.

Score first, score again, and then score again. You never know when one of those Joe Louis Arena bounces won't be so friendly.

In 2003, when Mike Babc0ck's Anaheim Ducks lost Game 7 of the Cup finals, he said his team was very good until New Jersey scored first.

Then, as the Red Wings coach put it, the Ducks "were paralyzed."

"We started worrying about what wasn't going to happen instead of just playing the game," Babc0ck said. "Sometimes, I think that's what happens at this point, is the prize gets in the way of just the execution and the details of the game."

The Red Wings are in a better spot than Anaheim was in '03. They're home, and most of the players have won Cups, even if not this dramatically.

The nightmare scenario for Detroit is more likely this: Tie game going into the third period, with the Penguins' young stars and goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury suddenly thinking they can win this thing on hostile ice.

Doesn't have to be 5-0 entering the third; 3-1 would do just fine.

It's not that the Red Wings wouldn't have the advantage in a tie game in the third period. At that point, the home crowd makes a difference, along with the fact that when dialed in, the Red Wings have owned the ice.

In the final period of Game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals, focus and fatigue aren't likely to be a problem.

But there is no way of knowing how the teams will react to that situation, including Detroit's veterans, with all their Cups and poise.

In Game 4, Detroit looked rattled and frustrated by the idea of the series being tied.

So what happens to them in Game 7, a few minutes from winning or losing a Stanley Cup, if Pittsburgh is putting up a fight?

No one knows.

"Never have I been in a situation like this in a Game 7 where so much is on the line," the Red Wings' Kris Draper said.

This from a 38-year-old who has been with the Red Wings through it all -- from losing to New Jersey in 1995 to tonight.

If the chunks being pulled from a co-worker's playoff beard say anything, Red Wings Nation is nervous.

wprager wrote:

Cap'n Clutch wrote:Well those that voted on the CBS widget overwhelmingly pick Pittsburgh by a 15 to 3 margin thus far.

What's the CBS widget and how is it relevant? Does it attract an elite type of clicker?

Down the side of the forum - one of the ads.