But what about Hossa? What about that superstar talent to play on the wing with Sydney Crosby? What about his loss?

The simple fact is that by not signing Hossa the Penguins are a better team. Let’s face it, they could ill afford another player making $7 million plus on their roster.

Do I think him ditching the Penguins for the Red Wings is silly considering the difference in salary being offered was only $300,000? Yes. He claims being with the Wings gives him the best chance at winning the Stanley Cup. Well, maybe – but repeating is the hardest thing to do and with a mere one year deal in Detroit the pressure will be huge. He obviously had chemistry playing along an elite talent in Crosby which he was more than willing to ditch for a new team and an unknown situation. We have seen that scenario play out many times in the past and not necessarily in favor of the guy who left his current situation.

I say let him go and the Penguins were probably silly to have put as much effort into retaining his services as they did. Instead of paying $7.1 million for him the Penguins acquired two players that will fit right in – Miroslav Satan and Ruslan Fedotenko.

Satan at 33 is at the peak of his career and still a dangerous man on the ice. Fedotenko at 29 is still in the prime of his with upside if he plays along side either Crosby or Malkin. Satan is a sniper who can fill the net and has more than enough 20 goal and 30 goal seasons on his resume to warrant the $3.5 million one year deal and frightened looks among other Eastern Conference teams. Fedotenko got a one year deal at $2.5 million and can also easily score 20 goals and have a career year with the Penguins which is a discount because of the horrid couple of years he had with the Islanders and Lightning.

So for $6 million the Penguins replace both Hossa and Malone – who combined would have cost the Penguins over $11 million to keep. No, Satan is not quite as good as Hossa but is close, and Fedetenko is certainly in the same league as Malone. And the Penguins are better off for the up coming season and making another run and dominating the Eastern Conference.

First off on Malone testing the free agent waters - Hey, if Ryan wants to take the cash and run let him. Only one thing to say about that though which is remember Michelle Ouellet. He made a name for himself playing along side Evgeni Malkin and had 19 goals and 29 points in 73 games in 2006-07. He went to play for the Tampa Bay Lightning and was even more mediocre (17 G 19 A) this past season. Malkinmakes everyone around him better. Lots of people said that Ouellet would not be as good without Malkin (if you count 19/29 as “good”) andMalone won’t be as good either if he plays elsewehere. If money means more to him than winning, let him walk and wallow in obscurity for the remainder of his career.  Make the choice now Ryan.  Do you want a shot at the Cup or an extra million in the bank never to see your name etched on it?

Hossa as a “priority” - Ok, if Malone wants to go elsewhere that make signing Hossa more likely. Not likely, but more likely.  By how much is anyone’s guess. The Penguins truly cannot afford to pay him much more than $6 (maybe $6.5) million a year andhe was making $7 million this year. I like Hossa but to be honest the Penguins could find someone in the $3 - $4 million dollar range to play along side of Crosby. Maybe the plan is to sign him to a deal and then trade him, but I doubt Hossa would like that too much.

Malkin to LA - I hear this rumor today that the Penguins are talking about trading Malkin to LA for their 2nd overall pick and a couple players. What?!? You’re joking right? Ok, so the Penguins have no picks until (I think) the 6th round because they mortgaged the farm to fall short of the cup, but they have talent in the minors and can probably find some undrafted free agents with talent if they really try to. Trading Malkin is down right stupid. Without him the Pens were a .500 club this season and might not have made the playoffs much less the finals. Signing Malkin must be a priority for the Penguins unless someone offers them the moon, the sun and the (super)stars in their farm system to get him away from us. Then maybe I would consider it.

1) Kill All Humans!
2) Golf Now – Vengeance Later!
3) Screw You Jobu! We Do It Ourselves!
4) Ooooohhhhhhmmm … ooooohhhhhhhhmmmm
5) F^@K YOU! YOU G#D D@%M MOTHERF*&KERS!
6) We Got Hosed By That Flopper Crosby!
7) Vengeance Now Part Duex!
8 ) They May End Our Season! But They Will Never Take Our Cheese Steaks!
9) It’s Ok … We’re Medicated Now!
10) Remember, remember the eighteenth of … uh … May-ember?
11) Thundercats Hooooooooooooo!
12) Baruk Khazâd! Khazâd ai-mênu! (“Axes of the Dwarves! The Dwarves are upon you!” - LotR)
13) LEEROY JENKINS! (Google it – watch the video)
14) Spoooooooon!
15) Come on you apes, you wanna live forever?
16) COBRAAAAAAAAAA!
17) The pucks … they’re … they’re everywhere! (Heard being said by Martin Biron while muttering in his sleep)
18) Win If You Can. Lose If You Must. But Always Cheat!
19) Woooooooooooooo!
20) Does This Jersey Make My Ass Look Big?

With fractions of a second left and the goal tender pulled the puck trickled past Osgood and just wide of the cage to give the Detroit Red Wings their 4th Stanley Cup in 11 years.

Now the Penguins have some other problems to focus on, like how to sign as many of their free agents as possible and fill the holes left by those that will leave. Getting to the Stanley Cup Finals is not easy and they will have a lot of work to do to return there any time in the near future.

Thus the hockey gods smote them – with half a minute left in the game, Maxime Talbot banged home a lose puck as Pittsburgh played with an empty net and the extra attacker. As time wound down and the scored tied 3-3 the game headed to overtime.

The Penguins stormed out to a 2-0 lead with first period goals by Hossa (11) and Hall (3) but saw that lead cut in half in the second and then watched in awe as the Red Wings stormed up and down the ice in the third.

Fluery, despite allowing three goals, played lights out in regulation as did Osgood. This series has hinged on goal tending and the better net minder’s team has won every game. The Red Wings were lucky. This game could have been 4-0 at the end of one had it not been for Osgood.

Then came overtime. The Penguins were forced to play down a defenseman as Sergei Gonchar nursed and injury.

In the first extra frame the Red Wings dominated but Fleury was a brick wall.

In the second extra frame the Penguins played even with the Wings.

Then came the prediction by Petr Sykora – he was going to score the winning goal. And then we were in the third overtime.

It came down to a Penguins power play that had been stoned all night taking to the ice on a double minor for high sticking – and the return of Sergei Gonchar. It did not take long after that. The Penguins forced the puck deep, moved it out to Sykora and he fired it into the net to make the series 3-2 with the 4-3 win.

That means game six on Wednesday night at the Igloo. That means another do or die game for the Penguins. Forget winning two. The Penguins need to concentrate on just winning one.

Side note:
For the superstitious the daily big four here in Pennsylvania had a winning number of 7171. Malkin (71) set up Sykora’s (17) winning goal. Not that I necessarily believe in all that stuff … now if you don’t mind I have to take off my lucky jersey, socks, hat and pants and tend to my playoff beard.

I don’t know how many more games like this he has in him where he only gives up 1 goal when by all rights six should have been behind him. Yes, he had some help and some timely defense. But Osgood has been the Red Wings team this series.

His Sidness scored twice to break the Penguins scoreless streak in these finals and Adam Hall got the game winner which he banked in off of Osgood from behind the net. After Crosby’s first goal I turned to John who sits next to me in section D27 and quoted a line from Predator; “If it bleeds – we can kill it.”

Well, the wounded beast almost would not die. Goals by Franzen and Samuelsson made the final score 3-2. The game saw the return of Daryl Sydor to the lineup to try and spark a Penguins blue line that has been less than spectacular. He played well but the team allowed far too many shots on Fleury – 34 total.

The Red Wings strategy is obvious – pepper Fleury early and often, hunt the rebounds and put the garbage in the net.

Pittsburgh needs to tighten up the D to help recover in this series.

1) Do not speak about winning the Stanley Cup until your team has won it.
2) If you are growing a playoff beard in solidarity with your team, do not shave it off. You may trim it but you must keep the beard growing.
3) Do not display or touch effigies of the Stanley Cup including, but not limited to, replicas made from cardboard and aluminum foil, inflatable versions, artistic renditions, etc.
4) Do not express overconfidence in your team or show disrespect for the opposition that has not been warranted. Honest discussions about the matchup are allowed as long as they are, of course, honest.
5) Do not make predictions about the outcome of the series. Do not predict your team will win the series or you risk jinxing them.
6) All games already played are in the past and should not be discussed or used as evidence to support your belief that your team is superior.
7) Rituals from prior series should be maintained. For example, if you drank a beer during each period or wore a lucky jersey you must do the same in the finals.
Never look ahead. Never assume that any lead in any game is safe. Never make plans for victory parties even if your team is up in the series 3-0.
9) Team history is team history. This year’s finals stand alone. No amount of discussing history, trends and stats spanning decades will bring anything good. Do not discuss what once was. All that matter is what is now.
10) Do NOT sport merchandise proclaiming your team as “Conference Champs”. Much like the players do not touch the conference trophies for fear of jinxing their team, fans should not bask in their team’s previous accomplishment. Conference Championships mean nothing. All that matters is the Stanley Cup.

8:00 PM?  Ok, whatever –

This matchup will put two teams against each other who have not had too much of a struggle to get to the finals.  The Red Wings are 12-4 and the Penguins are 12-2 in the playoffs.  The Wings did have to survive a scare against the Nashville Predators who threatened to go up on the best team out of the West (3 games to 2) but the Wings have been dominant since an overtime win in game five of that series to prevent that fate.

The schedule for the finals is as follows:

Sat May 24, 2008 Penguins @ Red Wings 8:00 PM

Mon May 26, 2008 Penguins @ Red Wings 8:00 PM

Wed May 28, 2008 Red Wings @ Penguins 8:00

Sat May 31, 2008 Red Wings @ Penguins 8:00 PM

Mon Jun 2, 2008 Penguins @ Red Wings 8:00*

Wed Jun 4, 2008 Red Wings @Penguins 8:00 PM*

Sat Jun 7, 2008 Penguins @ Red Wings 8:00 PM*

* If necessary

Ryan Malone opened the scoring at 2:30 of the first with his fifth goal of the playoffs.  The Flyers then pressed to get the tying goal but could not and at 9:50 of the opening frame, Malkin (9) widened the margin to 2-0.  Malone went behind the net and Marty Biron also went to play the puck but missed.  Biron raised his stick and lost it in the confusion.  Malkin then danced with the puck out to the side of the cage and stuffed the puck under a stickless Biron’s pads.

The Penguins tightened down the screws defensively on the Flyers in the first period, allowing only five shots on net.  The Penguins fared better pocketing 10 chances.

In the second, the Penguins played similarly tough defense giving up only eight more shots and no goals while adding markers from Hossa (9), Malone (6) and Staal (6) to widen the advantage to 5-0.  The Flyers pressed hard at the end and did put a puck in the net, but it was pushed in with interference on the goaltender and disallowed.

The Flyers just shut it down after that and the Penguins were happy to oblige but did add a sixth goal (Dupuis (2)) at 4:03.

Fleury might not have faced many shots but he did have to make some good saves to keep the Flyers off the scoreboard.  He ended the afternoon stopping all 21 shots he faced.

Now the Penguins sit back and wait to see who they will play next in the finals.