Simpson on Hockey

As a Red Wings fan I knew they'd be in the finals after such a spectacular season. First thing I want to say is thank whoever it's two great teams playing and not some southern expansion team. I believe age and experience will prevail for Detroit as these youngsters are put over the proverbial knee. Not doubting the talent in Pittsburg I will say the cup probably won't be hosted til Game Six. Watching the Red Wings hoist the cup in the Igloo would be a suiting ending to this season.
GO RED WINGS! (Let's just hope the locals show up to the Joe to watch and fill those seats. What the f*ck is up with that?)

Crosby can se what he wishes, he's merely stating the obvious anyway. Lidstrom for the first European cup-winning captain! Detroit in seven.

DJD, I wouldn't want a guy to be my captain if he was "just happy to be there". He's showing leadership, trying not to let his team feel overwhelmed. Also, when Gretzky was Crosby's age he was one of the cockiest guys in the league. You can say whatever you want if you can back it up, and he's shown so far that he can.

If the Pens can take 1 of 2 in Detroit, they have a chance to win it in six or seven. If not, Wings in four. Fleury gets pulled in game four.

What was Sid supposed to say "golley if the league hadn't wanted us hear and paid off all the teams we played i don't know where we would be right now. I guess you would have to say we lucked into the finals". Come on any team that makes it to the SCF deserves to be there. It is the hardest trophy in the world to win. If he had said this at the begining of the season yeah rip him to shreds. His team just posted a 12-2 record in the playoffs I guess Detriot at 12-4 doesn't deserve to be there either. No one asks their players "so some say you havn't been tested this playoffs how do you respond" Give me a break.

You folks picking Detroit in 5 get it out of your head they may win the series and if they do it will be in 7..The teams are evenly matched, so edges on way or the other for both teams but Detroit is not winning this series in 5 games..They will not win a game in Pittsburgh, if they win the series it will be in 7 in Detroit with 4 home wins.The Pens don't lose at home!

hmmm, it was almost like this series was pre-ordained ever since Pittsburgh 'won' the two best ever number one picks in a row. Like the article said, "The NHL couldn’t ask for a better Final." No it couldn't, no it couldn't. I for one will not be watching the Crosby lovefest, the kid has talent but he isn't even the best player on his team. I just think that if the Pens win the media will be outrageous, so I am hoping for Detroit in 4 just so we can get this damn season over with!

I'm shocked. I thought this was a no brainer...Wings in 5 or 6. I guess it's not that one-sided as far as all the opinions go. We'll have to see. Wings look like a well-oiled machine, and while the Pens look flashy with a lot of offence, I see wide-eyed kids that don't know what they're in for.

JBird you have been posting all over this site on every article possible. I can't not respond to such overt homerisms anymore. Get some perspective. Too many inaccuracies and faulty logic to list here, but in the case of this article and why detroit d-men have so many points. Your arguement does not hold water? They have also produced in the regular season JBird. It is not a fluke. Just as pitt has more depth up front, det has superior depth on defense. The gap is much larger on defense. Gonchar is probably the only d-man on pitt that would crack detroit's top four. Also, I really do not care who has been tested more this playoffs, you play who they put up against you. Should be discount Pitt because Phillys defense was decimated by injuries? Should we discount Detroit because Dallas beat Anaheim and San Jose? No and No. I really have not a clue on this series. I hope it is long and entertaining. Cheers!

DJD:
Sounds pretty typical of the sound-byte obsessed culture we live in. You're taking one sentence and extrapolating absurd conclusions. What's wrong with Crosby saying that? The Penguins worked hard, have an extremely talented team, and proved that they deserve to be in the finals with a 12-2 record.

I don't see anything arrogant or cocky about that statement. It's simple honesty.

I think Sid had every right to say that they deserve to be there. They worked hard all year to get here, and if you don't think you deserve to be in the cup finals, go home. Bravo Sid and the kids! I just love this team, except of course when they play the oilers....

The way I see it -
Detroit and Pittsburg have not played each other in the regular season so the team that has played similar opponents and won in playoffs will win.
Pittsburg has beaten Ottawa which plays like Detroit although their goaltending was not too great.
Detroit has not faced a high octane offense like Pittsburg yet.
Pittsburg has 2 elite playmakers in Crosby & Malkin while Detroit has Zetterberg. Top line will cancel each other out and Pittsburg's second line will dominate.
Detroit will get shocked in game 1 and from then the two teams will win home games for Pittsburg to win in Game 6 at home.

pittsburgh have no idea what they are in for. they haven't come up against anything as formidable as the mighty wings. after detroit wins game one it will be a scary time for the penguins. wings in four.

If it wasn't for Franzen's breakout playoff, the redwings are essentially a one line team on offense, but most teams are. The rest of the team is composed of decent two way forwards and grinders.

On the other hand, pittsburgh has two superstar lines (not to mention that malkin and crosby are both individually better than Zetterberg and Datsyuk) and a third line with Jordan Staal and a fourth line of grinders. At the same time, all of pittsburgh's top forwards are very defensively responsible and the specialty of their secondary forwards is defense. I would say that pitts has a much more complete offsensive tandem than detroit by far.

Detroit's D is better than the pens, though the pens can handle their own. They have a good combination of offense (Gonchar and Whitney, who match up well with rafalski and kronwall) and their shutdown d (Gill, Orpik - deadly hits, and letang) can compete witht he very best of forwards. The only real advantage the wings have is Lidstrom. Add that to equally solid coaching and better clutch goaltending.

Also you can talk about the wings having more experience, but not more grit: see malone, whitney, laraque, roberts, letang, gill, jesus even crosby and malkin this year. Pens in 6

Detroit in 5 - and i'm only saying that cuz the Pens young inexperience will finally hit them once they face the Wings. Senators - Rangers - Flyers are teams that had major holes that needed to be filled and the Pens dominated on their weaknesses. The wings are the total package and a tough test for Sid and his friends. Their defense will transform into a wall and limit scoring chances on Osgood. Go Wings!

Funny how "experts" are picking the Penguins. Comments above talk about Pittsburgh playing tougher aponents through the reg season and playoffs? What a joke! Both teams are probably playing thier toughest opponent in the finals. Do not say the Red Wings had an easier road though. Ottawa, New York Rangers, and Philadelphia would have had a tough time making the playoffs in the West.

DJD lost it when Crosby said that the Pens deserve to be in the Finals. Odd thing to lose it over. Anyway team that goes 12-2 in the first three rounds without a single home loss definitely deserve to be in the Finals. There sure is a lot of unjustified Crosby hatred around. And I'm rooting for the Wings by the way.

This series won't even be close...the Wings will win in 4. The Penguins haven't beaten anyone of any note in the playoffs and they aren't even in the same class as the Wings. There are great story lines here...but in reality the Pens are children who don't stand a chance.

Pittsburgh's power play is at almost 25 per cent because they haven't faced a team like Detroit so far in the playoffs. With all due respect to Crosby, Malkin and Hossa, no defencemen with Ottawa, New York or Philadelphia were remotely in the same league as Lidstrom, Rafalski and Kronwall.

Franzen will not only play; he will play havoc. Wings in six.

There has been no mention of coaching to this point in the article or comments. While we all like to think that experience will win, history has shown we can't be sure. Michel Therrien has focussed his young team into a confident and determined force to be reckoned with. Let the games begin.

The Wings have flown under the radar all season. You listen to HNIC, and all you hear is Crosby this, Malkin that. we hear more about the Dallas Stars and Toronto Maple Leafs than we do about the Wings. All the Wings have done is win all season long.

Go Wings! Wings in 5!

Thank you for this indepth analysis, Professor obvious but, alas you are patently wrong. How could the wonton mind of a simple forward understand the finer points of the game? Most forwards do well to line up for the faceoff heading the right way. Leave the intracacies to those who are able to handle them, towit the Spasskylike mind of Don Cherry. The milk and cookie gang had better bring their pencils to this next series because they're gonna go to school.
A hard fought series with Detroit in seven.

JSH,exactly what I'd expect from a Sid worshipper.NOW,I know why Cherry doesn't care too much for him either.To JRR,the other networks showed the footage ad nuaseum and his direct quote was "we deserve to be here"...very humble and classy of you Sid.Can you imagine Shanny,Yzerman,Sakic and a host of other players saying that? Don't forget that this "kid" has been fawned over and treated like the best thing since "sliced bread" for the last 10 years or so. He's way overdue for a trip back to Earth.Ciao....

R,Strickland,You got to be kidding.What an insult to the pens.

I'd like to hear the context of his statement "we deserve to be here" before passing judgement. Every interview I have heard shows quite a humble, but competitive kid (he's only 20 remember). If he was asked if they deserved to be in the final, how could anyone say "no"? They went 12 and 2 in the playoffs!

DJD:

Exactly the type of comment I would expect from a Canuck fan. Get real.

If you look at the difference in the division's, I think its pretty impressive that Pittsburgh only finished 10 goals short of Detroits total. Pitts. is in the same division as 2 Vezina nominated goalies where Detroit is in joke of a division. A couple up and comers and a washed up Khabibulin....The talent of the players is much better in Pitts. division as well. I think Craig hit the nail on the head here, goaltending will win this series. Who knows, Fleury has been in the league for a few years now and he seems to be really confident in his play. Detroit is a great team as well but can they handle the Penguins legs...Can't wait to see this series...

Pens in 6. They'll take game 1 in Detroit!

I tend to agree with the the writer of this collumn with the exception of one point. Detroit has three of the five leading scoring defensemen not because of some other world play on thier part but because of the offensivley inept teams they were playing against. Detroits d could lead the rush and cycle down low against the Preds, Avs and to a lesser degree Dallas knowing if the opponents number 1 line wasn't on the ice that they were not going to get scored against. This will not be the case with the Pens. Try to hold the O-zone at the wrong time, or step up to make one of those highlight open ice hits that they have been getting away with and the puck will be in thier net. The Pens have two all world scoring lines and very good third line as well as a fouth line that can cycle down low with the best of them plus score ocassionaly. THis is by far the toughest team Detroit has faced so far. Youth over age Pens in 6

Detroit will be lucky to win a game in this series. The Pens are in a class of their own. They remind me of the Toronto Maple Leaf in the Sixties.

Fleury is the better goalie? No way. He reminds me of Emery... a short-lived phenom.

Nice analysis, but not a word about the little things that make the difference in the finals, especially with teams of relatively even skill. First, defence wins championships....Wings hands down. Face-offs......Wings hands down. Defensive responsibility by the forwards....Wings hands down. Transition from defence to offence....Wings again (you even said so). Finally, grit and experience........you get the idea. You can say what you want and so can I....now it's time to play the games.

Excellent! Another expert picking Pittsburgh over Detroit. And the reason? "the key to this series will be which team will be able to defend against the other teams’ offense without taking penalties". But Mr. Simpson has already said that: "DEFENCE Without question this is the strength of the Red Wings" and "Lidstrom, Rafalski and Kronvall have been spectacular all playoff" plus "The Pens defence has been much better than I would have expected, but not skilled or experienced as the Wings." So how do these statements fit with picking Pittsburgh in 6? They don't!

Much has also been made of Pittsburgh's depth up front. Both teams had 5 20-goal or more scorers during the regular season. Detroit, as a team, outscored Pittsburgh by 10 goals and allowed 32 fewer. Go figure.

The real key to this series will be save percentage versus shots on goal. Pittsburgh's goaltender has a slightly better save percentage but he has yet to face the game-in-game-out shot barrage that the Wings can fire at him. This math favors Detroit. But then they aren't playing math are they?

Let's just hope the on-ice performance lives up to the hype that is building.

Craig, Craig, Craig.

Detroit in 5.

I'm with you. Though I'd say Fleury is a bit better, but Osgood has the experience. I'd definitely give Fleury the edge. In the interest of a good series though, I hope Osgood lives up to this fabricated hype. We'll see how that experience plays once Crosby pokes holes in the Detroit-D.

Craig what happened? Only 2 rounds ago you said:

"New York has the edge in Stanley Cups with eight between Brendan Shanahan, Jaromir Jagr, Scott Gomez and Chris Drury (compared to the 1 that Gary Roberts owns)....

I think the lack of adversity that Pittsburgh faced against Ottawa will hurt them. I don’t think they are ready for a Cup run yet.... New York in 7."

What happened?

How about Penguins in 7?

It's just to early for the pens, like the Oilers of the 80's that lost to N.Y thier first tme to the dance. Give them a couple years maybe even one and the Lord of all cups will be thiers but for now experience will win out over youth.

As much as I would love to see fellow swedes hoist the cup (Zetterberg, Lidstrom etc.) with Detroit, I think this one will go to Pittsburgh. You can almost feel it in the air. The kids look hungry and I don't think they will settle for anything less than the cup.

Up untill yesterday,I really didn't care who won (Canuck fan)but when I saw a Crosby interview and he said "we DESERVE to be here"....Well,LOSE IT,SNAP....I now hope you go down 4 straight you arrogant,cocky punk.It'll look really good on you.I've never been a Gretzky fan,but at least HE had class.He would have said,"we're happy to be here".I shouldn't be too surprised as he learned from Mario,who if you remember,DID NOT want to get drafted by the Pens...now he's part owner of the team.(yeah,Pittsburg was a bad move...)Lindross is the same kind of person as well.