Stanley Cup Finals Game Six: Attitude and Depth Will Determine Winner

Mind games

A coach once told me, "Your toughest opponent is this right here," and he pointed to his head.

The more I competed, the more I found this statement to be true.

Anyone who's played sports (and especially hockey) knows that, on some days, the mood in the locker room before the game is as much a determining factor of the result than what happens during the game.

Some teams beat themselves in their heads before the game even starts.

At this point in the Stanley Cup Finals, physical health is pretty consistent. That is, everyone is playing with some injury or ailment, and no one is 100 percent.

But, in an elimination game, I believe it is a team's mental health that has a bigger impact on which team wins.

Now, no team is going to present anything but a positive attitude when asked about facing elimination or possibly winning it all.

"We're upbeat, we're confident, we've got a lot of character in this room, we know we can win this..."

These are the type of things both the Red Wings and the Penguins have said, or will say, leading up to Game Six.

However, there have been some subtle clues as to which team might be in a better state of mind.

After Game Five, Penguins forward Max Talbot indicated that, at the start of the playoffs, if his team was told they'd be going into Game Six of the Stanley Cup Finals down 3-2, that's a situation they'd be happy with. 

Ergo, the Penguins are happy going into Game Six.

Really Max? Really?

After all the "learning" your team have done since last season, you're telling us that being in the exact same position you guys were in last year is something you'd be happy with?

Really?

Given his statement, I think one would have to conclude that Max is either a liar or delusional.

After hearing him say that he really wasn't trying to slash Pavel Datsyuk's injured foot in Game Five, I'm inclined to believe the former is true.

Talbot can say whatever he likes, but the fact his team is, once again, facing elimination on home ice with the Cup in the building can't be something they're happy with.

Their ability to push last year's results out of their minds will need to be greater than Detroit's ability to use them as inspiration if the Penguins are going to force this series to a seventh game.

The Red Wings have said all the things you'd expect from a team one win away from the Stanley Cup, "We haven't won anything yet, this will be the toughest game we've played, etc."

But, their coach and their veteran players like Kris Draper are also talking about "having fun" and "enjoying every minute" of these games.

Their comments seem to suggest that they're living in the moment and enjoying it for what it is.

The Cup will come, or it won't.

Either way, they're going to have fun trying to grab it.

The numbers game

Looking at the team stats between Detroit and Pittsburgh, one finds that the scoring from each team is remarkably similar.

Detroit has scored 200 points. Pittsburgh has scored 199 points.

Both teams have eight players with double-digit point totals.

Ten players have scored game-winning goals for Detroit, eight have done it for Pittsburgh.

Pretty even numbers here, which is what you'd expect from the last two teams standing in the playoffs.

However, there are two deviations that suggest that Detroit has more of what is needed to win championships: depth and defense.

Detroit's top two scorers are Henrik Zetterberg and Johan Franzen. These two have accounted for 23% of Detroit's scoring throughout the playoffs.

Pittsburgh's top scorers, Sydney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, account for 33% of Pittsburgh's playoff points.

This may not seem like a big difference at first, but consider this.

If Detroit can shut down Malkin and Crosby, Pittsburgh's offense will be at 67% capacity.

If Pittsburgh neutralizes Zetterberg and Franzen, Detroit's offensive potential is still at 77%.

As for defense, Detroit has two minus players, Kirk Maltby and Tomas Holmstrom, both at minus -1.

Conversely, Pittsburgh has eight minus players, one of whom is Jordan Staal at minus -6.

Though the overall stats between these two teams are similar, the numbers suggest that Detroit plays a much more balanced game, both defensively and offensively.

Which team stays true to the trend may very well determine the outcome of Game Six.

But still, there's the home ice factor

This has been a homers' series.

If Detroit wants to win the Cup tomorrow, they're going to have to win their first road game of the series.

If Pittsburgh wants to win the Cup at all, they're going to have to win a game at Joe Louis Arena.

Neither task is going to be easy or enviable.