Detroit Red Wings: 11th Heaven After Dispatching Penguins for Stanley Cup

Sidney Crosby shot the puck from the right side, and as it bounced off Chris Osgood, Marian Hossa was there for the rebound, looking to repeat Max Talbot’s Game Five heroics. A sprawling Osgood jabbed at the puck as Hossa’s shot streaked across the crease and out.

Seconds later, Osgood raised his arms in victory and was mobbed by his teammates. The Stanley Cup is back in Detroit, and the Red Wings are champions again. 

The Red Wings won their 11th Stanley Cup with a 3-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins, taking the best of seven series four games to two.

Give credit to the Wings—they came out and they got it done. There was no excess disappointment after Game Five’s 4-3 loss, no allowing Pittsburgh back in the series with a win at home to force Game Seven.

The Wings proved the Pens aren't safe in the Igloo, winning two games there when the Pens were undefeated in the postseason before this series.    

This is not the veteran-laden All-Star team of 2002 that could easily trounce anyone anywhere. Instead, a mix of young and old has brought glory to Detroit.

Instead of Steve Yzerman at the helm, it’s Nicklas Lidstrom, the first European captain to win a Cup. Instead of Brendan Shanahan and Sergei Federov, it’s Henrik Zetterberg, Pavel Datsyuk, and Johan Franzen.

This Cup marks the beginning of a new era of Red Wings: guys who’ve struggled through disappointing campaigns prior to this, and veterans such as Kris Draper and Kirk Maltby, eager for a taste of the success they enjoyed in winning three previous titles. This title is for them.

This is for the team’s superstars, guys like Zetterberg who scored a goal and had an assist en route to winning the Conn Smythe Trophy and his first Cup. Who can forget his block on a Crosby shot during that five on three in Game Four?

There's Lidstrom, the quiet captain, who took over for Yzerman as the leader and continues to be the best defenseman in the game and will probably win a sixth Norris Trophy later this month. 

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